My lovely daughter carried a bouquet that was in part grown by me
Recently, my daughter Jessie married her high school sweet heart. The wedding was OUTSTANDING! The Deacon that performed the ceremony is a close personal friend. He has known the bride and groom the entire 12 years that they have dated. He was their religion teacher in high school and a close, personal mentor as well. Because of this close relationship with the bride and groom, he was able to perform one of the most personal, spirtual and moving wedding ceremonies I have ever witnessed. I like to say that it is very good thing to be close to a preacher when you are getting married and buried, and Deacon’s ceremony was a perfect example of why I like to say that.
A beautiful wedding in a beautiful place – St. Louis Catholic Church Waco, Texas
Besides the 200+ friends and family members that helped us celebrate, the thing that made the wedding special was all of the help we recieved from family and friends. We could not have pulled this off without a ton of help from a ton of people. A very BIG THANKS to all of you!
Their theme was kind of homemade, rustic country with of touch of class. The wedding was a great example of what happens when many talented, loving people (that spend way too much time on Pintrest and ETSY) come together to create a wedding and reception that is truly special. The cake was made by one of the bridesmaids (thanks Lydia) and the cutomized cake toppers were made by an autistic artist from Wimberley. The advice tags were hand made on an authentic 1885 vintage letter press machine in Tulsa, Ok by our dear friends Kathleen and Margaret Hartley. The sign post was a gift from her brother Chris with help from the groom and their brother in law Moose. The groom and I built a menu board from an old sreen door and a bar sign that was finished off by an incredible chalk artist. And finally, our “Thank You” gifts to those in attendance were jars of homemade jalepeno jelly made by the bride, the MOTB (my wife) and the matron of honor (our oldest daughter).
While not exactly homemade, my main contribution to this homemade celebration were flowers. I grew zinnias, celosia (Cock’s Comb) and Maximillion sunflowers for her arrangements. I don’t want to over state my contribution; most of the wedding flowers were bought. However, I grew enough that our dear friend Carolyn Bruich (with the help of her lovely daughter Madeline and many other close friends) was able to use some of my flowers in each and every arrangement and bouquet. Growing these flowers was a labor of love and I love that my daughter wanted to include them in her special day.
Weddings are great. Not only are they a great way for two people to publicly express their love and committment, they are a great way for all of those who love the bride and groom to come together and create a truly and remarkable day for them. I am so happy for Cameron and Jessie and I wish them all of the best.
For all of you that are married or are planning on getting married, I leave you with some very wise words that were shared by the groom’s older brother and best man Colt Bell. “I hope each of you find, or have found what these two have; being a great person on your own but then finding that other great person that makes you truly amazing”.
Congratulations to you and your family! The pictures are gorgeous, the bouquets turned out beautifully, the menu board is awesome and the bride is simply breathtaking!
It was truly a wonderful day! Thanks for the comment.
Congratulations! Sounds like it was a wonderful wedding! Love you all.
Thanks! It truly was a wonderful celebration!
What a lovely post Jay! The flowers were remarkable and I know Jessie was so pleased to have them be apart of her beautiful bouquet!
Thanks so much!
Quite possibly the best wedding ever! What a beautiful bride!!
Thanks Bronco! DOn’t know if it was the best EVER, but it really was a great party!
What a wonderful cousin I have and what a wonderful Father, Husband, Son, Brother and Father-In-Law he is! O and quite the Gardner I might add! Beautiful article Jay and the pictures are gorgeous!
Susan you are making me blush! Thanks for all of those kind words!
Amen to that!
That was supposed to be after your post to Jessie about your and Sally’s happiness!
Awww this made me cry!! I thought our ceremony/reception was beautiful but it makes it that much more special since I know that you and Mom loved it so much!!!
Thank you so much for making this post, means a lot!! Love you!!!
If this made you cry then you really are just like your mother! 🙂 We love you Jessie Bell and we hope you and Cameron have all of the happiness that your mom and I have!
Oh, Jay! How wonderful. You have given your whole family so much more than just a beautiful wedding. God bless you all, Willeva
Thanks Willeva! I know that I have been truly blessed
LOVED that very special wedding and reception — it was awesome and so much fun!!!! Mom, Mikayela and I all enjoyed the afternoon/evening tremendously!!!
Sharon Hammond
So good to see you and so glad you enjoyed it!
Jay and Sally, Jessie and Cameron’s wedding was just beautiful and how could it not be with all the contributions from their wonderful families. Just want to thank you all for including my daughter, Sharon, granddaughter, Mikayela and myself in this wonderful and loving event. The ceremony was beautiful and it was so much fun seeing all the kids again. It has been a while and they were all so very special as was Sally to me there at St. Louis. It was just like an old time family reunion seeing not only your children but many others that were part of my St. Louis and Reicher family. Love them all. Sally, you found a sweetheart in Jay and you guys are awesome. Love ya, Shirley
St. Louis and Waco will always be home to us and it is because of people like you! We love you Shirley and we are so glad you Sharon and Mikayela got to celebrate with us!
Jay,
Just happened to view this post while looking up old school friends. What a heart-warming event and so inspiring! Your daughter is a beauty. I was just walking down memory lane and you were one of my biggest crushes – please do not take this out of context. I wish you and your family all of the best life has to offer. Sincerest Wishes, Susan Kubiak-Thompson
I am very flattered an so glad you found the blog. Where are you living now? It is almost time to start planning another reunion!
I am glad I found the blog as well! I am living in Bastrop, Tx outside of Austin. We just built a new house by the Colorado River. I have never been sent a notice for our reunions nor my parents notified (live in Waco). I am not a social media person and since I avoid my email as much as possible, I am somewhat disconnected. So keep me informed. You do what I love. I am outside planting, pruning, watering and amazed at the beauty of God’s creations. Since I no longer work at the State, I have plenty of time and I am enjoying my early retirement. What are you currently immersed in?
We know Bastrop very well. We live in Brenham and have kids in San Marcos/Wimberley area so we go through there often. Lovely, lovely area. What did you do for the state? I work for MD Anderson Cancer Center which is a state agency. I retire in 6 more years! When I am not working I garden and blog. I am also finishing my MS in Horticulture at A&M. When I retire I hope to write and lecture on horticultural topics. I will definately add your e-mail to the class reunion list. I send out stuff periodically. My latest one dealt with Mike Kissenger. He lost his house in the West explosion.
I read up on your bio. You are to be commended for your achievements. I worked in the State Park division for Texas Parks & Wildlife for more than a decade. I worked closely with the general public and traveled several times a year to various parks all over the state. It was fun and I enjoyed it. I miss it sometimes and contemplate returning but for now I enjoy not working since I have been working since the age of 15. My husband works a great deal both at TPWD in Project Management and IT and as head of security at Circuit of the Americas (new race track in Austin). I was devastated to hear of the explosion in West and say prayers for all affected by this senseless tragedy. On a plant topic, I just planted a wisteria (bare root) and it has taken off but I’ve noticed lately that some of the leaves have turned brown while the others are lush green. Am I over-watering it or not enough. I water every other day since it has been about a month since planting. I mulched around it and used garden soil with plant food in it during planting. This is my problem child. Help!
I would definately cut back your water for a while. This has been an unusually cool spring and plants have not needed as much water. If it has new foliage then it has obviously rooted. It is beginning to heat up so I would watch it but I would definately only water about once every fourth day.