they're hitched!

photo snagged from Alan Garcia off of facebook

Driving home the night after my sister's wedding I was mesmerized by the tiniest sliver of a new waxing crescent moon that was on the horizon directly in front of us. Apparently, the spring is the only time that you can catch a glimpse of what they call the "newborn moon " before it sets... I just kept thinking about the new life, the new family that my sister and her husband have started. That moon looked so much like a little boat- a sliver of a canoe... I just imagined them riding off on the journey of their life together in that little moon boat.

The stars were so bright in the sky that night as we drove home...so clear, you could see them all. There was so much concern about rain over the wedding weekend as storm clouds moved in and out, threatening. A drop was felt here or there, but it held off for the ceremony and it was beautiful. Then, the rain came down as though celebrating during the sultry(sounds more romantic that humid right? ;) southern wedding.

The threat of the clouds made us realize what a gift that was-- that moment of time standing there with the wind blowing in from the ocean... with the weather holding so that we could all be out there on the spot that for the past fifteen years at least she had dreamed of having her wedding.

photo from my uncle Lindsay Holliday (I think?)

Kelley McRae who is not only their friend, but also an incredible musician and songwriter sang this song as they left the ceremony... So lovely!

 Anna and Elisha did a really great job as flower girl and ring bearer. Anna did, however, forget to throw the flowers until she got to the front and stood next to me... so I had a lovely little explosion of petals right in front of me... she also decided that she would rather stay at the front next to mama than go and sit with Big Mama (my mother). But the ceremony was a little long for one so small so she entertained herself (and the front rows of people) by turning her basket into a hat and she even started to do a little song about a bunny whose ears "go flop flop flop" just as they were saying their vows... luckily the breeze didn't carry the song very well and I don't think too many people noticed ;-)

 The stormy weather really brought out the intoxicating fragrances- there was jasmine blooming everywhere, magnolias, and gardenias... I love to think of the olfactory connection we will have to that special weekend when we smell those scents!

 The kids put up with all the photography after the wedding because of promises of wedding cake. So, of course they walk straight up to the cake table and camp out... when the cakes were finally cut they sat right in front of the table and went to town.

When I ask them what their favorite part of the wedding was... yep- cake.

Photo snagged from Laura Rogers off of facebook

Dancing came in a close second... and Elisha also enjoyed my lovely young cousin's company. She was the closest thing to a teenage girl there, and he has been telling us how much he likes teenage girls (HELP! What will I do when he is able to date those teenage girls!?!)

Andrew gets the super dad of the year award! I was completely unavailable for mothering pretty much the whole time. I did the centerpieces for the wedding and helped pull it together... I probably walked ten miles just carrying stuff back and forth, up and down. Andrew kept the kids out of the way and amazingly enough kept them from getting sunburned! He, however, didn't make it out so lucky...he really took one for the team ;-)

photo from my sis Betty Collins

Ah, here they are- aren't they darling? I think this will be what my children envision as the quintessential wedding cake for the rest of their lives... big impression! I will know that it is this wedding cake that I have to blame when I can no longer fit into any of my clothes and people no longer recognize me. We brought home half of one of those big tiers and I have been working hard to get it out of my house... my main strategy being-- eat it fast so that it will stop tempting me ;-) It is SO good it MUST be 99% butter!

* We are going to have a photo shoot soon with the kids in their wedding clothes. Anna got chocolate on her dress before I had a chance to document it properly... so stay tuned- I promise to get some well photographed detail shots of her dress!
**Speaking of photos... We didn't even take our nice camera out of the bag-- too busy making the wedding happen and enjoying it, so sorry for the poor quality phone pics and half of them I yanked off of facebook...