My Brother is Married, Part Two

The big day was filled with lots of preparation.  Holly has amazing vision and worked hard to have personal details throughout the entire day.  The reception was decorated with vintage family photos and antiques on all of the tables.  I loved everything about the event.

Luke and Holly aren't big fans of cake, so they opted for peach cobbler and cookies on the dessert table instead.  My mom did such a good job of making a 13-layer cookie cake for the happy couple to cut instead of the traditional wedding cake.  I would've been terrified, but she handled it like a pro.

The ladies getting ready:

The groom:

Holly was so good about staying true to who she was throughout the whole event.  Holly loves the shoe company, TOMS.  All of us bridesmaids wore adorable crocheted cream TOMS.  Check out Holly's precious blue TOMS:

We all wore either cream or peach dresses of our choice, which made life a little easier for my 31-week pregnant belly.

Have you heard of a new trend in the wedding world called "The First Look"?  Samantha said this has happened at many of the recent weddings she has attended.  It was a first for this old fogey.

Basically, the bride and groom see each other in a private location (with a photographer) before the ceremony.  Then, this moment allows them to get photos out of the way before the ceremony.

Some of us may or may not have creepily watched their "First Look" from afar.

Let's talk about the ring bearer.  Specifically, let's talk about how the ring bearer got to hang out in the groom's suite with the boys and showed up for pictures with Doritos all over his face, hands, and crisp white shirt.  Mama was NOT a happy camper.

During the ceremony, I had no worries that Palmer would walk down the aisle.  I had very valid concerns about his expectation to stay still up front during the ceremony.  As suspected, he walked down easily and hammed it up to the crowd (see below).

Then (as expected), he got bored standing with the flower girls, went across to stand with Rick, got bored, went back to the girls, got bored, waved to the crowd, went back across to Rick, and threw a fit when he couldn't walk around more.  Then, I saw Rick walk Palmer off into the woods, small boots flew into the air, the guys had a stern talk, and reluctantly, Palmer walked back to the front for the last few minutes.  Whew.

Who, me?!?

The reception was gorgeous and included one little boy having a ball running around with his cousins for hours and hours:

 We are so thrilled to have Holly join the family.  Luke, you did well.

-Bethany