Scott's Wedding

Scott and Brittany are married! New Years Eve, San Diego, such a fun wedding! We drove into San Diego on Wednesday, and we enjoyed catching up with family and walking around the Coronado Marriott. Thursday we enjoyed a beautiful walk around Coronado island, with gorgeous views of the ocean, downtown San Diego, cruise ships and sail boats, marinas, and the famous Hotel del Coronado. San Diego is stunning! The weather was cool, sunny, and refreshing, and we are already planning to return to see more of the sites.

Here is the view of downtown San Diego from Coronado:

Thursday night, my parents hosted a dinner gathering for all family and friends that had traveled in for the wedding. We ate at a delicious, authentic Mexican restaurant in Old Town. Old Town is charming and fun, and we enjoyed touring the Mormon Battalion Museum and learning about my ancestors Charlie and Philander Colton (Charlie was the youngest member of the Mormon Battalion and Philander introduced the skill of brick-making to San Diego).

This delicious Mexican dinner was a great start to the wedding festivities!

Jane organized an awesome suprise for Scott and Brittany; she rewrote some of the lyrics and organized the choreography to Bruno Mars' "Marry You" (based on the Glee rendition). Matt and I were sitting, pretending to eat, and then I threw on a vail and we joined in the song and dance. With each verse, a new pair of family members hopped up and joined in with dance moves. It was so fun! The dancing turned out even better than I had anticipated!
Then, Friday morning, my Grandpa married Scott and Brittany for time and all eternity in the San Diego temple. Grandpa's words were so powerful and compelling, serving as a great check point for Matt and I to reflect on our priorities in our marriage and communication. It was a beautiful wedding! Brittany and Scott were truly glowing with joy and love for each other.
And they could not have ordered better weather!
The reception was held at the Admiral Kidd Club, a naval base near the airport. The view was incredible, overlooking the ocean, sailboats, and downtown. After all the family/bridal party pictures, Scott and Brittany donned their favorite East coast footware, Sperrys, and took off in a sailboat for some stunning photos. I'll post a link to some of the professional pictures later (if possible); their photographer was fantastic! Here are some of my favorites from my dad's camera:

[John is standing in Matt's hand, one of their favorite new tricks]

The reception was incredible. Brittany planned so many thoughful details, tying in a maritime theme in intricate ways. The view was stunning, the food was great, the dancing was fabulous, and overall it was a great party! Matt and I were honored to give toasts, but it was Thomas that blew us all away with a very smooth, sincere, sweet toast. Sandi helped us with John, and he really held up well, somehow napping and then enjoying the dancing!

We sent off the newlyweds by ringing bells, then we returned to the hotel to ring in the new year! I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk to people at this final party. It's amazing how different our experience was at the festivities when taking care of John. He did so well, but it was great to get John the sleep he needed and trade off so we could focus on a few of the many people we wanted to catch up with! We enjoyed a hotel breakfast and a smaller group of family and friends to hail in 2011. Overall, many parties, many great memories, and a very fun celebration of two great people! Congratulations, Scott and Brittany! We love you both so much!