Worth a Thousand Words

My sister got married. The wedding was beautiful and wonderful and every other positive superlative you can think of… thank you for your wonderful well-wishes and comments about the decorations, dresses, etc.

After a very gray and drizzly week, Saturday was a beautiful day, we could not have wished for better weather.

Obviously this will be a picture-heavy post… so, come on in if you want to see how it all turned out…

Rehearsal at the U.S. Naval Academy Chapel, Annapolis, Maryland

We had a short rehearsal on Friday afternoon at the Academy’s chapel where we were able to meet the whole wedding party and go through the ceremony. Our mom and Daniel’s mom practiced the unity candle, Mimi and dad walked down the aisle, and Sarah and Katie practiced their bridesmaid smiles… and I practiced being the "Matron" of Honor.

Before the rehearsal dinner, Kris and I got a little time to hang out with Mimi and Daniel in old town Annapolis.

Rehearsal Dinner at Riordan’s in Annapolis

Kris and our cousin Jill

Our cousin Zeb and Daniel

Daniel’s family members

Wedding Day Preparations: Hair and Makeup

Mimi and Sarah paid to get their hair done, but Lolly DIYed it… the results were so-so. I helped Mimi with her makeup before we got her into the dress.

Dress Up Time

The flower bouquets were beautiful: the same lady did my wedding flowers, and they turned out just as lovely. The bridesmaids and flower girl carried a medium-sized bouquet with lavender, ivory and light yellow colors. Mimi’s bouquet was also medium-sized with ivory and yellow tones.

Unfortunately I cannot identify all of the flowers in the bouquet, other than knowing they smelled heavenly and looked amazing.

The wedding photographer got many more good shots of all of us dressing up and fixing Mimi’s dress. I hope to scan these in some time in the future.

As you can imagine, we were running late, and with no purse to carry at the wedding (and no way to fit the camera "on my person"–everything else was in my bra!) I do not have any photos of the ceremony itself. Of course, the wedding photographer took several, and I hope to get copies of these one day soon… In the meantime, the wedding ceremony only lasted for about 25 minutes. The aisle at the Naval Academy Chapel was quite long; the other bridesmaids got an escort, but being the "Matron", I walked the whole length by myself. (I did get to walk out with the Best Man) One of Mimi’s close friends from university sang beautifully, and Kris and another friend of the family were readers in the ceremony. Mimi’s friend Jeffrey officiated the ceremony. Everything moved along smoothly, and without too many tears.

Wedding Reception

The first dance was very sweet–we had those wedding bells on the table, and everyone was ringing them to make the bride and groom kiss. The bridal cake and the groom’s cake were beautiful and delicious!

They used Daniel’s Marine sword to cut the cake. It was pretty interesting to watch my sister wield that thing…

Many pictures were taken throughout the day, and not all of them were so grand… but this one had to be posted because it is Mimi and me with our cute husbands.

Our cousin Zeb, and my youngest sister Sarah caught the garter and bouquet (respectively). Both of them clearly dove (cheated) but it was funny and cute. Sarah caught the bouquet at my wedding too… but she is not done with high school yet, so she can wait

Mom with a friend, and the two men of my life: Daddy and Kris

The cousins pic–minus Zeb’s twin brother, Blake, who was not able to come to the wedding and Sarah and her beau, Andrew.

As you can imagine, I have about a million more photos from the wedding of the many family and friends that were able to attend, but I fear this blog entry cannot hold another picture!

Mimi and Daniel headed off on their honeymoon, and will be moving to Hawaii in about a 10 days. Congratulations to my sister and her new husband!