I need to be careful, or I could jinx myself.
The wedding was wonderful. I spent Thursday night doing flowers with my aunt Carrie and Jen and working myself up into a state of nervous prostration that a) Amanda wouldn’t like the flowers and b) that they’d all wilt and/or fall out by the time the wedding itself actually happened. Luckily, Amanda loved the flowers and nothing fell out. But I didn’t know that Thursday night, of course. My aunt Carrie ended up doing the boutonnieres, the prep work on the corsages (we couldn’t find the ribbon I wanted to use) and the maid of honor bouquet; Jen did the rest of the bridesmaid’s bouquets and the bouquet to toss, and I did Amanda’s bouquet, finished the corsages, and did the arrangement for the guest book table. By the end of the night, I was absolutely exhausted. Unfortunately, my night was haunted by nightmares of wilting flowers and shattering bouquets. And I had to get up waaaay too early to get to the temple on time.
The ceremony was amazing, though. My great-uncle John performed the sealing, and it was a very spiritual and romantic event. Those who have witnessed a temple sealing know what a simple but beautiful ceremony it is, and it was extra-good that day. After the ceremony we went outside to take pictures. Luckily, it was a clear day (the days before and after Friday were overcast) and not too cold, so Amanda (my new sister!) didn’t freeze without a coat while we snapped a few pics in front of the temple.
After that we made our way to our stake center for the wedding breakfast (I know, it’s more of a luncheon, but that’s what we call it here), which was very nice and at which I ate waaaay too much food (including a wonderful eclair and a to-die-for chocolate dipped macaroon), did a bit of laughing, and cheered when my dad made an HP reference after we were done eating (“Now that we’re all fed and watered”), and then helped clean up and set up for the reception later. Dad and I went down to Backer’s and picked up the cake, then I got my hair done and got dressed, and before I knew it, it was time for the reception to start.
The reception was fantastic. Family, old friends, new friends– oh, and good food. I took a few pics (click on the thumbnail for a bigger one):
Amanda with her close friend Valerie, who is modeling the bridesmaid dress– a silver top and a blue skirt with lilac snowflakes embroidered on it.
Full length pic of Amanda in her dress.
Amanda in her dress closer up.
A closeup of the bouquet. I did a pretty darn good job, if I do say so myself.
The bouquet that Amanda threw, which Jen made. No, I didn’t catch it. Valerie did.
The guestbook table. I made the arrangement.
The display of the potrait my cousin Pete did of Amanda and Ben. They used the picture on the invitations.
Closeup of the picture.
Those are all the digital pics that you’d care to see. I’ll have to wait for the other pics to come back to post any more.
Oh, and while I’m at it:
Happy Birthday, Dadoo!!!