The Wedding of Michael and Emily

Sunday, August 24, 2014 was a very special day in the lives of two families.

Those of Michael and Emily.

We had spent most of Saturday at the Eicher Arts Center getting 

everything ready.  And it looked great!

We returned on Sunday and after some time I went wandering.

These next photos share some of what I found.....

Emily's father, Carl.

Spending some quiet time while the girls were getting their photos

taken...and before the guys arrived.

We are so blessed to already have been friends with Emily's family for many 

years and are so happy to now have this young couple in common.

I left Carl and went to see what was happening with the girls photo session.

I got to be a flower holder so I snapped some pics.

Why not, right?

Our friend, Susan, gave the gift of flower arrangement.

Emily's love of flowers led her to choose

unusual and hard to get flowers.

Some were even ordered from Chile.

But it was well worth it!

After the guys arrived Mom and I lifted our cameras at the same time to get 

a photo of the DJ, Mike and Warren.

This brought a response from Michael that cracked us up and we just told

him to get used to lots of photo snapping on this his wedding day.

Carl made these doors come together for Emily.

She wanted to get married in front of them.

Michael made the table on which sits a bonsai tree that became a part 

of the ceremony.

As both Michael and Emily have worked in horticulture

they found this to be a very special replacement for the unity candle or sand mixing

that are more traditional.

Emily would rather take care of a tree for the years to come than 

dust a jar of sand.  

Made perfect sense to me!

Especially since she is good at these things....

I would probably kill the poor thing and that wouldn't be so good.

Chelsea signs the window.

By the end of the night the glass was filled with well wishes.

The cakes that I made.

The largest was Red Velvet, the medium was Butter flavored

and the smallest Chocolate.  

However, there was a second largest cake in Chocolate.

Belinda (Emily's mother) made the adorable banner flying in the middle sized cake.

Mike got the dirtbike and had fun setting it up as a "faux" cake topper.

Guest favors.  

So cute in the end but a real pain to make....

or so I hear.

I had nothing to do with them.

 

Does this photo of the guys make anyone else think of a science fiction movie?

Men in Black or Ghostbusters?

I think the guys here represent a combination of those movies....

perhaps that is why this comes to my mind.

But they make me smile.

What a blessing these friends are to Michael.

They gathered around him in prayer before the ceremony.

I know he values each and every one of them.

What they were waiting for....

Here she comes!

After Carl quipped about having to give another daughter away so soon...

his oldest daughter was married earlier this summer....

he handed Emily over to Michael.

A very special moment, indeed.

The Bonsai planting that I mentioned earlier.

So cool!

As so often happens after weddings there was a photo session immediately following

the ceremony.  The professional photographer did her thing and while she did that 

some of us "played" with photos of our own.

Jonathan and Chelsea were posing...and got photo bombed by the 

beautiful sister of the bride....Elizabeth.

We love her!

The footwear for the bride and groom.

As we waited for our turn to be introduced at the reception

Belinda and I had a little fun with our friends inside as we 

peeped in their windows. 

The young couple in glasses were married just about six months 

ago...you might read her mother's blog at Creekside Cottage where you'll

find some different photos from Michael and Emily's wedding.

Here you can see the Grandmothers and other friends from church.

It was such a small venue that only a handful were able to come to 

the wedding....but our other friends were all on our minds

as the evening progressed.

We can't wait to share in another special evening next month.

The first matter of business after we were all introduced to the reception guests

was the first dance by the new Mr. and Mrs. Michael Keeney.

They were so cute!

I think they like each other.

At one point Mikey took a second to look at our table and wiggle his eyebrows

in a sign of happiness.

I got the Just Married banner from Karen on Etsy.

She is a member of the Christian Artist Street Team that I belong to

and I have met her in person.

So it was very special to get to have her make this up for 

the wedding.

 A look at the tables as they were set before the guests arrived.

Michael and Emily received these singing bears at the reception...

they sing "Love and Marriage".  

I got a kick out of it being that particular song

because Warren's parents sang it to us

on a video that was made for our wedding.

 A good view of the room as you can see them eat cake.

 The food was excellent. 

It was catered by a long time friend of ours from homeschool co-op

who just started a catering business with her husband.

Mike and Emily's pastor and his wife are also long time friends from co-op.

We are so thankful for the way they, as a couple, have invested in both

Michael and Emily over the past several months.

I know these photos aren't anything to compare with what Blythe Hoerr has taken 

on this special day...but these were taken from a mom's perspective.

You can't see my tears....but you can know that every detail was absorbed

and appreciated.

Every single thing that Michael and Emily did to make this day their own 

was noted and helps us to understand who they are as a couple that much more.

I think they are going to do just fine.

They are so gifted and make a wonderful team.

Just as Pastor Paul encouraged them to do for the rest of their lives.