The Wedding

As of Saturday, my brother is officially married. When I sat down to write this post, I quickly found that a day and an occasion this momentous and joyful is hard to put into words, so for the sake of ease, here is a top ten list (in no particular order) of my favorite things/moments about Bro's wedding.

1. the rehearsal dinner. Of course, the rehearsal dinner was my family's 'job', and we had a blast doing it. We gave out paper-back classics for party favors, had handmade bookmarks for the place cards, and had beautiful, handmade menus. And the food! The food was a feast of Egyptian food. Sounds odd, I know, but Egyptian food really should be more popular. It is amazing!

2. playing dress up. It had been a while since I had the opportunity to put on a formal dress and really do my hair. Despite being the size of a small fishing boat, there is a little girl within who just wants to be pretty. Also, it was fun seeing my family dressed up. Mom, Dad, and Bro all looked pretty dang spiffy.
3. seeing Shep in a tie. Being a product of BJ's gene pool, this is sure to be a rare thing, so I am choosing to enjoy it while he is too young to protest.
4. catching up with old friends and family. After three years of being secluded in Kentucky, there were a whole lot of people at this wedding who I hadn't seen for years. Also, I'd never met the one-year-old son of my brother's best man, Will. It was a treat both catching up with the old and meeting the new.

5. being a 'groomswoman'. I stood with my brother and Will for the wedding. As cliche as it sounds, it was truly an honor. When I was first asked to be a groomsman, Mom declared that I would be the prettiest groomsman ever. I responded that while I didn't know about that, I was quite sure I'd be the most pregnant. I was right. (As an added bonus, Will was happy to stand next to me because I made him look taller and skinnier.)

6. watching BJ officiate the ceremony. BJ did a wonderful job officiating the wedding. He shared the job with a wonderful minister from the Methodist church were the wedding was held, and they matched up perfectly. BJ gave the sermonette at the beginning of the ceremony, and it was about how marriage is one of the 'thin places' where we see the character of God and the good he intended for us. Hearing my spouse's view on marriage was pleasantly eye-opening. Basically, I'm really glad I'm married to someone who sees marriage the way BJ sees it.

7. BJ dropping the ring. In a priceless oops, BJ dropped one of the rings while he was praying a blessing over them. After amen-ing, he announced, "I just dropped one of the rings, and it is right there (pointing at the bottom of Stephanie's full skirt)." It was easily retrieved, and things moved on.

8. imagining incredibly cute nieces and nephews. Stephanie was a breath-takingly gorgeous bride, so what can I say? My mind went there.

9. taking communion. Bro and Stephanie decided to take communion as their first act as a married couple, and the rest of the church was invited to join them. It was a perfect reminder of the sacredness of marriage, the beauty of our faith, and the generosity of God. Simply put, it was one of those moments when the presence of God was tangible.

10. seeing my brother happy. Honestly, is there anything better?