Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...



So this weekend was "The Wedding." A splendid affair in East Texas whereby Amy married her sweetheart, John... aka J.D.

First, a quick primer: Amy and J.D. started dating in December 2003. Theirs is a whirlwind romance-- Amy quit her job in San Antonio in May, moved back to Linden, Texas, where she grew up, and the relationship continued to develop. This past Christmas, they became engaged and set a June wedding date.

Then, the week before last, Amy decided she was ready to get married. Now. The first idea was a quick elopement the weekend of Feb. 5. She later agreed to push it back to Feb. 12, so friends and family could attend. So the task fell on Jessica and Jenny to plan this thing. In about a week.

I can't speak for Jessica, but I know Jenny is a planner. So the last-minute aspect of all this had to drive her a little nuts. It's not that she can't plan quickly -- within a week after getting engaged, we had a date, a time, a church (of course), and a solid lead on a reception place -- she just prefers organization above throwing lots of things together and seeing what sticks!

So here's how it played out. We ordered a cake from a Dallas bakery and made arrangements to travel to Linden on Friday. Amy wanted me to shoot some photos, so I bought a lot of film -- and a new super flash for my camera. And then I had to beg a co-worker to come in on what would be her day off so I could take off Friday. Jessica, meanwhile, did a bunch of the behind-the-scenes planning and even picked up Amy's dress in San Antonio and delivered it to her on Thursday.

Since Jenny sang in the wedding, we went to the rehearsal Friday night. It started about an hour late, in part because the bride's father hadn't yet showed up. "Where's Rex?" "He'll be here in a little bit. He had to feed the cows." The pastor was surprisingly (to us, anyway) laid back about the whole ordeal... he had no problem with me setting up my camera in the choir area (this is a Baptist church, so that's right up front) and shooting throughout the service. He also didn't run the rehearsal... it was all kinda free-form, again a foreign concept to us.

The rehearsal dinner... or really, dinner after the rehearsal... was at a local Mexican restaurant. OK, THE local Mexican restaurant. Where we learned about the East Texas tradition of mixing butter into the salsa. We passed on that one. Later was the bachelorette party/program assembly/night-before festivities at the bride's house. I was there, but in another room, so that whole tradition was unmarred by this male's presence.

Day of the wedding. The ceremony went fairly smoothly. I took LOTS of photos... as did everyone else. Since I shot on film, I'm getting the pics developed now and will create a Web site later. Jenny's solo was fantastic, of course. (She's never one to brag about her singing talent, but it's quite good) And Amy & John were hitched without a hitch. The cake was delicious and pretty. And we all went to a restaurant in Jefferson for lunch... once we found it. See, the restaurant moved. And changed names. But the directions it gave were to the old place, so there we were, by an abandoned building by the railroad tracks wondering why on earth we'd want to go there for a luncheon.

Oh, and this whole time, Jenny & I were battling terrible colds, but we played through the pain.

There are many, many stories from this weekend unfit to print on this blog. There are also many, many quotes from the weekend that I hope Jenny posts on her blog soon.

Posted: Tue - February 15, 2005 at 01:27 PM          

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