Monday, July 30, 2012

Emily's wedding

When I left Hawaii, I took a red-eye flight to L.A., and then on to Denver for Emily's wedding. The combination of no sleep and apparent sunsickness from a bad sunburn the day before left me dizzy and nauseous and not much help at all.

I had a brief nap and then did what I could to help my mom and her floral crew (Denise, Linda, Denise's mother-in-law, and Emily's friend Laura).
I caught Moosey smelling the tulips!
My aunt Linda is just the person you always want to have around. She goes around quietly doing whatever would be most helpful at any given time, and she frequently stops for back and shoulder rubs!
She also gives good hugs. (Although she told us that she was not always a hugger. She had to learn to hug when she moved to America from Scotland. "I am British, after all!" Oh, right.)
The gift basket Jessie and I found waiting for us when we checked into "Hotel Knoebel," the home of very generous friends who have hosted us on multiple occasions now, and even lend us one of their cars for the duration of our visit!

I should have taken a picture of the basket after we opened it. It contained: little purse packs of pain relievers (genius), floss picks, tissues, gum, water bottles, snacks of all kinds, mini nail polishes and other makeup items, notebooks, etc. I guess Denise has the same gift-giving/presentation genes my mom has!
That night, the groom's family held a wedding dinner at the Marriott. We just had to document the height difference between my mom and my cousin John! Mom: 4' 11". John: 6' 6"? And they're nicely coordinated, too.

The next morning, we all went to the temple. As we were checking in, my mom discovered that her recommend was expired! She was perplexed, because she thought she had renewed hers at the same time my dad did. I was afraid she would have to miss the sealing, but fortunately, she was able to meet with the temple president, and he made a special exception. (My dad vouched for her, too.)

It was a beautiful ceremony, and Jessie and I were both unexpectedly emotional. (We're not usually criers.) I just kept thinking how happy I was for Emily and Johnny, what a huge parenting payday it was for Denise and Mark and Johnny's parents, and how much I hope my children will make that same decision someday. It almost turned into ugly crying, but fortunately we made our escape afterward and calmed each other.
As we waited for the bride & groom to emerge, Rachelle held the bouquet and my mom did a little last-minute primping. I can't stand how beautiful it is. The succulents! The antique brooches! The peonies and orchids and roses and rosemary and mossy stuff! It's one of her many gifts.
The beautiful, happy couple!
Emily hugging one of her new nieces.

I like this picture of Emily's parents hugging her. Can you believe that Denise made that gorgeous dress? It's so perfectly Emily.
My darling parents.

Emily surrounded by friends.
Emily and darling pregnant Charlotte, sisters and best friends.
We changed our clothes, ate sandwiches from Jimmy John's and marvelous monster cookies, and then headed to the reception venue to decorate!

6 comments:

patsy said...

Oh this is beautiful-
I'm so glad you made it.

wow- everything is stunning- can't wait to see the reception.

Natasha said...

That dress is totally beautiful, so classy!!

Melinda said...

Your mom and aunt are so so incredibly talented! The dress, the flowers, that gift basket are so beautiful! I wish I had just even a little of their gift!

Denise said...

I'm so out of the habit of blog reading (and so bogged down with cleaning/packing/moving) but despite the late hour I decided to take a peek at Google Reader. How glad I am that I did! This post was just what I needed to lift my sagging spirits.

I realize now that I've had to shift gears so quickly from wedding to moving (insert saying goodbye to Grandpa in there, too) that I haven't really been able to sit back and savor or even fully process the wedding week experience. Thank you for this lovely recap, and as always--your perfect photographs.

Love you. Miss you.

(And--for the record--John is 6'5" tall.)

Jill said...

Oh this looks beautiful! I love how your family works together for these events and makes them so beautiful.

The brooches in the bouquet are gorgeous!

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

Your photos and recaps are always so appropriate and beautiful. You have such an eye for the beautiful Michelle.

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