The Weekend #1

The first event of our weekend was Brian and Jaci's wedding. Michael and I both have ties to Brian's family that go back (for me) long before Michael and I met. Brian's family were the first to meet us upon our arrival in the Midwest. In fact, Brian's father actually picked out a house for my family to rent and then showed up to help us move in, all without us having met them in person yet.

They invited us to visit their church the morning after we moved, and we fit in so well that that's where we ended up attending. Years later Michael moved to town to intern at our church and Brian's grandparents graciously offered him their spare bedroom for more than a year. Michael joined in with many of Brian's family's activities, and thus our families have been connected.


The flowers were absolutely gorgeous! Choi-ha, who helped my mom do the flowers for my wedding, was in charge for Brian's wedding. God answered her prayers, and the lily of the valley bloomed at just the right time (despite the strange weather patterns this year) and all the bouquets and arrangements were filled with flowers from friends' gardens.

Here are Brian's grandparents, Don and Ellen, with whom Michael lived when he first moved to town:
Here is a picture of the bridal party at the front of the church. Michael performed the wedding, but there were several other pastors involved as well:
The bridge and groom were very happy!
Brian's youngest sister, Nadia, looked very grown up! One of the best parts of the wedding was at the end. The groomsmen walked the bridesmaids down the aisle and Nadia was left on her own as the junior bridesmaid. So, Michael, being somewhat family anyway, escorted Nadia down the aisle to the smiles and applause of the congregation. :)

Here is the bride's bouquet beside one of the bridesmaid's bouquets. The daisies were in memory of Jaci's mother who passed away four years ago this month:

Johanna, Brian's other sister, also looked just beautiful!
This was Rachel's first non-family wedding in several years and she was very excited to attend. She paid careful attention to the ceremony and enjoyed every bit.
Here we are in our wedding outfits. We never got a picture last weekend, so Rachel took one for us this weekend:
After the wedding we headed to Emily's Graduation Party which I will post next.