Wedding bells

Jason's beautiful sister was married this past weekend.  We're still recovering, as our whole family was in the wedding.

The girls, in new dresses, ready to go to the wedding rehearsal.

Two flower girls, two ringbearers, one bridesmaid, and one reader/kid wrangler piled in the car on Friday and drove an hour to this lovely vineyard.

Bride and auntie Jo taking the kids to see the horse barn

The threatening rainclouds added drama to the stunning scenery.


A wise maid and matron of honor consulted Google just before the rehearsal and brought along a printed description of a wedding ceremony.  Considering the wedding coordinator was in absentia, the pastor had never done a wedding before, and the bride is laid-back and distinctly un-bossy, I was impressed with their forethought.


The rehearsal went quite well, with the flower girls sprinkling grass clippings along a pretend outdoor aisle (no chairs yet set up), majority opinion and Google working out the tricky questions about order of entrance, and the newbie pastor coming across surprisingly seasoned.


The assistant ringbearer did refuse to walk down the aisle with his brother, preferring to attach himself to Mommy instead.  Both bride and groom immediately decided that whatever made Caleb happy is what Caleb would be allowed to do during the ceremony.


More family joined the wedding party for the rehearsal dinner, which was lovely and delicious and charged with an atmosphere of celebration.  Our kids were pleased to meet a 15-month-old little girl who was likewise fascinated by them, and as we were, not surprisingly, seated at the edge of the crowd nearest an open low stage area, all five kids danced and jumped and ran in circles and played ring-around-the-rosy all evening.


There was only one minor mishap when Caleb was playing with the little girl and his pants suddenly fell down.  Thankfully suspenders were planned for the wedding day.


I got to join the other bridesmaids and bride at a salon on the morning of the wedding to spend several hours getting done up.  Once perfect beauty was achieved, we realized we were a little tight on transportation.  The other ladies' good nature shone through when they cheerfully pushed aside Jason's gym clothes and graciously clambered into the jump seats in the back of our truck, bumping along to the vineyard all coifed and pretty.


The rest of the afternoon was spent taking pictures and primping in the very nice dressing room.

Father of the bride's first look at his daughter on her wedding day

Such handsome boys.  That one on the left is the one who, when his mother is occupied, thinks it's a good idea to soak the rest of his sandwich in his milk, then smoosh the soggy bread blobs onto the table and watch the milk drip through the crack onto the floor.  Kind of like a wine press, but less useful.

 This is also the child who, when his pants inevitably fall down, instead of asking for help to replace them, pulls them onto his head and takes off running.

Thankfully Jo planned suspenders for this day.

Jeddy's expression says that he knows the risks involved with letting Caleb this close to such a spectacular cake.

I was far too busy and my hands were far too full after this to take any more pictures.  It was a 5:30pm wedding and Caleb hadn't had a nap, so he was worn out before it even started.  As soon as we emerged from the dressing room to line up, Caleb spotted me and attached himself to me like super glue, never to let go for the rest of the night.

Thus the second ringbearer did travel down the aisle, in my arms.  He stayed there through the whole beautiful, moving, joyful ceremony, and exited the same way he entered.

The flower girls sprinkled their petals evenly, the true ringbearer produced the rings at the proper time, and I didn't trip over my floor-length gown.  

Whew.

After a barrage of pictures, the wedding party made a grand entrance to raucous applause, another delicious meal was served, Caleb stained his shirt and my gown with raspberry rémoulade, wine flowed freely, and the dance party started.  

I've never been to such a fun wedding.  The dance floor was crowded and the kids were a hit--and did I mention the free-flowing wine?  

At one point we realized Caleb hadn't had his Pull-Up changed all day, so I threaded through the crowd to take care of that.  We were stopped by three pretty 20-somethings who said, "He's our favorite guy here!!  What's his name?"  Caleb of course put on a suave smile and waved at the ladies, who fawned and swooned.  I was sorely tempted to have Caleb tell his admirers, "Excuse me ladies, but I need to go change my underwear."  Ooh la la!

Since Caleb was determinedly adhered to my arms, Jason kindly retrieved from the car my ratty old sling, with which I tied Caleb onto me over my formal gown.  In this manner we danced the night away and didn't leave until after midnight.  

All the kids were asleep by the time we got out of the parking lot.  Everyone slept until 10 (!!) the next morning.  

Best wishes to the wonderful couple for their new life together!