Kat Chat: Casey's Wedding Day

As everyone scurried around to get ready for Casey and Riley's big hour of 6:00 pm, my cousin, Joanna, and I started the day with a late morning appointment to have our hair pertied up!
This is Joanna, our trusted friend and expert on using the hair straightener!
Yes, she used a hair straightener to curl our hair...

The before picture.

















First curl

















Bottom half done.

















Joanna stopped in the middle of doing my hair because Aunt Mary and Joanna (my cousin) had to go back across town and then back across town again in order to get to the church on time. In short words, they had a tighter schedule than Mom and I.
This is the half way point for my hair....


















While I took a break for a snack, Joanna got started on Joanna :), but Oops, Mom forgot to take a 'before picture'!
Because Joanna had so much hair, Aunt Mary helped with separating out sections of her hair which made things go faster!












































Almost finished.

















WOW! Beautiful.

















Time to spray!












"Go upstairs and see how you look" picture.

















Then, my turn again....

















Ta da...already time to spray!

















Another "Go upstairs to see how you look" picture.
WOW!
Wish you could see the little rhinestones twirled in with the curls!

































Thanks Joanna!!
(Note: We ended up pinning up some of the curls hanging down on the side, because they hid my clip on earrings....had to see my new clip on earrings for the wedding!!)




























Joanna's sister, Esther, and I!

















Joanna, Thank you for making our hair BEAUTIFUL!
Time passed quickly, and suddenly it was time to head home to dress for the wedding!
Mom had to get me down to the church for pictures!
More to come...

"...AND RILEY..." : Rehearsal Dinner

Approximately one hundred family members and friends attended a Rehearsal dinner for Casey and Riley following their church wedding rehearsal. Riley's parent's, Jimmy and Donna, did a wonderful job organizing and hosting this special celebration.
The food was great and the fellowship was fun!












The greatest blessing for me was hearing the charged words and hearts of those whom Casey and Riley chose to speak encouraging words to them, Uncle Tommy and Mindy, Casey's cousin. Where was my head/camera when the Fathers of the Bride and Groom each spoke briefly? Needless to say, their words were emotional! 'YOU'RE THE MAN', I remember my brother saying to his son-in-law to be, 'Stay on your knees and Casey will follow you!'


















Uncle Tommy began the evening (shhhhhhhh....sick as he were with a kidney stone awaiting passage!) with awesome, yet fun encouragement! He had 4-5 pages(?) of none other than biblical counsel, which for the most part was directed to RILEY! No, he wasn't picking on Riley, but surely gave Riley much to think about!!! No one will quickly forget "RILEY, never forget your anniversary no matter how much these days seemed mushed together........, and Riley...., and Riley........, and......" you guessed it!! 'RILEY' the crowd joined in a few more times before the special letter ended.

Uncle Tommy said he couldn't think of much to counsel Casey about, but figured he could relate better to what Riley needed to hear as a husband and all he had to say to Riley she'd benefit from. What wisdom!
I especially appreciated Uncle Tommy's biblical counsel to Riley and Casey to consider the generations to come, the children and grandchildren God gives them (whatever way He chooses) in all of their decisions, great multi-generational encouragement.


















I wish I had a copy of the letter Uncle Tommy gave to Casey and Riley, for there was much meat from the Word which would take more time than just minutes to digest. Right now I can only savor the memory of few details. That special time passed so quickly!!


















Mindy shared her love/thoughts of Casey's girlhood and growth in the form of a beautiful poem. It, too, was perfect and while said with big tears of love and admiration for the special young lady Casey has become, the message was clear that God had done a great work in bringing Casey and Riley's lives and hearts together!

There was no greater time to cap off these special words than with an awesome video presentation put together by one of Riley's groomsmen, Eric (?), of many captured/special memories from Casey's and Riley's childhoods, their families, and their friendship leading to the eve before their marriage.
Everyone rejoiced in the celebration of their forthcoming marriage!

What a special time!
While some mingled and talked afterwards with family and friends...












Grandparents and Mother with the Bride


















Parents of the Bride


















Maternal Grandparents of Casey


















Uncle and Aunt of the Bride


















Uncle and Aunt of the Bride


















Uncle and Aunt of the Bride













Cousins/Bridesmaid


















A Dear Friend, Casey's Bridesmaid with her Special City Councilman Friend (and I must add, our family's District Councilman and New Friend)



















Katherine with our family friend and wedding pianist, who by the way, played at our wedding 22 1/2 years ago!



















Family silliness!


....others squeezed in a little line dancing during the few remaining minutes before the evening ended.
Those not so shy in the group joined in the fun.

Dancing Cousins.....





















































Special friends and memories!

















All this made for a memorable wedding eve for Casey and Riley, but only minutes later, the fun had to come to a end.


















To be continued..........

Memories from Casey and Riley's Pre-Wedding Celebrations!

Friday morning, before Casey's Wedding on Saturday,
Katherine & I had the wonderful privilege of attending Casey's Bridesmaids luncheon. It was hosted by Meme and Muddy, Casey and Riley's paternal grandmothers. It was so very special and beautiful!
Casey is standing next to is Meme's wedding dress. My parents, Meme and Poppy, were married almost 55 years ago (July 9, 1955)! I am very grateful to still have this dress in my possession; I cherish it! It's place at home is usually in the corner of my bedroom. Beside Meme's dress, Mark and I have pictures of our parents' weddings. We are grateful for the reminder of their faithful 'GOLDEN' love relationships!
It only seemed right to have this dress standing in the corner at Casey's bridal luncheon!
Casey thought of the wonderful idea of having a Heritage table at her reception where the guest book would be placed, along with the wedding photos of her parents and grandparents, and Riley's parent's and grandparents! What an awesome idea! Alongside this table would stand Meme's wedding dress. (I'm terribly disappointed to say, I didn't get a photo of this table the night of the wedding and reception! I would've loved to have had the picture of the table to post! Ugh!)

Needless to say, Katherine jumped out of bed this particular morning, for she was especially thrilled that this would be her first time to take part in someone's wedding! I didn't have to peel her out of bed, as usual! She was very eager to get up and going, for she couldn't wait to share in Casey's JOY!

This is Casey's awesome group of bridal attendants, special friends and family members chosen to stand alongside her in her wedding...Maddison, Mel, Jordan, Elizabeth (my other precious niece, on the Gray side), Hannah, Anna (Riley's sister), Haley, and Katie (Casey's cousin). Casey desired to have four young cousins to read Scripture in her wedding. The three who were able to attend the luncheon this day were Joanna, Katherine, and Anna. All the ladies in the picture are adorned with some of Casey's collection of old hats...

We missed the fourth scripture reader, Chandler, but understood she couldn't attend the luncheon after breaking her arm Wednesday evening. She needed to take two tests this day before having to miss school the following week because of scheduled surgery to reset the bone with pins (this week)!

Meme gave Casey a special hanky to carry in her wedding, a family traditional gift. Seeing it brought big tears to Casey's eyes for it belonged to Meme's mother, Granny Thelma. (Meme gave me her grandmother's hanky to carry in my wedding!) On Casey's hanky, Meme embroidered Casey and Riley's names and their wedding date. Casey was Granny Thelma's first great grandchild. Sadly, Granny Thelma passed away in August, 2001.

I love this picture!

Later in the day, we met back together for the wedding rehearsal at the church. This is as close to the real ceremony as you'll get from my photo lens...for only Casey's photographer could take pictures during the real wedding ceremony!

Reverend Carr (dark blue sport coat and blue shirt), Casey and Riley's youth pastor and family friend when he was on staff at First Baptist, drove up to marry Casey and Riley. He now pastors another church. It was a joy for all of us to see him again! Reverend Carr baptized Casey as a teenager.

Casey's four Scripture Readers-Notice Chandler's arm!
We are mindful of her this week. She wore a smile like this all night!

Casey and Riley's special guests...

Moe (top), Curly (middle), and Larry (bottom)!


Mark and Pam were greatly supported and encouraged during the days before the wedding by this family, Nick (with camera-Katie (twin brother, Ben) and Anna's Dad), Mindy, and Ben...their cousins. Mindy was Pam's Maid of Honor when she and Mark married almost 25 years ago! Precious family from TN!

Adorable flower girls, cousins of the Bride!

The service began with Chandler reciting Isaiah 61:10...a beautiful way to begin!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure any of us were REALLY prepared to hear the organist play the Bridal Processional at the rehearsal.
It appears Mark and Casey were rattled just a little bit!

REALLY, how does a father prepare to give his daughter away,
even to the BEST of suitors?????
I've been told, 'It's very difficult!', which I don't doubt!

But......God is GOOD! 

GREAT is Thy faithfulness!

Joanna and Katherine each recited their passages of scripture...
Joanna recited Ephesians 5:22-24...

and Katherine...Ephesians 5: 25-29.

The Ring bearer is also Casey's cousin.

This, for me, was one of the highlights in the wedding. After the bride and groom pretended to exchange their vows, they lit a unity candle. 'Speak, O LORD' was sung during this time. Then the families of the bride and groom, both parents and siblings, joined them by wrapping their arms around Casey and Riley, committing their marriage to the LORD in prayer. What an awesome picture of God's blessing on their courtship and marriage, embraced and hedged in by the strong love and faithful support of their godly families.
I believe Maddison was laughing in the background because someone said they looked like they were in a huddle.

So, the group decided to join hands to pray instead.

Anna then read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
I loved hearing the girls recite scripture...it seemed the perfect way to keep everyone's focus on the WORD, the Giver of the love and life Casey and Riley will share!

Rev. Carr concluded the service by saying, "It is my privilege to be the first to introduce to you, 'Mr. and Mrs. ............................'
but he didn't say their name, for he wanted their first OFFICIAL introduction to be on their wedding day!
How special!

Stay tuned...there's much more to come!

LORD, please bless Casey and Riley's marriage!