I am not funny, China is funny.: Wedding Bells Ring

Last month, I received the best birthday present that I could ever imagine! Our family made an extra trip to the states to witness the marriage of my sister to the love of her life, Marty Moore. The anticipation and planning of this wedding had been full on since the day he proposed in December. Missing all of their parties was gut wrenching, but how could I complain? I was getting an extra trip home AND a fabulous brother-in-law!

We landed in Florida less than a week before the ceremony. There was no time for jetlag! We hit the ground running in search of shoes, clothes, and getting my dress altered. Meanwhile, I had a slew of family that I wanted to hug and love on! It was a whirlwind of a week! Heck, it was a whirlwind of 3 weeks! I feel like the celebrations that we had leading up to the wedding filled my void of the months that I had missed.

Years ago (before she even met Marty), Anna Catherine told me about her dream wedding. On June 22^nd, it came to life. I do believe she had the perfect wedding! She married on the beach behind my parents’ house with just immediate family and attendants. We encircled them as they said their vows, sweat a wee bit in the heat, and shed a few tears. It was beautiful! After popping a few bottles of champagne, we headed on to the reception site where friends and family were waiting to greet the new couple. We gathered for a blessing of the marriage before singing and dancing the night away with The Villagers. (For those of you that do not know, The Villagers is a band that my dad was in back in college in which he was the lead singer. They have gotten together for fun the last couple of years. It made my sister’s night to have them there to perform at her reception!) It was a night filled with friendship, love, laughter, and a few drinks! My only wish is that I had more time with each person there! Hugs and love to you all!

Here are a few highlights from the festivities:

On Thursday, the girls gathered for an afternoon of pampering. They kept me in stitches the entire weekend!

On Friday, my precious aunt threw an incredible luncheon at Firefly. The decorations were beautiful, the food was scrumptious, and the fellowship was wonderful! She pulled all of this off just days after my uncle had triple by-pass surgery! He had only been released from the hospital the day before! Amazing!

Laughter and tears, all in one!

Anna Catherine and Cindy

Mom, Anna Catherine, and Marty's Mom

Sweet Cousins

The Girls

Adorable friends from South Carolina

Anna Catherine with our Aunt Linda, Stacy, and Amy

Friday night we had the rehearsal, followed by a shrimp boil at Mike’s Diner. Below is a picture of the bride and groom with my cousin, Michael. He was responsible for the yummy shrimp boil AND the oh-so-delicious red velvet donut groom's cake at the wedding.

As I said, the girls kept me in stitches the entire weekend. Here they are presenting Anna Catherine with her very own nightgown as the theme song to the Golden Girls (Anna Catherine’s favorite show) played in the background. This was followed by the Harlem Shake that everyone was in on, except the bride and groom.

Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia getting their groove on.

The Big Day Is Finally Here!

Hannah Grace and her Papa

I do believe Ellis loved the attention!

Grammy and Hannah Grace

Here we go!

After making it to the beach, we encircled the sweet couple.

Mr. and Mrs. Moore

After the ceremony, we headed to the reception. I don’t have any pictures of the blessing. Hopefully we’ll have plenty from the actual wedding photographer! It was hard not to post hundreds on here, because there were some great ones of people I love!

Ellis and Abby enter the reception area

All eyes on Hannah Grace and Sarah

This crew had a ball!

Representing Tennessee, one of my favorites: Boone Swain!

Friends that may as well be family: Doug and Meredith

I had to post this picture of my great aunt and uncle. Aunt Helon is 85 and is the sister of my Dad’s mom who passed away in 2000. When I asked to take their picture, they stood up and Uncle Mark engulfed Aunt Helon in his arms. It melted my heart! I hope Tony will love me like this when I am 85!