Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Wedding Wednesday: Beaming-er Bride. Grinning-er Groom

Just what is this crazy groom doing?
Why is he peeking around the door?
What (or whom) is he peering at?
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Aha! 
It turns out that there is a certain someone on the other side--
someone whom the groom seems to have an inordinately strong interest in. 
Someone who is dressed in white--glowing, joyous, beautiful!
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Since Nathan and Meagan opted not to see each other before the ceremony,
this was as close as they were able to get to each other—
holding hands around the door.
It’s such a quirky, creative shot; it makes me smile every time I see it.
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And in other pre-ceremony shots . . .
How did my little girl ever turn into this exotic young lady?
I’ll never know how that happened.
But I’m everlastingly grateful for these miracle years we’ve been
blessed with since her 15% chance of survival cancer diagnosis
almost ten years ago.  On that nightmarish diagnosis day,
I never dared to dream that Sarah would live long enough
to be a bridesmaid at her beloved big brother’s wedding.
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Here’s the bride.
And her bracelet. 
And her be-flowered and bedecked bodice. 
Beauty everywhere you look.
And even more beauty inside.
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One Hawley. 
One used-to-be-Hawley.  
One Smith. 
One Hawley-soon-to-be-Smith. 
Four sisters of various varieties.
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One of the many things I loved about the ceremony was
that it included a segment of worship
featuring drums, bass guitar, piano, and vocalists.  

Nathan and Meagan said, “Worship is a big part of our lives
and we want it to be a big part of our wedding, too.” 

One bridesmaid did double duty as a
singer,
one of the two ministers officiating the
ceremony played the piano, and the other
ceremony-officiator sang. Meagan and Nathan
hang out with multi talented folks!
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It wasn’t just a wedding.  It was church!**
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And after church (and the wedding), we had some happy folks!
Have you ever seen a beaming-er bride?
Or a grinning-er groom?
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Of course, amidst all the spontaneous spurts of excitement,
every wedding must have its
official formal shots of the bridal party . . .
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. . . and pictures with family members.  (Nathan with his Dad and Grandpa.)
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Here’s Meagan with part of her new family—my sister, Debbie,
my brother-in-law, Rev. Randy Mantik, and their son, Caleb.
Don’t let Debbie’s demure demeanor deceive you—
she can flat whip up on a set of drums.  Plus, she
has the most gorgeous alto voice you have ever heard!
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The bridal couple with Steve’s Mom and Dad,
his two younger brothers, and his sister-in-law who all live in Charlotte.
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The exquisite bride with her really, really fabulous Mom and Dad,
Rev. Frank and Rev. Sheri Hawley.

I can’t tell you what a joy it is to Steve and I
to have our son marry the daughter of
some of our best friends! 
He’s got good taste—in a wife and in in-laws.
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Although I don’t even know the ring bearer,
I had to post a couple shots since he is so stinkin’ cute!
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The bride and her wacky bridesmaids.
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The bride and her new husband’s wacky groomsmen.
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Lovely, lovely ladies.
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 Lovely, lovely bride.













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Lovely, lovely day.
**A brief word of explanation about the expressions of worship during the wedding:

The Smith and Hawley families are both part of a faith tradition that utilizes modern music, active participation, and physical expressions of joy and worship in our church services; this includes among other things, raising our hands while singing or praying. 

Raised hands represent surrender.  Think about one’s instinctive reaction to a bank robber--arms up is the universal sign of surrender.
Raising hands also signifies praise and adoration.  If you’ve ever seen a pop or rock concert, the audience often stands with their arms raised.  In the same way, we raise our hands to express praise and worship to God--who deserves it a whole lot more than any rock star.
There are many verses in the Bible about this practice; here’s one of them:
Psalm 132:2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD.
So there you have it. A big serving of Wedding Wednesday accompanied by a little side dish of Worship 101.

Thanks for stopping by and making Wedding Wednesday such a special day!

13 Had Something To Say (Just click here!):

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the smile.

Steve

Christie Howard said...

Lovely pictures! I think it's awesome that there was a time of praise and worship. And as for the lifting of hands, I always compare it to a baby or toddler lifting their hands to a parent. They are surrendering their "independance" so they can be held in the loving arms of a parent.

Gail Puckett said...

Becky, love the pictures, thanks for making my day, You can just see the joy in all their faces (and yours mixed with a little sorrow at loss of your son in your home) Of course you are like me you gained another daughter. I adore my daughter-in-love (sounds better than daughter in law doesn't it?) and I am so grateful to have her in my life. Keep the pictures comin' it brightens up my Wednesday morning!

Love Being A Nonny said...

Nothing more beautiful than young people raising their arms in praise! Great pictures!

MaryH said...

Loved it as much this Wednesday as last and hopefully many more Wednesdays to come!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing more of Nathan and Megan's special day. I love looking at the wedding pictures. :)

Gayle in AL

Anonymous said...

Thanks for explaining the raised hands. I have never heard that before and I like it.

I love Wednesdays!!!

Connie F-G
Nebraska

Lisa from Georgia said...

Love, love WW's. I really hope that you'll get to post the video after everyone watches it. I love the idea of a worship service as part of the wedding. It shows that the Lord is a part of their lives. What a wonderful thing that their children will see about their parents from the day they said, "I do"!

becky m said...

aaahh this was a brief moment of happiness and non stress, now i must return to the real world....

Kathleen said...

I love, love the picture of Megan raising her hands in worship.

This past weekend I took my middle daughter (11) back to Pennsylvania (we live in Georgia) to participate in a Creative Arts Worship weekend. The culmination of the weekend? Watching my sweet girl being pulled into a crowd of dancers and watching her lose herself in worship, dancing with her arms raised high in surrender. She didn't do it with me or for me. This was her worship experience alone and it was beautiful. Later she told me that she had felt God's presence so strongly that night.

Jodi said...

Another wonderful WW! And we even get one next week, too! They seem so happy.

Any new updates on the new commenting system?

Jodi said...

PS. I think I just figured it out, sorry!

Margie said...

Great pictures as usual! Singing really does add another dimension to worship doesn't it.