Wedding Weekend

The past 4 days have been one big blur, filled with one activity after another.  It feels good to be at home this morning with only household and normal things to do.  Thursday was spent with Katie Habrial (Sandy's sister) decorating my house for the Bridesmaid's Brunch on Friday morning.  It was fun to use all my pretty dishes, and Katie did an incredible job arranging the flowers she picked out.

We always seem to have a sleep crisis with James on wedding weekends, and this weekend was no different.  Add that to the fact that I have such a hard time falling asleep before big family events, and I was running on fumes and the grace of God.  We had an early start Friday morning, but everything became okay for me when my mom showed up to make my bed with Ella and prepare fruit salad with both Ella and James.  Ella used her own knife to cut fruit, and James did some steady sampling.  

Despite being a little tired, all the other food preparation was flawless and easy.  The food was  delicious and the company fun and enjoyable.  We had a lovely time.

Friday afternoon was peaceful, and James was thankfully very content to crawl around the living room and play.  Ella watched entirely too much television, but I justified it thinking that it was going to be a very long day for her, and she was going to have a really late night at the rehearsal dinner.  She doesn't take naps anymore, and she needed to rest.  Not to mention that I had been assigned the role of speaker at the rehearsal dinner and needed to nail down what I was going to say.  I decided I would write a poem (stealing an idea from my sister-in-law Katie Kizziah) because otherwise I would probably ramble on, and it seems more acceptable to read a poem than read a speech.  


Ella was absolutely amazing at the rehearsal in her role as flower girl.  She took the job very seriously.  She wouldn't practice dropping the petals until she was told it was time.  She stood very still on the stage and skipped down the aisle when she made her exit.  She was a delight. I was bragging on her on the way home about how well she did, and she said, "Well, I was trying!"  

Ella enjoyed tap dancing with Big Daddy at the dinner.

The rehearsal dinner was so much fun as well.  Kay Mardis and Donna Hamilton (two ladies from my home church in Arab) were so sweet to serve us all by preparing the food.  Everything was delicious, and they were working in hot conditions.  My brothers, Josh and Judson, played and sang, I read my poem, and Dad showed a slideshow of pictures.  It was a wonderful time of sharing.  I think Josh stated the case very well by saying, "If you know our family, we could sit here all night sweating and telling stories and laughing."  And indeed we could have.

Everyone and everything was so beautiful on the wedding day.  Sandy did a great job choosing the bridesmaid's dresses, shoes, and flower colors.  Everything looked gorgeous, and the bride was especially so.  The ceremony was so sweet and special.  I am thankful to my husband for taking care of James so I could enjoy it.  KJ asked me when I got home what stood out about the ceremony.  My answer, "Well, the unity candle."  The incident at the unity candle was especially funny because at my brother Josh's wedding they had a little problem with their's as well.  The middle candle popped up really high out of its setting in the midst of them trying to light it.  For Jesse and Sandy, their candles kept going out when they tried to light the main candle.  Finally, they were forced to dip the candle straight down into a little candle that was burning on the altar to light it.  It's always good to have something to laugh at and remember from your ceremony.  My veil fell off during mine.  It was a really beautiful day.  I'm so happy for Jesse and so glad to have Sandy as a sister.