The Wedding and The Reception

Buckle down.  It's going to be a long one with mucho pictures.  If you missed the first installment, click here.  We had finally reached the big day!  (Art courtesy of official wedding photographer and old friend, David Michael Webb.)  Sheena, Sheena's mom, Crys, and I all went to see Jaime, who graciously agreed to still do our hair, even though she's a full-time art teacher and soon-to-be bride and not 'doing hair' anymore.  Visiting with her while she worked her magic on us definitely set a fun tone for the day!

This is her adorable pup, also named Katie, who was just so sweet sleeping in the window I couldn't resist sharing the picture!

Here's the bride all done up!  The only thing she was missing was her gorgeous dress and the groom!  I have to say that Sheena was quite seriously one of the most calm and relaxed brides I've ever seen.  We laughed and just generally had a good time the whole day.

A couple of things that Sheena and Ronnie chose to go a little more non-traditional on were 1) Having a photo book for guests to sign instead of just a regular guest book that you will put in a closet and never see again... (my SIL and brother did the same thing and it was such a sweet memory book)

and 2) have a peanut butter and jelly unity sandwich.  Stop laughing, I am totally not kidding!  (When I put this picture up on Facebook, people though it was something we did just for rehearsal.  Boy, were they surprised!)   It, like most everything with Sheena and Ronnie, started as a joke and grew into to something more.  It matched the humor and sweetness of the entire ceremony perfectly.

Here's the groom with his mama, who looked pretty darn fabulous for a woman who was not the bride!

The moms sharing a laugh before the ceremony.  I love this picture!  I think it looks like a still from their new sitcom--very Laverne and Shirley-esque.

Speaking of pictures I love--I have known these two since the day they were born and couldn't resist getting this shot!  The little socks sticking out and the basket between her knees...it was almost too much!

Here's the bride a few minutes before she became a Mrs.  We waited in the church office so that we could see everyone coming in though the little window in the door and so Sheena wouldn't have to navigate the stairs in her heels.  We have become masters at draping wedding dresses over folding chairs.

Since we had a little wait time, we taught the kiddos to make funny faces!  Not even this could keep them from being absolutely adorable!

After a some "I do's" and a little ring exchanging it was on to the reception!  Here's a glimpse of the wedding cake!  It tasted even better than it looked!

And a few shots of the party and the party people!  Crys and I took this of ourselves.  I discovered the secret to a good self-portait is long arms.  (Which I do not have and explain so much about so many bad pictures from my past!)

The bride and her little brother

Dancing the night away

The groom serenaded his bride with a little "Don't Stop Believing."  It was one of the evening's highlights!  I had a bunch of pictures from it but here are two of my favorite!

The crowd looks on in wonder and hilarity...

Casey, accomplished cook and emphatic dancer.

"Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting..."

Mama and youngest son dancing. 

All in all, it was an excellent weekend.  Now all we had left was packing up the gifts and saying goodbye...

The Details, The Set Up, and The Rehearsal Dinner

The Wedding Story:  Volume I:  On Thursday night, we met up to decorate the church.  Because there were already gorgeous fall decorations out, we didn't have to do much.  The guys did have to put together the canopy thing, which I promise was even though it doesn't look like it in the following picture. 

We added a few leave and some paper flowers and we were good to go.  As a bonus, we got to have one last trip to DQ together after leaving the church, which was always kind of a family tradition.

On Friday, we decorated the reception venue.  Aunt Sandy had put together some of the most beautiful flower arrangements for the tables (28 of them in all, including cornucopeias, plate arrangements, and wicker pumpkins.)  It didn't very long to set the tables and get everything ready for the big day.

No real signifcance, just pretty

Looking down the head table.

This also seems like a good place to talk about Sheena's bouquet.  She's shown it on her blog too, but even though I had my doubts about how it would turn out, Aunt Sandy knew best!  I loved all the brooches, the flower base, and the feathers.  It was one of the most beautiful bouquets I've seen, and I've been to a lot of weddings.

Here's Sheena and Crys at the reception hall.  Don't they look fabulous for having no makeup on?  This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

 I was a little busy during the actual rehearsal, so mu pictures weren't all that great.  But I did take a few at the rehearsal dinner.  We ate at one of our favorite local places, BHG, and it was spectacular as usual.  Debbie, mother of the groom, gave a toast that made us all tear up (sort of a weekend theme) and then gave us all buckeyes, saying that every time we saw it, we should say a little prayer for the newlyweds in Ohio. 

Here's part of the room enjoying the fabulous food and even better company.  It was such a warm and happy night!

Here's to the happy couple!

The bride (with a photo bomb from the groom) with the world's cutest flower girl and ring bearer (twins)!  Just wait until you see them all dressed up tomorrow!

A Sneak Peek

I haven't had a chance to put my thoughts together from this weekend yet.  It was as perfect as it was bittersweet.   But, I can give you a little sneak peek of the bride...

More details to follow this week.  I promise.  Meanwhile, you can click here to hear from the bride herself.

Happy Wedding Day!

In just a few short hours, these two crazy kids will finally be husband and wife!  (Only took almost 10 years!)  Wishing you a lifetime of happiness!

Look for plenty more to come this week!  It will be filled with all the fun and some of the gorgeous little details!

To Sheena, On The Day Before Your Wedding:

Dear Friend,

It's really here.  All this time spent waiting, not just through your engagement but those years before that, and your day has finally come.  It will be perfect and beautiful, even if not a single thing goes as planned, because you are marrying the man you are supposed to be with.  (But here's hoping that it's those things because everything goes right, okay?)

Try to imagine a dress and veil here...

Up until this point it hasn't seemed real.  That's how I've kept it together through the fittings and the shopping and the showers, because this day was still a long way off.  It's easier to deal with things when it's some date in the future and not tomorrow.  It's not your wedding that has me all messed up, of course.  It's what happens after, when the prince comes and sweeps you off to the magical land of Ohio.  That I have a problem with.  I'm on board with how it's where God is clearly showing you're supposed to be.  My issue is that it's entirely too far away from me.  Who will go to get cookies with me in the middle of a summer afternoon?  Who will sing all the Broadway songbook with me in the car on the way there?  How in the world do I begin to fill that kind of a void?  That's the part I find so unfair. 

Oh, the DM photo shoots...the ultimate one being tomorrow.

To say that I will miss you seems like the understatement of the year.  You are a sister of the heart, one of the big sisters that God didn't give me through biology but through His Grace and perfect timing.  And while I know that you will still be a huge part of my life (thank you, Al Gore for the internets!), I also know that it won't ever be quite the same.  Life moves on at what I am finding to be an alarming rate, and that means changes, like it or not.  (Let me go on the record as being in the not camp on this one.)  But what I am finding is that these changes make all the times we have had that much sweeter. 

If ever a photo was to describe the real us...

Who could forget some of the crazy things our 'cord of three' have gotten ourselves into?  We've sang together in some unbelievable circumstance, some for their hilarity and some for the bigness of the God that brought us together.  There are stories I can't wait to share with the next generation, and a few that we should probably keep to ourselves.  But, at the heart of the matter, is how much I love you and how happy I am for you and how much I am going to miss you.  I can't wait for the events of the next three days and at the same time, I hope they go by so slowly. 

With all my heart,

Kate

Sheena's Bachelorette Party

It's Friday which, of course, means I am just now writing about things that happened last weekend.  This week was brutal, ya'll.  And last night, I accidentally stubbed my toe and took off half a toe nail.  And I don't mean that in a dramatic way, but in a "that's totally what happened and I had to man up and deal with it even though blood makes me queasy, especially my own" kind of way.  But on to the story...

Years ago when Crys got married, we knew we wanted to celebrate the end of her single days in a creative way, but also knew that a pub crawl wasn't really our style.  So, we were challenged to come up with a party that was both classy and naughty, but mostly a lot of fun.  I wish the photos were digital or I could actually walk into my storage room to share them, but let's just say there was a clothesline with tacky underwear and it was a very successful party!  We've thrown a couple other parties over the years (you haven't lived until you have thrown a Christmas-themed bachelorette!), but we knew Sheena's would have to be something special...maybe even super!

 We went with a Wonder Woman theme and asked guests to bring items to help Sheena become a Wonder Wife.  (And left it completely open to interpretation, so it was hilarious!)  Of course, there were games to be played too, like Guess Who Said It?

 We even had a very well-behaved furry guest in Crystal's Barkie.  He didn't growl once!

 Some of the fabulous ladies at the party

 Some of the gifts were really funny...

 ...but required a little explanation. 

 Sheena was a little scared to get what she had given over the years...rightfully so.

 May I present to you the best apron ever!!

We had a fabulous day and I was so glad that all of these wonderful women could come out to celebrate our super friend!  (and just wait until you all see the food!)