Wedding Wednesday: Hugs and More

Before we start today’s Wedding Wednesday, I just want to mention that my back is still giving me fits so I reluctantly trundled off to the doctor yesterday.  She gave me a super, mega, mambo muscle relaxer which when it kicks in, renders me incapable of thought, speech, or action.  Well, maybe not completely incapable, because I am, after all, writing this blog.  However, I’m not promising it will be entirely coherent. And I’m not promising that I will be able to stay awake during the whole th
(Three Hours Later.)
Did I miss anything?  No?  Oh good.
By the way, I think I have enough photos to finish out the month of December and then  we will all observe a moment of silence before moving on to a new year and new Wednesday topics. 
As we finish out these last couple of weeks, I will be repeating a few pictures here and there— some of them will be repeated because my memory sometimes fails to let me know that I’ve already posted them and some 

will be repeated just because I especially like them. 

So let’s get started with a sort of wacky photo, shall we? 
This is the kind of sister-in-law that Nathan will
have to put up with for the next sixty years?  Can you imagine?

Oh wait. 
It appears as though the wild, wacky haired sister-in-law was actually
just showing off her wedding-esque hair extensions and that
Nathan’s other sister-in-law was able to whisk said extensions into a
lovely and elegant hair style.
Whew. That’s a relief.

Because we all know that Nathan would never fit into a
 wacky family, now would he?

A few more shots from the ceremony.

I know Steve and I look rather sober but we’re actually quite happy.

Their first married hug.  (One of many thousands of hugs to come.)

More hugs—Nathan and Sarah and Meagan and a groomsman.

The Parental Units swarm their beloved offspring . . .

. . . and even more hugging commences.

Later on at the reception, everyone signed a photo of the Bridal Couple.

Here’s Meagan with Chris, one of the two photographers. 
It’s a funny picture to me because it looks like she’s trying to talk
him into some funky dance move and he’s just not buyin’ it.

And one of my all time favorites.

I’ll close with a few comments on Wedding Wednesdays.

Deb said, “Thanks for WW and I don't mean Weight Watchers! Do either of the "kids" have a blog? I thought maybe Meagan would document their new life together... considering her background, (giggle)

Nope, Deb, no blog so far, but I would sure love to read the thoughts and experiences of the new Mrs. Smith!
Becky M said, “I think this blog needs TWO special entries one from the groom and one from the bride, heck or a few posts, talking about their wedding and honeymoon and such. We have heard from Steve and Sarah and even Snowy. I think it is time to hear from our other memories of the family and what a great way then getting their inside scoop on their wedding and honeymoon....it is a thought anyway.

Becky, I’m all for it!  Now we just have to talk the bride and groom into it!

Catherine said,“I love the pictures. Are they what a number of people took and have passed along to you? The detail of what is caught on film is just so exquisite.”

Catherine, thanks for the reminder to mention once again who the photographers are for these wedding photos. I may have taken a few of the ones I post, but about 95% of them were taken by the husband/wife team of Kristen and Chris Czuchra from Ozark, AL. 

They are friends of Nathan and Meagan and the perfect choice to shoot their wedding.  I also want to mention that the pictures I’ve been posting are a fairly small file size (as opposed to the originals) so they’re not a completely accurate reflection of the quality of the Czuchras’ work. But the poses and the pictures are gorgeous, none-the-less.

Here is the wonderful couple responsible for Wedding Wednesdays!

As always, thanks for stopping by and continuing to celebrate this special day with us.

Wedding Wednesday: One Certain, Shining Moment

Sisters.

A brother.  (And husband-to-be and brother-in-law to be.)

Dads.

Moms.

Friends.

All getting ready . .

for one. . .

certain  . . .

shining . . .

moment.

Wedding Wednesday: Writing Memories

You are being personally welcomed to today’s Wedding Wednesday
by the the bride and groom themselves!

They’re saying, “Come on in!  It’s gonna be fun!”

Of course, wherever these two go, fun follows.

In fact, when Steve was asked to lead in prayer before the luncheon,
everyone closed their eyes except for one
certain groom. He couldn’t seem to stop grinning long enough to engage in
any prolonged eye closing. 

(And yes, that is the mother of the groom you see holding a
pocketbook twice the size of the Titanic. I carried a small, elegant purse for the
ceremony but I started breaking out in hives at the thought
of being separated from my jumbo “mom purse” for any length of time.
I might need an intervention.)

During the luncheon, the bride and groom made the rounds, hugging folks . . .

. . . and showing off those certain items of jewelry that had
transformed them into Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Smith.

Then it was time for a little dancing. . .

. . . before heading outside with their assorted attendants
for a few more poses and pictures.

And also, some kissing.

But a bride and groom can only be all lovey-dovey for so long before the
Real World intrudes. And in this case, the Real World arrived in the
form of Nathan’s groomsmen.

Can you tell that Meagan loves hanging out with these fun fellas?

Of course, she enjoys this fun fella quite a bit, too.

In fact, if there was one word to sum up the
relationship that Nathan and Meagan have, it would be fun.

Big, big, fun.

The two of them are really funny on their own but when you put them together?
They are a HOOT!

When I look at their faces, I can’t help but think of the song I wrote for their ceremony,
”Love is the song, we are the melody.
Today we’ll start writing our own memories.”

Let the memory writing begin.

Thanksgiving

Gail left a comment asking if Nathan and Meagan would be here for Thanksgiving.

This year, they will celebrate Thanksgiving with Meagan’s family in Florida and then at Christmas,  they will come and be with us.

I thought I had come to grips with the whole idea of this being our first Thanksgiving without Nathan until I found myself crying in the potato chip aisle of the grocery store last night.  I had paused to choose some chips and happened to see one of Nathan’s favorite flavors: Kettle Cooked Sea Salt and Cracked Pepper. They reminded me of when he lived at home and always jumped around in fine Golden Retriever puppy fashion whenever a new bag of chips was opened.  He’d say, “Oooh, Mom! Let me have the first chip!  The first chip in the bag always tastes the best!”

That little routine always made me smile.

But last night?  When I saw those chips and heard his wacky little chip spiel in my head?  I will admit I shed a few mommy tears right there next to the Sea Salt.

Although it won’t be easy having this first holiday without my beloved firstborn (and his marvelous bride) here, it makes it a lot more bearable knowing that he will be surrounded by in-laws who love him and treat him as one of their own.  He is so blessed to be a part of that wonderful family and my mama heart is full, knowing that he will be surrounded by plenty of laughter and good times. And also really great food.  (Although probably not Sea Salt chips.)

In closing, we have made some extra, extra special plans for our Thanksgiving meal which I’ll write about after it’s all over!