Sunday, October 8, 2017
Memories to Have and to Hold from this Day Forward
Well, the wedding is over. And it was glorious. I've had several of you request pictures and a rundown of the day so I thought I'd do that today. Maybe share some special touches that the cameras didn't capture. With the couple's permission, of course, blogging about the special occasion will help me document it all for myself, too. Of course, we don't have the real pictures back so I'm just going to use various pictures that people took.
I don't even know where to start. As you know, Hurricane Nate was making his way up through the gulf about the time we were headed down to New Orleans for their wedding but besides a brief, light mist for a few minutes after the ceremony, it didn't affect us at all, so that was a big blessing from God. It was actually a beautiful day near the Big Easy.
I'll just use pictures to tell the story from here.
The wedding was at 6:30 but the day started early for the girls. Blair has the very sweetest friends and they tended to her every need from the very beginning. Steaming. Looking for things that were lost....which can be a problem for the bride, sometimes. Checking teeth for lipstick. Offering bathroom support with the 40 pounds of tulle skirting. You know....things like that. They have been sweet and precious friends in life and also in wedding-dom.
I don't even know where to start. As you know, Hurricane Nate was making his way up through the gulf about the time we were headed down to New Orleans for their wedding but besides a brief, light mist for a few minutes after the ceremony, it didn't affect us at all, so that was a big blessing from God. It was actually a beautiful day near the Big Easy.
I'll just use pictures to tell the story from here.
The wedding was at 6:30 but the day started early for the girls. Blair has the very sweetest friends and they tended to her every need from the very beginning. Steaming. Looking for things that were lost....which can be a problem for the bride, sometimes. Checking teeth for lipstick. Offering bathroom support with the 40 pounds of tulle skirting. You know....things like that. They have been sweet and precious friends in life and also in wedding-dom.
Of course, what took so long was getting 11 women's hair and makeup done. There was a hair chair and a makeup chair and girls cycled in and out of them from 9:00 to 3:45. The beauty was already there, of course. It just needed to be enhanced a little for pictures. When she asked for his preferences, the groom requested her hair down and not a ton of makeup so that's the look she went with. It was a good call.
And I'm not sure there was anything that the maid of honor didn't think to take care of! When I say she was on top of things, I mean she was. She took a load off of my mind for sure! What a good friend she's been to Blair. She was even behind a tree taking pictures while Blair was getting engaged. She was her little sister in Phi Mu and always a sister in life.
Then, we left for pictures. Some of these are from her bridal shoot and others are just pictures snapped while the photographer worked. A couple of them are pictures of pictures so excuse the poor quality of some.
Handsome guys with my good looking boy on the right end. Be still, my heart.
Hair and makeup complete. Gorgeous girls. Just gorgeous.
The bond between a mother and son is a strong and powerful one.
I don't know who planted those trees 350 years ago, but I'd like to thank them.
And Blair had the most beautiful register attendant ever! Her sweet cousin, Jordan, carries a lot of experience in this area and it really showed.
Three generations of women. Can you tell who had to run the most mailboxes to fit into her dress?
First look.
My thoughtful sis-in-love, Teresa, made Blair and my mother wedding handkerchiefs from one of my Daddy's ivory colored shirts. What a beautiful way to hold him near on that special occasion. There was a memory tree just for him in the reception. I noticed Blair alone, at one point in the evening, looking at all of the pictures of her and her Grandpa. I suppose she just wanted a moment to remember him on that special day and love on him in her heart.
At about the time their pictures were starting, Blair had arranged for her Granny to be delivered a corsage and a bridal portrait. I think I've told you that Davis' mom is in a personal care home with advanced Alzheimer's disease. She couldn't come to the wedding but Blair wanted to include her in the day as much as she could. We all love our sweet Granny.
So after I tell you that Blair's bouquet was wrapped with a piece of my wedding dress....I have to tell you what kind of wonderful man has taken my daughter as his wife. He gave her so many thoughtful gifts before the wedding. One was a locket to hang in her bouquet that held her Granny's picture inside. Blair held her and her Grandpa close as she said her vows because, well, they're part of who she is.
But, then......John Samuel gave her something that took my breath away so I can't imagine what it did to Blair. I'd noticed that, in the last almost three years, that he's been coming to our house, I'd see him, from time to time, writing in a little notebook. Having no idea what he was doing, sometimes, I'd casually ask if he was working on homework or something and he'd say he was just writing. Little did she know that, for the last 3 years, he'd been writing love letters to her after special dates, or significant events, or just as love filled his heart on a normal, routine day. On her wedding day, he gave her a book full of letters that he'd written to her through their dating years.
Davis and I didn't know what kind of man she'd choose for herself, one day, but we could've never dreamed he'd have a heart as tender and sweet as John Samuel's. Every parent's wish for their little girl.
It was time for the wedding and it was just magical with the lighting and scenery and all the love. I could've sat there all night and enjoyed the atmosphere.
On the arm of my precious son.
Her Daddy walking her down the aisle. This all affected him more than he thought. He was sort of in a daze after the wedding. A happy daze but a daze, nonetheless.
The ceremony was beautiful and officiated by my Uncle Raymon who married Davis and me......and all of the other people in our family for that matter. No one does a more beautiful wedding....or funeral.....than he does. It was a God-centered wedding ceremony witnessed by people who love them most.
We couldn't imagine so many people coming to celebrate so far away from where most of us live but distance and an uncertain weather forecast kept very few away. There were even guests who drove 9 hours to get there and back in one day. Now, that will touch your heart down deep. It's so wonderful to start your marriage basking in the love of family and friends.
It was time for the second line to the reception. We were just a bunch of Mississippi people trying to be all New Orleans-y but we sure had fun trying. I looked back, at one point, and some of them had a look of "what the heck are we doing?"
I wish I could post more pictures of everyone there but you'd get bored way before I was done. I also wish I had a picture that captured the beauty of the reception, the second line parade, and the departure but I don't have any yet.
Oh, and I can't forget Blair's Uncle Lee and Aunt Jenny who delivered her dress back to Birmingham so it can be cleaned and preserved to take its rightful place in a box under her bed for the next 30 years or so.
I do have one more quick story to share. Davis and I had taken separate cars from the hotel to the wedding because we needed the extra space to haul everything back. So, we left the reception around 11:30 pm and I was driving back to the hotel by myself. About 30 miles from New Orleans, I decided that I couldn't go another mile with that darn girdle on. I had been cinched in since 2:30 and, according to my calculations, that was 9 hours too many. I don't know why I didn't think of it before I started the drive but I didn't. The highway was pretty dark and desolate so I wasn't going to pull over. So, I kicked the shoes off my feet, which had no skin left on them, at this point, and quickly unbuckled my seat belt so I could get a hand up into my dress to peel the dang thing off so that my kidneys could receive blood flow again. I finally got hold of its waist band and started pulling. Oh, in that straight dress, it was harder than I thought it would be. I finally worked it down and got it near my ankles and felt so much better. I, then, had two choices. I could leave it there. Or I could go all the way with it. Feeling it might impede my driving, I awkwardly leaned down to grab it and decided that if I went on to Glory trying to get my girdle off from around my ankles while driving, well, it'd be a worthy cause. A story people would always remember, you know?
We just all wanted the night to go on forever. But, now, the carriage has turned back into a pumpkin for her parents and we go back to work tomorrow....maybe run to Wal-Mart......have something ordinary like meatloaf and green beans for supper. It will be an adjustment. It's just not every day that we wear fake eyelashes, tease our hair, listen to a string quartet while sitting under a canopy of oak trees with moss blowing softly in the breeze on the Mississippi River. We normally don't walk in parade formation or dance much on any given day or sip on mint juleps under a full moon or have photographers follow us around.
No, it was a wonderful evening of out of the ordinary happenings in a far away, unfamiliar place for the celebration of a uniquely beautiful love story and if I could change anything about it, well, I wouldn't be able to think of one, single, solitary thing. It was just one of those perfect days. God blessed them with the perfect weather, gave everyone safe travels, and took care of all the things that only He can control. We will always be grateful to Him for that.
So, thanks for letting me share. Y'all have walked with us through this engagement/wedding planning and posts have been a little sparse, at times, along the way, so I just wanted to show you how their long awaited day went.
Thanks for loving me through this. Being a mother of the bride is not for the faint of heart. I think special times and hard times both serve as a reminder of just how precious and valuable friends are. I will always remember the acts of kindness and gestures of thoughtfulness shown to me over the last few weeks. They humble me.
Give me a few days to get back into normal life and I'll be back.
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What a beautiful, beautiful wedding, Joni! Seems like everything was perfect and went off without a hitch! The sweet mementos of the ones who have gone before or Granny who couldn't be there with you, well, that just touched my heart. And you looked gorgeous by the way! Hope you are sleeping in late today. Wishing Blair and John Samuel God's blessing for a long and happy married life.
ReplyDeleteOh my heart...the wedding day was filled with so much emotion! In a time when some younger folks (and older ones for that matter) take marriage so lightly, it is wonderful to see two people so in love. Your daughter's gift to her grandmother really touched my heart, and John Samuel's book of letters? Amazing. I can't wait to see where these two go from here.
ReplyDeleteI have two married daughters (with two more to go!) and a married son, where I was basically the mother of the bride as well. Its a lot of work and emotion, but it is so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteJoni, you looked wonderful- that dress! Perfect. Your daughter is adorable and looked beautiful, too! Congratulations to you all, and what a sweet son in law you've gotten!
Awwww!!! She was/is such a beautiful bride!!! Her dress and hair...it all looks like perfection to me! What a beautiful place for a wedding too. I loved reading your take on it all. I'll never forget the wonderful things that people did for me when I got married 15 years ago. I don't know how people do it without a supportive church family!
ReplyDeleteOh Joni, a beautiful wedding in a dreamy venue! The gorgeous bride with her handsome groom, a glorious Wedding day without the dreaded hurricane, I was worried! Your son in law is a wonderful and thoughtful man for Blair, a keeper! Thank you so much for the pictures and your thoughts on your daughters Wedding day and you were one beautiful mother of the Bride:).
ReplyDeleteKathleen in Az
Thank you for sharing these pictures. You are beautiful, the bride looks beautiful (I love her dress) and everything turned out wonderful. They make a really cute couple!
ReplyDeleteSo so so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful bride...that dress!!! Thank you to John Samuel for being such a romantic...I'm only a couple of months into a new relationship, but he inspired me to start writing for my someday groom :) What a beautiful wedding gift he gave her. She's a lucky girl!
ReplyDelete