the one where Rebekah and Samuel get married at St. Joseph Church
Editing this wedding has brought up so many wonderful memories during this Christmas Season. Rebekah and my daughter Kalyn Marie, are childhood friends. And good friends at that. They shared classes together, hopes and dreams together. Secrets together. And even though they both attended colleges states away from each other, they've continued to stay in touch and keep their friendship close to their hearts. I love that about both of them.
Rebekah's cooked in my home. Laughed in my home, Cried in my home. I love her like one of my own. I'm so proud of the woman she has become and how she's stayed true to her roots. She's not afraid to search out truth and definitely not afraid to choose her own path. There were so many emotions going through my head this day as I watched her get married! Just WOW! I'm so happy for her and Samuel and wish them the ULTIMATE best for a future filled with lots of love and laughter!
The week before the wedding, Rebekah lost her maternal grandmother, Linda and her paternal grandfather, Darius. Both had been ill, but it was still unexpected. Darius had planned to marry the couple. They thought of canceling the celebration, but after much discussion, it was decided to continue. Family was already on their way for the wedding and despite the emotions running strong, everyone felt it was best to move forward. "Life is for love, the dead can wait." Carry on, folks. Carry on.
So they did.
Our church has a lovely parish activity center that is really more like a home. The girls were getting ready there and Kalyn and I met Rebekah with some quiche from Sugarbakers and of course, mimosas. Hello! We wanted to spoil this girl rotten if we could. Once we arrived, Rebekah realized she forgot her slip. Like forgotten and IN LUBBOCK. So, no big deal. I made the trip to LBK and picked up her slip, tried to pet her dog AND managed to pick up a box of paper goods for our church to boot. Yep. Small town errands. You help where you can. Did I also mention the grooms vest and bowtie were picked up by me as well? I told you we were close!!! LOL
Rebekah and Samuel chose rings that featured their fingerprints and when placed together, form a heart. They were super cool! And something I had never seen before. I've seen fingerprints on rings, but not like this. Very cool!
Samuel is a twin and has 2 other siblings as well. Cool thing, one brother lives across the street from the church, how convienant, and Samuel got ready there. They all offered advice and helped get the dude ready for his day. At first, a braid may have been involved in that long hair of his, and his sister Carli totally helped with that. But it wasn't deemed "manly" enough so a simple pull back sufficed. He has the healthiest, shiny hair! I'm convinced as women that we ruin our hair by doing too much to it. Honestly, guys grow it out and it shines.
Food trucks served the guests from outside St. Joseph Hall. This is the very hall Devin and I hosted our wedding guests. It's been updated since the 90's. (thank God!). Rebekah graduated with a degree in culinary and business. So, being the foodie she is, HELLO! She wanted her guests to experience a culinary fun type of way to eat. So, food trucks rolled in and fed us well, then rolled out. Total YUM! And everyone enjoyed the wait in line together. Weather was nice for waiting in line. A bit chilly, but nothing too drastic. There was a moment that was a bit "touch and go". They were late. Like in "we may be ordering pizza, LATE."
The Hall was decorated by family and friends and they hung twinkle lights up. So after dinner, we danced a Grand March and then finished with the bride and groom in the middle, with us surrounding them in a circle, and they danced their first dance. Guests held up their cell phones to light the couple. It was totally cool and appreciated, thank you. Helped me out tremendously as I was shooting a very high ISO, plus it was neat to have everyone in their background of their dance. Worked great! I loved the way it looked in the photos. Thank you guests.
A special shout out to Heather, the bride's sister who did the flowers and handled an adorable 2 year old as well. She was in grand form this day. Getting her sister dressed, handling all sorts of arrangements, even toasting her sister without breaking down in tears. BRAVO, Heather. Bravo.
Quite a few “Cooper kids” showed up at the wedding. Kalyn and Rebekah attended St. Joseph School and then moved to Cooper in the 6th grade. It was super fun to catch up withe several of them. I won’t say which ones cried like babies during the daddy - daughter dance. Nope. Won’t say. But maybe you can tell yourself in the photos I've included here.
Everyone enjoyed the celebration and my good friend Gayla totally nailed the "footloose" dance. She is AWESOME! Rebekah, I hope there’s video of it somewhere out there. Maybe Toby? Because we loved dancing with her and you would have, too! I think at that point you two had already departed. You know, that time when you got pelted by bird seed? Was that what that was?
I stayed even after the couple left. It was so much fun dancing and catching up with good friends and church folks. These two are well loved. Well over indeed.
Love Does,
Kristin
