We were overjoyed to be present at the marriage of my nephew to a young woman who is as sweet as she is beautiful.
The weather was ideal for this evening wedding. After celebrating 3 weddings in our immediate family in the past 2 years, it was so relaxing to just be able to show up and enjoy the many preparations already in place to make this day possible.
It was an honor to have Greg and Cindi in the large Wedding Party.
This picture, set up by the professional photographer, captures how absolutely beautiful everyone and everything was at this much anticipated event.
My brother, Tom, is looking so fine and happy standing next to his sons, the Groom in sunglasses, and the Best Man.The Mother of the Bride- a natural beauty in her own right and The Father of the Bride watch as the formal pictures are taken in the light of the setting sun.
The brand new Mr. and Mrs. came into the reception after pictures, having provided for their guests lovely hors-d'oevres and beverages.This allowed the guests plenty of time to mingle and catch up with friends and relatives which I really enjoyed.
The Wedding Party did interpretative dancing as they were introduced to the crowd!
One of the first things T.J. did as a married man was to welcome us all and thank us for coming to their Wedding. He said that each of us was there for a reason because of the love and support we had shown them, most especially their parents and grandparents for helping to mold them into the people they are today.
T.J. took the microphone and spoke for them both as a couple as Stephanie stood beside him listening to his every word and looking beautiful.
Larry said how much this impressed him and that it spoke volumes about their relationship.He said that he loved how T.J. was the MAN and was impressed that the bride didn't think she needed to take the mic. and say the same thing in her own words.
I thought it spoke volumes about our relationship because Larry loved this so much!!! I grew up in the 70's when Women's Lib was alive and well and I tend to put my two cents in ( more like a dollar's worth) on every subject! Hmmm....
We had a great dinner and then Tyler outdid himself with a gut-level honest, heartfelt speech as Best Man. He made us all extremely proud of him by the way he handled this responsibility.
The Maid of Honor gave an equally beautiful speech congratulating her only sister on achieving her "dream come true" .It turns out that this Bride had announced while she was in the seventh grade that she would marry T.J. He has continued to grow in age and grace and wisdom since that time! The girls both cried and looked at each other with such sincere love and understanding that it was a privilege to see.
Then it was time to cut the cake which was elegantly decorated!
You'll have to pardon me when I say that the one thing I hate to see at a Wedding is the bride and groom smearing each other with cake. This classy couple fed each other very neatly!
They danced together for the first time as Husband and Wife.
The Bride danced with her Dad.
The Mother of the Groom danced with the little boy that she helped to raise into such a fine young man.
Then the Bridal Party danced together. It was at this time that I noticed that all the girls had shed their heels and were wearing white Flip- Flops, a gift from the Bride!
At that point, the dance floor opened up and everyone began to shake a leg! Here, Tom Terrific and the lovely Holly take a turn around the floor.I'll now add pictures of others who got out there and had some fun.
Tim and Kristy.
Brian and Kat.
Meg and Jon.
Larry and Tori.
Larry and Cindi doing the "Creep."
Dan and Brooklynn.
Here the cousins try their luck at one of the large group dances which are always a blast! There are more and more of these group dances at weddings lately, all with special steps which are easy to pick up and are really fun to try.
Although the Cotton-Eyed Joe was super fun and a real hit with the crowd, my favorite dance was The Anniversary Dance, which was reserved for married couples only! Each of the couples started out dancing together, but every 30 seconds or so all the couples who had been married less than the 5 year increment announced, had to move to the outside of the circle. Eventually, the only couple left dancing inside the big circle was my parents, celebrating 54 years of married love this week!!!!!!!Praise the Lord! Whoo-Hooo!!!
All the single ladies tried to catch the bouquet, the winner being my God-Daughter, Logan!
The single guys jostled to snag the garter!
This groomsman did a great job and we all enjoyed watching this long time wedding tradition!
Although we could have danced all night, our evening was coming to a close. The last song was "Take me Home, Country Roads" which is a salute to the state of West Virginia. Most of the Wedding Party attends or are alumni of WVU and this is their typical way to end an event. In a large circle everyone put their arms around each other and sang along loudly to this sweet song. I liked the "Shenandoah River" reference- we had to cross that river to get to the Wedding and back again to get to the reception!
It was time to wish the newlyweds off to the Honeymoon! We noticed a mud puddle right before the limo door. I quickly ran in and was able to catch T.J. alone and gave him a heads up about the mud. He said " Lift the dress???" and I said No, Lift the Girl!!!" He got a big smile on his face and ....
pulled it off beautifully!!! It was sooo romantic!!!!!
Everyone wished the newlyweds every happiness as they drove off, ready to start this new phase of their life together! God Bless You Both, and all married couples, as we strive to mirror in our love for our spouses, God's great love for His Church.
