A Wedding Weekend

I gathered my "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue" to head up to our oldest daughter's home this weekend.  Why?  Because she has brought a wonderful man into the family fold who was marrying her and her two children.

They wanted a private small ceremony, and will later have a family celebration with siblings, friends and Waylen's family from Oklahoma in September when they come to visit.

Steve and I, along with my ex-husband and his wife, were present for their adorable small ceremony. I was the witness for Erin and my ex was the witness for Waylen.  We signed the license papers with the clerk and headed into the courtroom for their personal vows and simple ceremony. It was held with the local judge (who's last name is Judge... yup, Judge Judge!).

Little Chelsea was the flower girl, and had a basket of flowers (along with a "secret weapon" hidden inside, more about that later)   and Clayton was the ring-bearer.  I had to make TWO ring-bearer pillows in case both kids decided they each were the ones to hand over the rings.  LOL

To keep the kids occupied until Judge Judge came in, I had prepared a few little gifts for them... Chelsea got her own pink diamond wedding ring, to be a symbolic part of her new family, and Clayton got a "wedding car" ...  who cares if it doesn't make sense to anyone else, it is perfect to keep a three year old boy occupied!  haha  We were fortunate to be the only ones scheduled to be in the courtroom, and had it all to ourselves.

Soon the ceremony began,

with Chelsea glued between her new parents bodies,

not wanting to miss a thing! 

When it was time for Clayton to hand over the ring to his Mommy to put on Waylen's finger...

 well, he exclaimed "no no no"... and didn't want to give it to his mommy... 

because HE was going to put the ring on his new parent's finger!  LOL  

It was wonderful that the children were allowed to be part of the ceremony! 

 Judge Judge remarked that it was a Happy Thing

 to have such goodness happen in his courtroom.

Of course, the groom had to kiss his bride....

Which little Chelsea hollared out from being squished between them: 

"Hey, I can't breathe in here!"

It was such a great joy to see our oldest daughter so happy again. 

Remember I mentioned the "Secret Weapon"???  

Well the kids kept it a secret throughout the entire ceremony without telling.

I took them outside ahead of the adults and 

had them ready with a bag of birdseed hidden underneath the flowers 

in Chelsea's flower girl basket! 

They got to shower the birdseed on the newlyweds

 as they emerged from the courthouse door!

(birdseed is better than rice, which rice can disrupt or even kill birds who try to eat it) 

Here is a little video clip:

We headed out to the Breakwater Park on the shores of Lake Michigan,

for a few photos.

Now you can understand why it's SO hard to get a family photo with children involved??? 

 Just check this out:

I especially like this one:

From there, we went into nearby Dockside Supper Club for a Wedding luncheon... I managed to sneak up a wedding cake for the event, and the little topper wedding bell ornaments that can go on their Christamas Tree every year!

Waylen was in charge of the cake cutting, doing a good job with my old cake serving utensils from OUR weddding (something borrowed)   We sugared up the kiddos good on wedding cake, and there was enough leftover for them to freeze for their first anniversary. 

We can hardly wait for the family celebration in September,

with all of our children, and Waylen's family visiting from Oklahoma too.

Be happy, my beautiful daughter. 

Live your life full of love and tenderness with your sweet new husband, 

and making a family with your two darling children. 

Mr. & Mrs. Waylen Choate

July 24, 2015