The Wedding

And now for the post you've all been waiting for: The Wedding. (some pictures were shamelessly stolen from my cousin's facebook page!)

My husband and brothers waiting for the bride.

Everything was beautiful. Inspired by the peacock feathers - the colors were rich, vibrant, and elegant. The boutineers (which I ended up pinning on - the groomsmen had no clue how terrified they should have been as I pinned them!) were small peacock feathers, and the girls also wore feathers in their hair. I loved the way the feathers and colors were woven throughout so many details of the wedding without it being theme-y at all!

Walking down the aisle!

Lucas officiated the wedding (he is now only 1 wedding away from marrying each of our siblings!). He talked to them about 1 Corinthians 13 - which has, unfortunately, become cliche at weddings. He said that so many pastors say, "Try your hardest to be this," but that is impossible. As imperfect people we can never live up to that example. But, that is the perfect definition of God - patient, kind, never keeping a record of wrongs, enduring all things, never failing. If we try in a marriage to live up to the example we will always fail & frustration will ensue. If we keep God as our focus, and His perfect love, it will flow over into our marriage. When the other fails, our forgiveness & love will be more readily given as we remember the One who always loves & forgives us when we fall short.

The weather is always an important factor in an outdoor wedding. As the bridesmaids came down the aisle, little sprinkles began to fall. It lent the perfect amount of drama to the moment, but all droplets stopped when the bride walked to the front. As they began to recite their vows, the clouds parted & the sun broke through - shining brightly on them. And when they kissed, a boom of thunder (the only I heard the entire morning) rolled in the distance. A movie couldn't have had weather as perfectly on cue!

Playing on the practice green with daddy while waiting for pictures.

We love to run!!

A daughter gained to happy parents :)

The reception was fabulous. My favorite touch: They each picked their favorite books and at the center of each table was a book cake with the title & explanation of why it was one of their favorite books. I wished I had thought of it myself! Nerds after my own heart :)

Twinners with Uncle Matt (don't ask about Allie's face...it's what she did when I told her to smile!)

Posing with their uncle and newest aunt!

I mentioned family in a previous post, and I really enjoyed watching my kids play with the kids of my cousins at the wedding. Once upon a time, my 20 some cousins and I ran around & played together at family gatherings. Then we all of the sudden grew up, and now our children run around and play together at family get-togethers like this. It is some kind of awesome to sit next to the people you love & played with growing up and watch the next generation run around together.

We managed to stop the running long enough to line them up for a picture. This is only a fraction of the kids from a small fraction of my cousins!

My mom's mom with all the great-grandkids present - only about half!

My Dad's parents (and me) with their great-grandkids (the benefit of being the oldest grandchild is that your kids can be the first greats!)

I will confess that it all seemed a little surreal. I would stop every now and then and look at my little brother (who I still can picture jumping around in his underwear pretending to be a Ninja Turtle, and who is frozen in my brain as a high school freshmen sleeping in the chair outside my room so that he doesn't miss saying goodbye to me before I leave for college.), and think "my little brother just got married." It is sometimes so hard for me to believe that we are grown up! I'm so proud of him & the incredible man he grew into. I love Ariel and couldn't have hand-picked a more amazing girl for my brother. Their joy is so apparent, and we are so happy for them.

Congratulations, Nic & Ariel!!!!!