My Favorite Sister’s Wedding

Yesterday I witnessed my sister’s wedding at the Richmond cathedral. It was a beautiful ceremony (and not a full Mass, thank goodness), and I got to see a ton of family and family friends at the reception. I also got to spend a fair amount of time with my sister’s husband’s family, which was really nice. They’re good people, and together we’ll all support the marriage in the coming years.

A few of my favorite moments were:

–Seeing how kindhearted and helpful Emily’s bridesmaids were. It made me feel good about the person Emily has been for the last 13+ years. (I kept checking for rings, but they all had them.)

–Escorting my 11-year-old cousin down the aisle and watching her face turn a deep shade of red as I offered her my arm. It was adorable.

–Listening to the priest talk about the first time my sister and Joel said “I love you” to one another.

–Getting photobombed by Joel’s grandmother (see photo below).

–Hearing my dad’s speech and blessing for Emily and Joel. In fact, all of the speeches were heartfelt and quite good.

–Seeing a toddler at the reception go from sleepy and grumpy one moment to wide awake and ecstatically happy when she realized that there was ice cream. Ah, the simple joys of youth.

–Finding my mom for the last dance of the night, handing her off to my brother for the second half of the song, and finishing off the dance with my grandmother. Perfection.

What are some of your favorite wedding memories?

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7 thoughts on “My Favorite Sister’s Wedding”

  1. You are supposed to love all your siblings the same, Jamey! Grandparents are crafty little buggers aren’t they? I’m glad you had a good time. Those full mass weddings can be brutal. I would have reacted the same way as the toddler to the ice cream. Gift or money to the happy couple?

    Reply
    • Don’t worry–I only have one sister! 🙂

      Although I’m not a fan of wedding registries, as I’ve discussed on the blog, I gave them a gift from their registry.

      Reply
  2. 1. Getting to see the bride take a sigh of relief when she realizes after she walks down the aisle all will be good, as long as the important part of the ceremony happens, nothing else matters.

    2. Sounding totally cliche like a chick flick, one of my favorite parts of the wedding is when the groom sees the bride for the first time.

    3. When everyone drops most of the formalities at the reception (after the speeches and the cake cutting begins) and everyone starts dancing. At that point people are so happy for the couple they don’t care what they look like when they’re out there shaking their groove thang.

    Reply
    • George–I really like these. I wasn’t cued into 1 and 2, but I definitely saw 3 happen, and it was great.

      Reply
  3. Here are some of my personal favorites:

    1. The moment when the father-of-the-bride hands her over to her future husband– especially touching when you are part of the wedding party and have a “front row seat” for the handoff (I think I’ve cried every time).

    2. Hearing the bride’s family at my brother’s wedding sharing how happy they were to see her grow up and get married, as doctors told them she would never make it to adulthood after being diagnosed with leukemia as a child. (Naturally more crying happened then, too).

    3. Watching my older sister and brother-in-law pretty much have a food fight during their cake cutting. She won.

    4. Dancing with my Grandma and pretty much that entire side of the family to the “Beer Barrel Polka” at family weddings. I’ve never learned the actual polka steps, but have always had a blast trying to keep up with Grandma.

    Reply
    • I missed the handoff too! I don’t know what I was doing. I’m pretty sure I was there…

      I’d get emotional over 2 too, for sure.

      You like the food fight? If I ever get married, I’ll probably ask for no food fight. You don’t think you’d mind having that done to you?

      I love when grandmothers dance.

      Reply
  4. You missed the handoff?! Unacceptable, that’s one of the best parts!

    I wouldn’t want a food fight myself, but at their wedding I was only 13, so it was funny seeing our church youth pastor (my brother-in-law) have a huge slice of cake smashed into his goatee.

    Reply

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