wedding

Well we made it through the wedding. It was quite a 'holy crap am I old' moment, to be honest. With the first of the grandchildren getting married, it definitely solidified me as being in  the older generation.

This Sister1's oldest getting married. The service was held outside at Sister2's acreage. We had white chairs, created an aisle with tulle and posts and had an arch at the front for them to stand under. Off to the side at the front was a small table and chairs for signing the documents.

There were four in the wedding party plus the bride and groom, and the doggie ring bearer. They had rented a limo and we all watched it drive up the long driveway and then came around on the prairie grass to park at the back of the 'aisle'. There was a lovely breeze and it all went very smoothly.

They did pictures in my sister's yard - by the pond, in her maze she created, in her backyard and then did a few more at the traditional spots in our community where folks get their pics done.

The hall we had decorated the night before. I got there early with DS2 and helped get the bar set up and set out the tables for food etc. This was not a traditional catered event. We did the food up ourselves. Roasted potatoes, baked ham, roast beef, salads etc. They had fruit and a chocolate fountain, which was new to me.

My niece and her significant other were the MC and I did the grace.

It was the first wedding my boys have been to and it was interesting watching them watch it all. They had no clue of what all happened, or the order, etc.

The saddest part of the evening was the groom/mother of the groom dance. His mom is my sister with MS and while she was able to do some small steps, she couldn't move very well. They stayed in one corner of the dancefloor.

My other two sisters and I were standing at the back and all looked at each other to see we were all crying. We all realized at the same time that when my next nephew gets married, it is very likely his mother won't be able to do that dance again.

My mom got to dance with all of her grandsons and even took her wee 10 day old great grandson out on the floor for a dance. My boys don't know how to dance but they dutifully each did one with their mother and then were dragged out by  my middle two sisters, repeatedly.

It's so weird to see how our little family of mom dad and four daughters has now expanded to include 3 son in laws, one ex son in law (who was there with his someone), 11 grandchildren and 9 grandchildren's significant others.

The party went til 3AM and then we were back at the hall by 11 to set out food for the gift opening and take down the decorations.

Now I'm curled up at the school and the reality that students come tomorrow has hit me. I'm exhausted :-)