This weekend Laura and I traveled to Virginia to see our niece, Katie, get married. Katie and Aaron had dated on and off for ten years, and had decided on was better than off, and decided to make it permanent.
We left Friday afternoon and drove part of the way up, spending the night on the road in North Carolina. I had been fighting a cold all week and coughing badly. I let Laura drive a good bit of the way, and it was a good thing we stopped for the night.
Saturday we drove on into Roanoke and checked into the Hotel Roanoke. My brother, Stephen tapped my shoulder as we were checking in, and we made plans for lunch.
Hotel Roanoke is right across the railroad tracks from the city center. A dramatic walkway connects the hotel area to downtown.
There was a Labor Day festival going on with live music. Part of the street was blocked off, and there were booths and classic cars. The area had lots of eateries. We found one place, and were joined by Stephen and his family, and later by my sister Beth and her kids.
Back at the hotel we hung out a bit until time to head up to the wedding. Stephen had checked out of his room, so Laura and I got ready early and headed down to the lobby so that they could change in ours. That gave us an opportunity to admire the beautiful lobby of this historic hotel and see what was going on.
It turns out that this was wedding central. We counted no less than five bridal parties, including Katie’s. There was so much formal wear coming and going that it was hard to keep track of the different groups.
Soon enough the time to depart arrive. The wedding itself was at a venue in Fincastle, VA, which is about 25 miles NW of Roanoke. Fincastle is a historic town, and once served as a jumping off point for explorations to the west. The Lewis and Clark expedition left from Fincastle. The wedding would be in a barn, with reception at the Kyle House next door.
My family started to arrive, and we posed for lots of photos.
While the Kyle House was air conditioned, unfortunately, the wedding venue was not. Everyone waiting until the last minute to enter and be seated. The wedding programs were done as heart-shaped fans, which we were grateful to have.
The wedding ceremony itself was relaxed, and rather unorthodox. Katie was stunning, and everything was lovely (albeit, rather warm.)
After the ceremony we returned to the Kyle House for the reception. The historic house made for a great party venue. We had dancing, drinks, and music downstairs, and food upstairs.
Laura and I stayed long enough to watch the first dances, toasts, and cutting of the cake. At that point we noticed that my mother was looking very tired. We offered to take her back to hotel, while the others continued to party.
Here are my the rest of my shots from the wedding…
…and here are Stephen’s photographs from the wedding.