Wedding Weekend, The Sequel

After a family wedding two weeks ago, this past weekend we got to do it again!  When I'd left off at my birthday post on Friday, I'd mentioned that we came in for the rehearsal since I was doing a reading (which went fine, thank goodness) and was surprised with a cake and singing at the rehearsal dinner.

With the bride herself!

The wedding was lovely, and the bride was stunning!  She usually keeps things pretty casual, so to see her in full hair and makeup with a gorgeous dress was quite the change of pace, but she looked amazing.  I actually almost teared up thinking of the little flower girl she once was and seeing this radiant woman coming up the aisle!

The church was so pretty.  That whole area behind the altar was a mosaic, and the gold in it was so eye-catching.

Check out the back of that dress!

And yes, everyone wore Converse, even the bride and bridesmaids!  The flower girl even had a tiny gold pair herself!

It was a very hot day, but luckily no rain (until we were safely in the reception, anyway).

The last time I took a picture here?  Four years ago on a walk with my mom when my dad was in the hospital down the road for his heart surgery.  Craig went to a school here as a kid, and I snapped an early evening shot of that tower on the right.

I couldn't resist taking a shot of this stained glass window in the church.  The colors are so pretty!

We stopped at the bar next door (same place the rehearsal dinner had been) with some other family, and eventually the bridal party stopped by.  We snuck out when the photographers showed up to get some shots, but I took a snap of the pretty flowers on the way out.  Love the purples!

Since we were all dressed up (and we almost never do this), we had to take a selfie!

Check out the spread of cupcakes!  So good!

I always have to get one good shot of the bride and groom, and here it is...

The venue was really pretty, with these stairs that the bridal party came down during introductions.  The photographers used them for a bunch of photo ops, too.  Unique venue--and aside from them taking unfinished drinks before they were gone, it was nice!  Good-sized dance floor, too!

I made it my mission before the end of the night to get a picture with the bride, just to have a side-by-side comparison of the difference that 15 years can make!  In retrospect we should have gotten an exact recreation with Craig, me, our ring bearer, and flower girl, but alas, a pic of me, the bride, and her mom will have to do!  Aside from my arm being bigger (let's say it's mom muscle) and my butt looking huge (I'm actually pretty sure it's the angle), the good news for me is that I don't see a significant difference in my face.  We're talking almost-25 vs. 40, so I'll take it!  The bride was bemoaning her flower girl bangs, but she was cute then and beautiful now!  The passage of time is just mind-blowing, isn't it?

We finished off the weekend celebrating my father-in-law's 71st birthday (more cupcakes!), then headed home to a relaxing Labor Day before a busy week ahead.  We spent time in the pool (because it was over 90 out!) and did tabletop s'mores in the yard.  Not a bad way to finish off the long weekend.

Yesterday marked Carter's last day of daycare, possibly ever.  He could go back there next summer, but they never seemed to fix an issue with their bus a couple years back and I'd prefer somewhere with field trips and more activities.  But his best little buddy might end up back there again and I'd hate to separate them so we'll have to see what their plan is.  But for now, we're done.  We commemorated the moment with a mini photo shoot:

I would have been sadder if they still had the staff from a few years back, but after the ownership changed up everything there were only two holdovers on staff and we were the last of the families.  I was a little sad saying goodbye to those teachers and Carter's current teacher, who adores him, but I would have been a mess if the old staff was around.  Nothing is like the people that have known and loved your kids for their whole lives...or most of it, in Jacob's case.

Twelve hours from now, both kids will be in the midst of their first day of school.  I can't believe Carter is going to be in Kindergarten.  It seems like we were just here with Jacob, even though these five years have been the hardest of our lives.  And fifth grade...how are we here already?  His last year of elementary school!  We had a couple more days than most people to prepare, but I'm not sure we're ever ready.  Regardless...here we go...stay tuned!