Jen's Wedding

My friend Jen, another photograph conservator, emailed me later last year, saying, "If you receive an invitation to a wedding in Wyoming, would you go?"  As I like to go new places, and didn't know when I would otherwise have a reason to visit Wyoming, I said that I would.  So, in late May, I found myself catching a wicked early flight to Billings, Montana, and then driving south to Cody, Wyoming.

When I got to Cody, it was snowing.  Which was exciting! because we'd had practically no winter in Philadelphia this year.

I hadn't really expected the snow, but had, on a last minute whim, packed a hat and some sweaters, so I was okay.  Other friends had planned to camp, but not snow camp.  Luckily for them, Jen's family was staying in a large rental lodge with plenty of room for cold would-be campers.

I took some time to wander around a bit of downtown Cody, where I visited the Cody Dug Up Gun Museum.  Which is free, and contains only hundreds of guns, dug up from all sorts of places, organized chronologically from the colonial days to the present.  If you're ever in Cody, I strongly suggest visiting.

It continued to snow through the evening.  This is a tree outside the motel I was at, after a long pre-wedding girls-night-out.  Which consisted of eating buffalo-burgers and hanging out by the fireplace in the lodge.

The next day, heading to the big lodge where Jen's family was staying, for breakfast and flower arranging.  (Tip: if you're planning on a wedding and want to save some money, make friends with loads of conservators, who will happily assembly professional-quality bouquets in return for lunch.)

The wedding ceremony was a the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, in the Western Art Gallery.  Original plans had been for a outdoors wedding, but the surprise snow made it impractical.

Some guests wore cowboy boots.  The sheriff attended.  

Jen and Dan wrote their own vows, which made everyone weepy.  Jen also chose to rock her specs, which as another bespectacled gal, I can respect.

A beautiful and delish cake, flowers by Team Conservation.

Really, more people should get married at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center.  It's lovely, and the dishes all have little buffalo on them.  The green ceramic cups are the favors, made by a friend and glazed by Jen and Dan.  Best wedding favor ever.

So, Jen and Dan know a great number of talented people, so a great deal of the wedding material was specially-made for them, by their friends.  The wedding invitation was a special design, the favors, the cake, the photography, the clothing, the flowers, the music...

My contribution to the wedding was very Western Pennsylvania.  Jen and Dan are not from PA, so they did not have a cookie table, but they were delighted to accept a small number of specially-made buffalo-shaped cookies (from me).  And by small number, I mean about six dozen.  A small number for a cookie table.

Jen and Dan's invitation was buffalo-themed, with a cute little green buffalo on it.  Coincidentally, Ynn and Tank have a custom, Tank-manufactured, buffalo cookie cutter.  A loan was negotiated, and in due course a mountain of buffalo cookies was created!  The green ones were orange blossom, the blue were almond, and the white were vanilla.

Another friend must avoid eating all dairy products, and to make a treat that she could enjoy too, I made the buffalo cookies totally daily-free.  And here she is, stocking up on cookies!

We noticed on the way out of the museum.  Guys Night.  With a cash bar and various live birds of prey.