The Wedding in Kansas

We kept very busy at the end of last week. Martha arrived very late on Wednesday (11:45 pm) while D and Greg arrived very early on Thursday (1:45 am) and SR picked up Andrew from the airport later in the day (2:15 pm) and JM, SC, and Sarah arrived only slightly late on Friday--3:15pm instead of the scheduled 2:50pm. Greg, D, and I were able to pick them up at the airport.

Thursday afternoon and evening, Mom and Dad and SR and Andrew were all in Wichita most of the time. SR and Andrew visited his grandfather who wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding and did some shopping for the wedding. Mom and Dad picked up his tux, SR's wedding dress, and did some shopping for the wedding as well. All four of them met up with Andrew's parents and enjoyed supper together.

D and Greg also used the evening to have a date night and went to Harper for supper.

Friday morning, the Anthony AG fellowship hall was decorated for the reception. Friday at 4:30, the Anthony FNB hospitality room was decorated for the rehearsal dinner at 5:30. The dinner and the rehearsal following at the Hopewell church all went well.

Saturday morning was a bit chaotic at times with lots of phone calls between the house, the hairdresser's home, and the church as we coordinated getting everything out to the church and set-up at the right time. But everything came together without any major problems.

The bride and groom didn't want to see each other before the wedding, so their pictures with various groups were taken separately before the ceremony. That was a bit late in getting started due to people still dressing, but the picture taking itself went very smoothly and was finished well before the ceremony. Everyone in the wedding party had a chance to eat a bit before the wedding, though I'm not sure how much the bride and groom actually ate.

The country church was full for the ceremony. Grandma Gates was determined to be there, so was brought out in a wheelchair which was carried up the front stairs and she sat in the wheelchair in front of the front row for the ceremony. It was so good to have her there! The ceremony itself went smoothly. It was short, but included everything they wanted and got them married. :-)

As all the guests headed back into town for the reception, more pictures were taken with the bride and groom together with their families and the wedding party.

The reception also went well. Everyone seemed to have plenty to eat of the small sandwiches, chips, dips, crackers, cheeses, veggies, etc that we had been putting together in the week ahead. The cake was cut, the receiving line received, a few comments were made by the best man, the groom's sister, D (including the presentation of the "Official Family Member" certificate to Andrew), and Dad. The bouquet and garter were tossed. The bride and groom were seen off in a shower of wheat (and an un-decorated car)

While the guests left and we cleaned up and re-set the fellowship hall, SR and Andrew changed clothes and then came back to open their wedding gifts. After unwrapping the gifts, they headed off for supper and to spend the night in a hotel in Wichita in SR's car. This time the car was decorated. :)

After the family had a supper of pizza, JM and I headed out for some time to ourselves, while others in the family headed back out to Hopewell to put back in place things we had moved and pick up all the decorations and supplies that had been left out there after the ceremony.

Sunday morning, SR and Andrew left the car parked with instructions where Mom and Dad could find it and caught their flight to Florida. Sunday afternoon, Mom and Dad and I dropped JM off at the airport for his flight back to Virginia and picked up SR's car. While we were in Wichita, D and Greg left to head back to Texas.

Monday morning, Martha headed back to Illinois leaving about 8:00 am and I headed out to Missouri for the ACL conference, leaving about 10:00 am.

A busy week, but a wonderful time with family!