The Wedding Performers

08 Sunday Sep 2019

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Brittany & Eric Tie the Knot

I must have a thousand wedding photos. Expect to keep seeing them. This blog post features the wedding performers. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Brit and Eric’s wedding showcased some great local talent.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Ellie Rose’s wedding toast. That speech qualified her as one of the key performers. She didn’t prepare any material. Or she did, but she lost it. It seemed to me she was making it up as she went. She was quite comfortable in the spotlight, and she made Brittany laugh.

Brittany & Eric Tie the Knot

Ben and Rachel sang the first song during the ceremonial aspen tree planting. They played and sang Make You Feel My Love, from Adele’s 19 album.

Brittany & Eric Tie the Knot

Brit used to sing in Ben Westlund’s band False Summit, back in college. He has a sweet voice that would fit in with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

Brittany & Eric Tie the Knot

Rachel is Brit’s partner in their band Girlfriend Cult. Karen and I get out occasionally to Denver to listen to them play at local brew pubs and coffee houses. They have a nice sound. I’ve never heard Rachel sing as beautifully as she did at the wedding.

Brittany & Eric Tie the Knot

Brit’s good friend and mentor Monica Augustine wrote and played an original song – Captivated – for Brit and Eric’s first dance. How special is that? Listen to it below.

My favorite song by Monica has always been Telluride. You can listen to it here on Spotify.

The Wedding Hike

01 Sunday Sep 2019

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Britt&Eric, Colorado Trail

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Estes Park, Flattop Mountain, loveatfirstwright, RMNP

Estes Park was an ideal wedding venue for out-of-state guests who enjoy the outdoors, because the town is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. Eric’s father Doug, and my niece Jessy’s husband Bryan, went fly fishing. No doubt, some of the most gorgeous fly fishing in the world is in RMNP. I took four Texans on a massive nine mile hike to the summit of Flattop Mountain.

You can see how well-groomed the trail is here at the start. The Bear Lake trailhead was packed with over 100 cars, but very few hikers took our trail up to Flattop Mountain. With 3000 feet of elevation gain in the 4.4 mile distance, it’s one of the park’s more challenging adventures.

Steve

I extended invites to the two dozen or so friends on our private wedding FB group, and I had four takers – all from Austin, Texas. I was confident these four could do it. My brother Steve, pictured above, was the oldest in his low 60s, but he’s a Mahoney so I knew he was up for it.

Steve C

Karen’s brother Steve, pictured here above tree line, still rocks Austin with his band the Rite Flyers. He lives for epic stuff like this.

An avid athlete, Laura doesn’t shy away from adventure. She is so fit, I don’t think she noticed the altitude rise from 9400 feet at the trailhead to 12,200 at the summit. She did comment on the cold winds up top, but then she had just left 105° in Austin.

Laura’s seventeen-year-old son Zac is so fit, he appeared to climb this hill sitting down. I’ve been on trails with him before and he’s an experienced hiker.

With Longs Peak as a backdrop, Laura clearly won an August snowball fight with her son.

Laura n Zac

Laura and her son were naturally the first to summit Flattop Mountain. The two Steves and I maintained a more gentlemanly pace. Other wedding guests still enjoyed the outdoors by wandering around Estes Park and some of the nearby trails. The five of us will remember Brittany and Eric’s wedding for this epic hike.

Brittany Noel Got Married

30 Friday Aug 2019

Posted by Ed Mahoney in Britt&Eric, Storytelling

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loveatfirstwright

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A life is measured by milestones. Cairns marking babies’ births and daughters wed. It’s not the years darlin’, it’s the miles. Monday’s mile marker flashed the last twenty-seven years before me. I revisited them during the wedding toast I gave to Eric and Brittany. You can view them here.

Vows

I thought I might experience melancholy and cry. The emotions that came surprised me. Despite what some might tell you, I don’t think I cried. We were facing a strong sun during the vows. I know I wasn’t the only one with the sun in my eyes. The surprise came from thoughts of my expanded family and the sharing of future life events via Eric and Brittany. It just seems to me that raising a family, and the continuing familial growth via your children’s union is what life is all about. It was a feeling that took me back to Brittany’s birth – seven weeks premature. She was a little four pound peanut.

brit 2 (5)

Born December 6th, she was still in her incubator on December 26th, having spent Christmas with the other little preemies. The doctors were close to transferring Brittany to Children’s Hospital in Denver, but she proved resilient. Twenty-seven years later, I enjoyed the pleasure of walking her down the aisle.

FOB n Bride

And I have an expanded family with the Wright clan whom I expect to spend many more happy events with like our weekend in Estes Park. Eric’s parents, Doug and Julie, live in Boston. Julie told me to begin training to run the Boston Marathon with her soon. Eric’s brother Brad, his wife Priscilla, and their newborn Oliver, are from Dallas. They all drove down to Austin last Christmas to join us for dinner.

Wright family