My Son's Wedding~a photo essay

On January 6, 2007, my oldest child got married. My favorite border became my daughter-in-law. It turned out to be a beautiful day. We spent 6 months getting ready for the wedding. We ended up saving as much as we could ahead of time, because we had a feeling that we would not be getting much help from the brides family.

You see, after they graduated high school in 2005,  Amanda's family ended up moving to Charlestown, IN. While it isn't an overnight drive, Amanda knew that it was too far for us to be able to see her very much, and with Michael going away to school, she would be fairly isolated up there. She also knew that she would be counted as an adult now, and there were things that her parents did, that she didn't want to have any part or blame in if they were caught. I agreed to let her live with me, and she made a point of living in a seperate room from my son. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we would not have that disagreement about unmarried and under my roof. It seems that my future daughter-in-law felt the same way. While things took some adjustment, we got along very well, mostly because we found out that we were too much alike, and in this case, in some very good ways. My son proposed to her over Christmas vacation, with his sister's help, and giving her "their daughter" Grace, the beautiful grand-kitty of mine with the brown eyes. She had the ring on her collar, and he even managed to get on one knee on Christmas eve. His mouth moved, but it took several tries for the sound to come out, but he did manage to propose, and they were both having a wonderful Christmas. They decided to get married at our church the next year in January.

Fast forward a year. After a year of meetings with the Pastor, panic times trying to get dresses for the bridesmaids (when her family didn't want formal dresses, thought she was being silly, etc), we managed to pull off a lovely wedding. I discovered that day what a difference a little perspective makes. I was so happy with my daughter. She had taken a small amount of money, some time at a dollar store, and a natural flare for decoration and art and made the reception area absolutely lovely. A friend of mine furnished the cake, and made all the flowers as a gift to my family. My ex-husband (the good one that is still there for the kids) and my daughter took pictures, and his girlfriend and her sister furnished the food for the reception. My family was amazed at the "nice little wedding" we had pulled together with little or no money. During the reception, several members of Amanda's family congratulated her on her Cinderella wedding. Her are some of the sights of my sons wedding.

Of course, the groomsmen al...

We had a lot of fun with the pictures after the ceremony itself. My brother, David Frost was the best man for my son, and the groomsmen/ushers were my other brother Kyle, and Amanda's brother Jesse.   I am sure this looks like m... My son was less than pleased with the talk he got from the maid of honor, which was his sister, assisted by the bridesmaids. We just loved the looks of fear he kept getting, even though these girls looked so harmless. I mean, c'mon Michael, they are smiling. A mother's moment. I can't ... When they said they wanted pictures with me, I agreed. When Michael leaned into me, I couldn't speak. My son has his moments, and I have and always will love him dearly. It is times like this that he chokes me up. He has always worn his heart on his sleeve. My son barely kissed his wi... She had to work hard to convince him to kiss her a second time for the pictures. He was blushing. When she finally gave up trying to talk him into it, and just grabbed him.... She grabbed him and got him...

The couples first photo together.

Our family, with their step...

The tall guy in the back is their "step-father", Mike. Actually, he has been their father since their biological father left the area a long time ago. While their biological father has made contact, he still hasn't made much attempt to stay in contact with them.

The happy couple with our P...

Here is the happy couple with the senior Pastor of our church. Pastor "K" has been there for a long time. He was the same pastor that taught my kids during confirmation classes too.

This is Amanda's family. Her mom is on one side, and her Dad and step mom are on the other. The rest are scattered throughout the picture.

Her dad was so happy and pr...

Now this was one proud father. His eyes lit up, and stayed that way.

The reception went fairly well. I was in a daze by then, because we had survived, and it was all downhill. I did manage to make the "speech" they had asked me to say during the evening. I was so amazed that my daughter had pulled so much together on such a limited budget. She was definately to be applauded. After the reception, we all pitched in and cleaned up. I don't think I did anything the rest of the weekend. I had survived my first childs wedding. I can only imagine what it is going to be like when my baby girl gets married. I am going to have to start scouting banks now. Enjoy the reception pictures!

my daughter, my cousin, and...

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My brother Kyle. He is the ...

Amanda with her mother's br...

Thank you for sharing my son's wedding day with me! I hope you enjoyed the wedding and the reception.