After various delays, finally here are the proper photos from my wedding day! The snapshots I put up shortly after the wedding only captured a few glimpses of the day. Time to share all about the event, which is certainly one of the biggest days in my life. 🙂

The sun came out bright and clear, after a torrent of rain the night before. Everything was soaked, but we'd still been able to do some of the setup the night before.

 

After working madly for hours wiping things off, setting the tables, bringing out the decorations, doing first aid on the bouquets, and food prep – the time drew close enough that it was time to start getting ready.

 

We may or may not have done some peeking out at the guests…

 

All sorts of pretty details were in readiness.

 

Being helped into my wedding dress. All those tiny buttons took a while to button up!

 

Mama helped me put on the Bride Pearls, and my veil…then I looked in the mirror and lo and behold, I was a bride!

 

Meanwhile in another part of the house, the guys were getting ready.

 

By this time guests were constantly arriving, and things were busy outside.

 

My talented bridesmaid Mikaela played such a beautiful prelude on my sister's harp.

 

We're almost ready to start! Everyone's waiting – the flower girl…

 

….the groomsmen…

 

…and the groom!

 

(I'm upstairs pretty impressed by the fact that I'm not really nervous, and enjoying the harp music!)

Time to seat the families…

 

After seating his mother, Dustin joined the pastor up front. It's time!

 

The bridesmaids descended to Canon in D played by the brass group.

 

Now everyone's waiting on me. And I'm just realizing that I must be a little nervous after all because my knees are trembling as I'm ready to start down the steps.

 

I joined my father at the bottom of the steps and he escorted me to the front where he transferred his authority to Dustin.

 

The bridal party then was seated, for a short opening message on the glory of marriage.

 

One amusing thing that happened was that flies and bees were very interested in our bouquets. I was protected by my veil like a mosquito netting and the other girls were envious! 🙂

 

My father gave the main sermon, addressing part to Dustin and part to myself, detailing our responsibilities and roles toward each other and before God. Then he called up the bridal party for the exchange of vows.

 

I thought I would cry, but somehow I didn't. Now it was time to exchange rings.

 

And we were pronounced Man and Wife, in a blessed, eternal, and life-changing bond.

The kiss!

 

After that, there was a short blessing and benediction, then we were presented as Mr. and Mrs. Dustin Clay, and retired to the strains of Mendelssohn, which is the recessional I'd wanted ever since the time years ago when I first saw It's a Wonderful Life.

 

The receiving line.

 

Meanwhile the guests not in line visited and mingled, and the bridal party and families stayed close by for photos to follow.

 

Hey look! We're wearing wedding rings!

 

My sisters took turns manning the guest book.

 

Once everyone was through the receiving line, it was time for formal photos, which we kept as short as possible because the reception was waiting. 

With our parents…

 

With our families…

 

With the bridal party…

 

And of course, with each other!

 

The fall colors were so beautiful, and the yard had so many pretty spots.

 

It's going to be a real trial choosing which ones to frame!

 

Photos over, we headed back to the upper lawn to be presented and seated at the bridal table.

 

My brother (dapper, isn't he?) was the emcee, and he also had put together a playlist of fun favorite love songs of all types, from country to vintage big band, to play while we ate and visited.

 

Our servers were very capable and kept bringing us plates of yummy things!

 

We cut the cake, and Mama brought us the top tier to keep in the freezer for our first anniversary.

 

Things were winding down. We visited and hugged folks and signed the marriage certificate; one of my sisters collected my things from the house and put them in the getaway car, where we took more photos (shown in the earlier post)…

Then it was time to try not to cry as I hugged my family and mother goodbye. This time I was truly not nervous – just at peace – when I left, alone with my new husband…our whole lives ahead of us.

 

More than two months later, we're still on our honeymoon…and I'm still the most blessed bride in the world!

Dustin is the most considerate and kindest of husbands, and so perfect for me. I can never thank God enough for bringing us together in such a marvelous way.

 

Amen.