"Alyssa!! It's your lucky day!!" A young friend shouted as he ran into the house to find me.
Most of the guests had arrived. The groom and groomsmen had exited the house for the ceremony site. My bridesmaids and I were in my mom's room, waiting to walk over to the ceremony site ourselves, when the boy ran in.
I stared at him blankly for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant.
Yes, I knew it was my lucky day, I was getting married!
However, a wedding doesn't generally elicit this kind of reaction from a pre-teen boy.
After a moment, he explained
"The interstate is STOPPED!"
 |
| See those cars at a standstill in the background?? |
It still took me a moment to understand, I hadn't been thinking about the interstate at all, but suddenly I got it.
My parents' land boarders the highway. Our ceremony site was a quarter mile off the highway with no tree line or buildings in-between to deaden the sound of the traffic.
At the wedding rehearsal the night before, which my young friend had been a part of, the sound of the highway had been loud and we had a hard time hearing each other at times. Not the most ideal situation for a wedding.
For the wedding itself, we'd hired a DJ with a sound system and anyone doing any talking would have a microphone, so hopefully the guests would be able to hear everything. Yet, even so, we were a little concerned after the rehearsal.
Someone joked that we should pray for the interstate to be stopped, but no one really wanted to do that, as that would be asking for misfortune upon someone else. My dad just told everyone to pray for the direction of the wind to change so the sound would be carried away from us.
So, that was the plan, "Please God, carry the sound of the traffic away from us."
Instead, at the exact time the ceremony was scheduled to start, after 99% of the guests had arrived, one side of the interstate, the side nearest us, came to a stop. The stopped lanes of traffic provided a sound barrier for the still moving lanes of traffic. And our ceremony site was blissfully silent. What were the chances??
Everyone who had been at the rehearsal the night before was in awe.
(We found out later that the cause of the stop was a one vehicle accident and there were no life-threatening injuries. Thank God it was nothing worse! If there had to be an accident that day, this really was best case scenario, and the timing was excellent!)
The bridesmaids walked across the yard to the ceremony site.
The groom, groomsmen, and pastor waited in a tent off to the side.
My brothers, the ushers, made sure all the guests were seated, and then escorted in my grandparents,
And my dad walked me around by the road to the ceremony site so I wouldn't be seen by my groom until I was coming down the aisle to him.
Down the aisle came my maid of honor,
My other best friend,
And my sister.
Then entered the kids.
The ring bearer,
And the flower girls.
Each taking their job very seriously.
Then my brothers closed the curtains.
The music changed to a beautiful violin piece my best friend found for me.
And the curtains opened!
And my groom's reaction didn't disappoint.
Oh yes, there were tears.
Down the aisle I came, to the man I was marrying.
My dad handed me off with a smile, almost as big as the one on my face.
The ceremony was opened in prayer.
1 Corinthians 13: 3-7
And Ecclesiastes 4:9-12.
A message from the pastor.
Vows
An exchange of rings.
A kiss!
Or Two!
And we were married!!
Actually married!!
I had a husband!
Crazy Stuff!
I've gotta take a moment to brag about the kids who were in our wedding.
We didn't ask it or expect it of them, but all three stood up front with the rest of the wedding party for the entire ceremony.
And when it was over, the ring bearer proudly escorted both flower girls back up the aisle.
Up the aisle and back through the curtains we all came.
Congregating in the back. . .
For a very jubilant . . .
Group Hug!
The guests took their chairs and headed around the house to the reception site.
Iced tea and lemonade to drink,
And new swings on the swing set for the kids to enjoy!
Meanwhile, we took pictures!
Bride and Bridesmaids
Groom and Groomsmen
Throw in the ushers for good effect.
Show off the cowboy boots.
Pictures with my groom
Pictures with the family
The extended family
The other extended family
And the other extended family
We have a decent amount of family!
Once we decided we had enough pictures. . .
And the purple top hat had been passed around a bit. . .
We joined the reception!
Oh goodness were we hungry!
So after a blessing from my godmother,
We ate!
It was the first real meal I'd eaten all day, and that barbeque was delicious!
After thoroughly enjoying our dinner, we made our rounds and greeted our guests.
Then the best man gave his speech.
And the maid of honor gave hers.
And the dancing began!
My husband and I danced our first dance to "God Gave Me You".
My dad and I danced to the song "Daddy's Hands".
And my husband and mother-in-law stole the show with a fantastically fun dance they had choreographed to my mother-in-law's favorite song, "Midnight Confessions".
It was a joy to watch!
After a quick water break. . .
We cut into our beautiful wedding cake!
Feeding it to each other may have been a little messy.
But it was fun!
People ate their fill.
And the dance floor filled up!
A little slow at first, but soon it was as full as it could be!
Those who weren't dancing visited and played cornhole.
The swing set stayed busy.
And people just generally seemed to have a good time!
I dragged my cousin onto the dance floor.
And my brother - I didn't get to dance with him at his wedding, so I had to make up for that here!
At some point we paused the dancing to throw the bouquet.
And then my husband went searching for my garter.
He gave it a toss.
And my youngest brother caught it.
Is it just me, or is my youngest brother the least thrilled person in this picture?
Then the dance floor got busy again.
We danced and we visited.
Until it got late.
And the only ones left, were us.
As the guests left, they each took a bar of the goat milk soap my bridesmaids and I made as favors.
And in the end, it was everything I ever wanted!!
If you've missed any part of my wedding dress series, you can catch up here:
Heirloom Lace Details:
The Undergarments:
And finally, The Wedding:
Wonderful pictures of your perfect day! I love all the dresses you made. The bridesmaids dresses are so stylish and elegant! Your dress is beyond lovely.
ReplyDeleteI wish you many happy days to come!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this whole series. Hopefully you will be able to get your your dress out once a year and enjoy wearing it, considering how much work you put into it!
ReplyDelete