With This Ring...Part 2

*If you didn't yet read Part 1, be sure to scroll down first.
And now for the "exciting" conclusion...(Kind of reminds you of those special 2-part episodes, like the Brady Bunch camping in the Grand Canyon, doesn't it?)




So, did I leave you shivering with us long enough during the photo shoot?
Well, come along with me now...the photographer just dismissed us to the nice, warm chapel...

As we entered into the very small but cozy chapel in the woods, I decided to have the girls sit with me a bit, instead if waiting by the cold open doors in the back.
After all, I knew they would be having to stand for the whole ceremony, and already stood like troopers in the chilly air for photographs.

(My husband was the designated "videographer" so he wouldn't be sitting with me. He was following the bride and groom around like paparazzi, and later would be up front throughout the ceremony.)


Slowly, the chapel began to fill, as friends and relatives began pouring in...and more and more chairs were quickly being added where ever they could fit. I figured this was my time to usher the girls to the back, give them some last minute advice, and hurry back to my seat before it was snatched away. (After all, it was real seat near the front!)

Minutes later, the ceremony began...

My two lovely teenage nieces as the candle lighters were the first to walk down. Then my nephew, the handsome ring bearer...followed by...

the stars of the wedding the two flower girls...


They did such a good job! I was truly proud of them...

Even though my little one promptly sat down upon reaching her destination.

You see, I had told them what the coordinator had said- that if they became really tired, they could sit down... but I thought I had specified "not right away." Oh well.
In typical stage mom form, I caught my oldest's eye and motioned for her to tell Lil Cherub to stand up. My oldest dutifully whispered (when she finally figured out what I was trying to pantomime) and my youngest then complied.
What good girls!

And then, OK- the true "star of the wedding" appeared...


Isn't she beautiful?

Here, in the above picture, they are taking Communion.
My husband is to the left, videotaping.
(Oh, if only we had had someone like him at our own wedding twelve years before, where the video cameras never showed up! I know, I know...time to just -deep breath- let it go...) ;)

Truly, it was a beautiful ceremony.
But the highlight came when the nervous groom kept jumping in with "I will" before it was time, followed by lots of giggles in the chapel. At least my sister in law knew he was a very willing groom!

And then...

...The Kiss!


And finally....


"May I now introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs..."

The reception was back at the now beautifully decorated Dining Hall, where a feast of Egyptian dishes tantalized our taste buds. Again, we were all a little crowed in for the reception, making it a challenge move once out of our chairs, but it was fun to see all of my new brother in law's Egyptian relatives hugging and mingling with our own.

Our own version of My Big Fat Egyptian Wedding...(so you can imagine the fun when the very next evening we got to watch the original version on TV!)

A friend of the bride and groom gave a heart-warming toast, telling a story many of us didn't know at all. He happened to be patient at the hospital where both of them worked, awaiting a heart transplant. He started to get to know each of them...and then began to think, "Hey, they are each what the other person is looking for!"
So, he was used by the Lord in his huge trial to play Cupid...and the rest was history.

As for me...after the bride and groom smooshed cake at one another, it was my turn, along with a sweet young gal, to help cut and serve it.
But maul it would be the more appropriate term here...
Neither one of us had ever done this before, and the cake- being scrumptious and moist beyond words- turned out to be...well... really moist while attempting to actually cut. We might as well have took turns karate chopping it and the result would have been not all that different.

Here is a glimpse of it before, as the bride gets reading to launch her piece...

And I'll spare you all how it looked after we got done with it. It's just too sad.

Yet, in spite of getting off to a rocky start with the car fiasco, the missing shoes, and the shivering bridal party...the wedding turned out to be beautiful, after all.
Even the reception, as well.. I think everyone by then was too tired and hungry to care about how their pieces of cake actually appeared on their plates.
(Of course that rum flavor inside probably helped a lot, too.)

So, as we wave farewell to the happy couple...


I'll know you understand when I say that we all breathed a collective sigh of relief...

My beautiful single sister in law was married at long last.

And all was right with the world.