Hi-ya,
So I've kept you waiting a bit on these photos from my niece's wedding, but I'm happy to have them edited and ready to share with you today! The bride & groom were in the process of getting their pictures taken by their professional photographer when I snapped the above photo. That's of the two of them out in front of the barn where they were married. You can see the beautiful flowers on the door -- there were actually two doors that make up that archway and they had another of that same floral arrangement on both doors. So pretty! Shades of purples and greens were the wedding colors and since they didn't have an official wedding party wearing those colors (trying to keep things small), a lot of us family members wore coordinating wedding colors. I loved that!
The big day started out with Raegen coming over so I could do her make-up for the wedding. I was so honored that she'd ask me and was so excited to get to spend part of her wedding day morning with her.
Bart snapped this photo of she and I quickly as she headed out to get dressed for pictures before the wedding.
My niece, Raegen, walking down the aisle inside the barn with her dad. Awww.
This is the very happy couple just after the ceremony as they were getting ready to walk out. Love this shot of them.
Sassy little bride showing off her boots! Cute, right? One of her dear aunts got those boots for her as a gift and she wore them on her wedding day.
They are reeeeeally pretty boots! Almost made me want to go hunt down some cowgirl boots of my own. :)
Bartley and me.......decked out in purple for the wedding.
Our nephew (the bride's older brother) and his wife and baby. So cute.
The dinner after the wedding was held outside. I'm not gonna lie to you...it was COLD that night. It had rained off and on all day and by that night, it was pretty frosty out, but it was still so much fun. You can see all of the tables, lit with candles, gracing the yard with the barn in the background. Such a pretty setting.
Then, the dancing took place back inside the barn. I love this shot of the bride & groom. LOVE it. Cool barn too, right? (It's located near Lawrence, Kansas, for those of you locals that might be wondering. I'm sure you can google it, as I don't remember the name of it.)
The band set up in one corner of the barn and everyone danced (or watched! Ha!) in the rest of the room.
These are the little party favors that were handed out at the wedding. Do you remember when the girls on Bart's side of the family all came over and we worked together to make all of those little tags? Well, this is the finished product. Each bag had a marshmallow, chocolate and graham crackers inside -- all the goodies to make s'mores. They also had a camp fire out in the yard outside the barn so if the wedding guests wanted, they could go out to the camp fire and fix their s'mores up on the spot!
Since the newlyweds weren't leaving on their honeymoon for a week, we all gathered the day after the wedding at Bart's sister's house (mother of the bride) to watch them open their gifts and eat leftover wedding cake. Mmm. What a FUN time this was, just to hang out again with family.....the wedding was over, everyone was relaxed and it was just a really special time that I'll never forget. I'm so glad we got to be a part of that day.
My sister-in-law had taken all of the flowers from the wedding and used them to decorate the house for the gift-opening party. There were flowers both inside and out -- it was just beautiful. For the wedding, they filled lots of Mason jars with flowers to use as centerpieces and such, so my SIL took those jars of flowers and set them in these big planters on either side of her front door to decorate the porch. So, so pretty.
And remember this arrangement from the barn doors in that first photo? She hung them on the front of the house and on the front door! Gorgeous!
And just look at this little sweetie.......our great nephew -- you saw him in an earlier photo with his mama & dad. Check out the look on his face! Haha. I think he's up to something with his hand in that cup!
All in all, it was a great weekend of wedding festivities and it just makes me so incredibly grateful for Bart's family. You all know, because I talk about my side of the family all the time, that we're very close. But I have been so blessed to be close to Bart's side of the family too......I love them all dearly.
Before I go, I have a completely unrelated but funny story for you.....Bart and I are both signed up for the frequent shopper program at Borders and as a result, they email us coupons all the time. The coupons can only be used once each though, and so, when we get them, we go in and I pick out two books (he'd rather read the paper than a book) and then we each stand in line and pay for them separately. So lately, they've been sending 40% off one item coupons. Now, when you love to buy books as much as I do, getting 40% is a great thing. So we've developed a bit of a routine. I choose which two books I want to buy and then I hold them both up for Bart to see the covers and I ask him, "Which book would you like to pay for today?" (Knowing full-well that he doesn't want to be seen buying anything too mushy or girly, if he doesn't have to! LOL!) So today, I chose my two books (by two authors that I love) and did the same routine. After he chose which book he wanted to pay for, I couldn't help but tease him....because it's just plain fun. I said, "Ooooooh, you chose The Lightkeeper's Briiiiiiiiiide!", to which he replied, "Well, that's better than Embers of Loooooooove!" Hahaha. Fun times at the bookstore. :)
One last thing before I go.....I've been getting requests fairly regularly now, for tips on where to eat and what to do when coming to Kansas City. I've recently added a "Kansas City Travel Guide" section to my FAQ page, to hopefully answer those questions. If you haven't read it yet, be sure to check it out! :) And for future reference, you can always find the FAQ page located over in the left hand side bar, under my picture.
I'll be back tonight at midnight, EST with the first of my Papertrey Countdown posts!
Have a faaaaaabulous day, my friends! The sun is shining here. It's actually back up in the 80's today. Bart is outside mowing (hottie) and I'm in the studio working with the windows open and the attic fan on. Planning to eat dinner out out on the deck and hopefully relax a little later. Love a Saturday at home, don't you?
Take care,
P.S. Did I mention that we get to have lunch with my side of the family tomorrow? Can't wait to see the littles!! I talked to my sister today and she put Ally (age 2) on the phone and Ally said, "Hiiii, Auntie Dawn!" and then when Malachi (age 1) got his turn, he said, "Hi Dawn. Hi Dawn. I love you." Ack!! Puddle of mushy love stuff.....that's me. :)
