At LAST!

The beautiful bride!

At LAST!  The most anticipated wedding of the past decade (for our family, at least)!!  After 14 1/2 years of friendship and dating (including a 7 YEAR engagement), Mom and Harvey FINALLY GOT MARRIED!!!

Now, as a disclaimer, I in no way captured all of the various parts of the day.  That's what they got a wedding photographer for, right?!  I don't even have shots of Harvey's family from the wedding day (I do have some from the dinner at my Gma's the night before, but that will be another post).  I'm hoping we'll all get a nice organized copy of the wedding cd, chalked full of pictures just waiting to be posted.  But, in the mean time, here are some of the candid shots I got of the big day!

Em and Gpa Harvey, looking so nice!

 The original plan was to have the wedding in my mom's backyard.  She and Harvey both work very hard on it and it's beautiful.  However, the weather forecast was all kinds of crazy with a 60% chance of afternoon thunderstorms and hot/humid after the rain.  So, the ceremony was moved to the primary room of our church.  Not exactly picturesque, but I was oh-so grateful when that AC kicked on and the cool air rained down!  My Uncle Rob officiated the ceremony (like he did for Cubby and my ring ceremony so many years ago!) and Emily and Kari were flower girls while Christian was the ring bearer.  My sister did a reading and Harvey's sister, Hazel, sang a song.  (She has a beautiful voice!)  Kyle and my Gpa Don walked my mom down the aisle.  It was very simple, very sweet, and very personal to my mom and Harvey.

Keeping the kiddos occupied prior to the ceremony

A few tips before the big event!

Erin, Gpa Don, and Mom

We asked Maggie to come and chase after Juliana for the afternoon so that we could enjoy the ceremony/reception.
She was worth it!

Grandma Beckie and the two sweet flower girls

Daddy and his girls

Me and my favorite ring bearer!

Uncle Kyle and Christian--sporting the bow-ties!

 After the ceremony, we drove back to my mom's for pictures and the reception (dinner, cake, dancing).  By that time, the rain that had come through had past, and it was still hot, but my mom's backyard had shade so it was comfortable.  We did eventually go home and change into casual clothes--after it's all said and done, it's all about comfort in our family!

Gpa, Gma, Daddy, and three of the four Amigos

Kyle and his girlfriend, Chelsie.  Don't they make a handsome couple?!

Me and my siblings!

 And, here are just a few of the flowers and the cake.  What event of my mom's would be complete without bunches of gorgeous flowers??!  My friend, Bridget, was our "cake lady" and the white almond buttercream cake was FANTASTIC.  (And I won't mention names, but many of us had two slices!)

So, even though it was completely stressful (of course) for my mom, the day was beautiful and it was so wonderful to be surrounded by so much family, many whom I hadn't been able to see for maybe 5 years!  And, now that it's over, the happy couple is able to kick back, relax, and FINALLY enjoy married life!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hudson!