Pagratis Pair
Per usual, part II of my Colorado wedding blog was postponed, but here we go! Early the next morning after the rehearsal dinner (which, if you’ll recall, featured enough food to feed most of Colorado), the lucky (though yawning) bridesmaids headed into Boulder to meet the bride and get our hair done. Fortunately, Erinn’s mom and sister were prepared with mimosas and bagels (and Nicole hit up Starbucks for good measure).

Kate and I were the first to finish and felt the urge to enjoy the beautiful day (and perhaps burn off some of those delicious bagels), so we went for a walk through the quaint and charming (and expensive) Boulder neighborhood.

Which, naturally, resulted in a good deal of “You did WHAT?!” from our hairdressers when we returned. Still worth it! Meanwhile, Erinn was becoming even more stunning.

A quick limo ride over to the church in Denver and we were greeted by our bouquets. Erinn’s matched our dresses…

And the bridesmaids’ bunches were pretty. So perfect!


Erinn’s mom and sister helped her climb in to her hefty dress (someone might have been crushed if they’d tried to lift it over her head). Equally challenging- staving off tears long enough to make it down the aisle.

Erinn, now firmly secure in her dress and veil, begins the photo-taking process before the start of the ceremony.

Annnnd, they’re off! Kostas and his ageless mom walk in. (The rest of the photos of the couples walking down are blurry, so I’ve left them out!).

Someone had mentioned earlier that it was a good thing Erinn/Kostas’s “first moment” was before the ceremony to allow them to get some initial shock out of the way. This didn’t, however, prevent them both from bawling the entire time Erinn walked down the aisle.

An hour of part-Greek, part-English, all-symbolism later, Kostas and Erinn Pagratis were officially wed!

And I managed to avoid stumbling down the aisle! Small steps…

Now that all that mumbo-jumbo was taken care of, it was time to get down to real business– more photos! [As you admire Erinn's dress's train, keep in mind that no fewer than three bridesmaids would find themselves under that dress at some point in the evening].

As we all rode in a (bigger) limo back to Boulder, Kostas kept leaning out the window yelling “I’m freaking married!” Adorable.

The best thing we didn’t realize about our bridesmaid’s dress was that in every Myspace-style photo, we’d appear topless, if not totally nude.

Nicole and Effie (Kostas’ far-too-tan-and-Greek-pretty sister) were a little more modest. [and unique- the other bridesmaids were two Amandas, a Kate and a Katy]

The beginning of the day had been beautiful, and the weather held out just long enough for some mountain photos before it began to pour. I sacrificed the mountains in my own photo to minimize the highway view (the photographer was on the ground for his shots).

Kostas probably should have thought of this earlier…

Finally, the reception hall at Folsom Field! The next series of would-be photos are missing, probably due to the fact that we were all too busy eating delicious Greek food (including lamb, bleu cheese mashed potatoes and meditteranean-stuffed chicken breast). Oh well, at least I got a tableshot?

Having stuffed ourselves (again), we proceeded to dance, enjoy some libations, and take hundreds of photos. Despite the fact that there were over 100 people at the wedding, there were still plenty shots taken at arm-length.

And plenty of shots of Brandon & I being a little nauseating,

And then the crying starts. Toasts from several of Kostas/Erinn’s friends and family (who were all both phenomenally emotional and good at public speaking), the first dance, and the head table was losing it.

Erinn’s dad explained in his toast that he wrote and performed the song that he and Erinn would be dancing to (he recorded it for the DJ)- and the bridesmaids fell apart. Again.

Fortunately, there were some people able to take our minds off of anything sappy.

Warning: severe cute ahead.

Though they are very sweet and loving and caring and blahblahblah, Erinn and Kostas do know how to get down- never fear.

And of course we all had some fun when Michael Jackson came on (even Piell looks Thrilled).

Modesty is key for Katy, Kate, Cara, and Britta.

And of course the bride is nothing if not blushing.

I stole Erinn away from the photog and her husband to snag a mommy-baby (KDX-style) shot [one-armed, of course].

And my pledge sister Kate and I got down- we’ve got back.

The wedding and reception went off without a hitch (besides the obvious) until shortly before the end when Piell got a little too exuberant in dancing to Journey. She twisted her knee, but fortunately we had one dapper Greek groomsman (and Brandon, I guess) for her to lean on out to the car. [she's since had surgery and is on crutches until New Years. but she hasn't stopped believing!]

All in all, one of the best weddings I’ve been to. This didn’t make the subsequent drive back through Nebraska any easier, but seeing Kostas and Erinn’s happiness and love for each other was entirely worth it.







































































