Wedding Bells

My son got engaged last winter, and his wedding was this past Saturday. Mother of the groom is an interesting role; I had little to do other than help plan and pay for the rehearsal dinner and then show up at the wedding. It's really the bride's family's show, or at least this was, and I was fine with watching from the sidelines. I'm not much of a planner, and Kayla's mom did a wonderful job with everything.

It was an outdoor wedding, so my well-honed weather stalking skills were put to good use over the past week as monsoon season has hit our area.  The forecast initially looked bleak before giving us a bit of a reprieve, and by Friday night the weatherman was calling for cloudy and cool with virtually no chance of rain.  That made Jacob both happy (because he could play his soccer game that morning) and sad (because the football games he had to miss wouldn't be cancelled).



I'd made an 11:30 hair appointment, which was cutting it a little close but allowed me to go to Jacob's 10:00 game. Since I'll miss his last game I really wanted to be at this one, and being there meant I got to see him score three goals. :) Still, I haven't had an updo since my own wedding (nearly 13 years ago), and I'd kind of forgotten how much hair I have and how long it takes.  At 12:50 I was getting nervous. "Um...I don't want to rush you, but do you think my hair will be done by 1:30?"

"What time is the wedding?" (I'd actually mentioned the wedding time earlier but not really made a big deal of it.)

"2:00."

"Oh! I'll kick it up a gear!"

Thankfully she was finished by 1:15 (which was about when we'd planned to leave for the wedding), and I quickly paid and hurried out to my car, which I was dismayed to find covered in raindrops.  Not cool, Ma Nature.  I rushed home, crossing my fingers the rain wouldn't get heavier, ate quickly, did the fastest makeup ever, and then had to make my final decision on a dress.

I loved the dress, but it was short enough in back that it just wasn't the look I was going for.

And then shoes.  Jeff treaded the dangerous line of getting me moving without pushing too hard ("You're going to be late for your own son's wedding!"), ushering me out the door at 1:35, still wearing two different shoes and carrying my jewelry.

We got there with time to spare (and matching shoes) and joined the rest of the guests huddling beneath umbrellas and under trees.  The soft ground made walking in heels an adventure; you had to stay on the balls of your feet. The kids had wanted a small wedding, which is tricky when you come from a big family, and so it probably ended up bigger than they wanted while still leaving out people who'd expected to be invited. You can't make everybody happy, but it was wonderful to walk around before the ceremony and see all the people who were there because they love Daniel and Kayla.

I'd hoped to get by without wearing a cover, but temps in the 50's meant that comfort outweighed vanity.

The grandparents were seated, Kayla's brother escorted her mom, Daniel's dad escorted his wife, and Daniel walked me to my seat before going to stand in front with the officiant, his best friend since first grade.   The groomsmen walked in the bridesmaids, and then it was time for Kayla's dad to walk her down the aisle. She looked radiant.

Kayla and her father

Daniel teared up as soon as he saw her. Which made me tear up.

The minister, teary groom, and groomsmen. Daniel has the best group of friends. I love those kids.

The wedding party. I love the little touches they have in the clothes. The girls' dresses are slightly different, their shoes are different, the guys' ties are each a slightly different pattern in blue and yellow.

Vows

It was a short, lovely ceremony. Danny (the officiant) spoke, they said the vows they'd written themselves, exchanged rings, and were pronounced husband and wife.

Mr. and Mrs.

It's a little surreal that my child is someone's husband. It's been a while since he moved out and started supporting himself, but now he's married. He's always been more grown up than his years, though, so it's no surprise that he would be eager to take on the adult responsibility of marriage, and he chose well.  Kayla is wonderful; we've loved her since pretty much their first date.

But now he's married.  I'm a mother-in-law. And that's still super weird to me.  I don't really have anything else to say, so I'm just going to show you a few pictures from the day.

Flower balls hung from the trees

The H pumpkin for their last name was a neat touch

The "stage" all set.

Making their entrance to the reception

First dance

Mother-son dance

Father-daughter dance

So much love, so many smiles

Free video games in a side room made this the best reception ever for the kids.

Wedding reception selfie

Nathan wasn't able to get leave to come home, which was the one sad note of the day for me, but we brought him with us in our hearts and photographic form.