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”.