Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts

Thursday, June 19, 2025

Wes & Erica's vacation photo album// Tulsa, OK // June 2025

The June theme for my sewing club's sew & share is A June Wedding and, boy, did I fulfill that challenge!๐Ÿ‘ฐ๐Ÿคต Wes & I got invited to my friend, Miranda's wedding so I made my dress, a garment bag, and her gift. The dress code was formal (evening) attire so the garment bag was extremely useful. Wes still had to steam his shirt at the hotel, but my dress came out in pristine condition. ๐Ÿ’… The wedding was in Tulsa so we made a little trip of it.  

Preview of wedding pictures... there WILL BE MORE!!
Fun fact: Andrea made her bridesmaid dress (top left). And even more impressive is that she sewed it in two days ๐Ÿ˜ฒ

We dropped the dogs off at camp Friday morning, and headed out. The Road to Oklahoma shop hop is every June & July, and even though I've been an avid shopper for the past 3 shop hops, I've never visited any of the fabric stores around Tulsa. Our first stop once we got in town was to change that! 

Got my passport and block pattern. And, the striped fat quarter was the free shop hopper gift!

We went to The Quilting Studio. The store was gigantic with all sorts of fun quilting cottons. It was sort of a maze when you first walk in. ๐Ÿ˜ต There were several classrooms toward the back of the store, too. The shop hop special for the week was $2 fat quarters, but the specials change each Friday... the cashier forgot it was a new Friday so I got my 2 fat quarters at the discount! The only downside was that I had to spend at least $5 to use a credit card, so Wes had to grab all the change out of my car while I rummaged my purse for any cash I had. I guess I could have bought more to remedy this embarrassing situation but I'm trying to not buy too much fabric nowadays. 

I got the calamari banh mi and Wes got the fried chicken bowl. The cinnamon chips were weird as a side.

Next was lunch. ๐Ÿฅช I saw an Instagram post about Lone Wolf years ago and have been wanting to try it each time we come to Tulsa... but then I find other restaurants I would rather try. LOL We finally made it, and while it was good, I kind of wish we ate somewhere else. ๐Ÿ˜•The restaurant was right next to Fixins Soul Kitchen (which was amazing... we had lunch there the last time we were in town) and Wes wanted to pivot to eating there again, but I stayed firm with banh mi. Like I said, the food was tasty; Wes said his chicken bowl was good, but my sandwich cost $13.50!! I've never paid more than $7 for a banh mi. Don't jack up the price because you "elevated" ethnic comfort food... ugh, so annoying. ๐Ÿ˜‘

We still had time to kill before the hotel's check in time, so we headed to Scheel's after lunch. It is an enormous sporting goods & athletic apparel store. We were greeted by an aquarium at the entrance and a Ferris wheel in the middle of the store. We walked around both floors but barely looked at any sportswear. We spent most of our time in the pet๐Ÿ•, snacks๐Ÿฌ, and toys ๐ŸŽ sections. In defense of our sportiness, I did look at Pilates attire and Wes looked at pocket knives... we just didn't buy any. We bought dog treats, candy, and Wes found some collectible Hot Wheels for a friend. 

My favorite hotel of all the places we've stayed at in Tulsa.

Our home for the rest of the day would be the Ambassador hotel. It is a historic hotel in downtown Tulsa. Our room was so nice!! It was a lot bigger than some of the others we've stayed in. The lobby had an alcove that was a photo booth, but the computer/camera didn't work ๐Ÿ˜ž We got to rest for about an hour before the wedding. I was going to curl my hair but my curling iron stopped working, so I took a power nap instead. Wes was worried we'd be late, but I know Miranda and I know weddings... both are rarely ever on time. LOL We had time to get all dressed up, drive to the venue, park on the street and walk to the ceremony, and still had about five minutes to spare!

I saw on their website that the Dresser Mansion has tours, so I'll have to add that to the to-do list the next time we're in Tulsa.

The wedding was at the Dresser Mansion. ๐Ÿก The mansion is a historic site (with the actual National Register of Historic Places designation) built in the 1900s. The house is kept in its original state with art and furniture in all its rooms. We got to walk through a couple of the rooms on our way out to the back patio where the wedding was going to be held. I should have assumed a June wedding would be outdoors but I was so surprised (and a little annoyed) that it was. The mansion had such large, beautiful, air conditioned rooms.

Right as we got settled into our seats, I realized I left Miranda's present (that I spent an entire week working on) in my car! ๐Ÿ˜– It was already a little past when the wedding was supposed to start, but I know these things never start on time so I asked Miranda's mom and the officiant if I had 5-10 minutes to run to my car to grab something, and they both said no. So we stayed put in our seats while I sweated & stressed out about the gift. I guess it would have sucked if we missed Miranda's grand entrance. She and her dad appeared on the balcony and came down the stairs for us. She looked so happy. ๐Ÿ˜Š (In hindsight, I would have had plenty of time to run to the car, grab the gift and make it back into our seats.)

The ceremony was beautiful. ๐Ÿ’• Miranda looked gorgeous in her dress! She and her husband had a wine ceremony where she poured some white wine into a goblet, then he added some red wine to it, and they drank the combination. The wine had been sitting out in the heat all afternoon so I doubt it tasted good but it was a cute gesture. LOL At the end, they were announced as Mr. & Mrs. Mulkey... he took her last name!! That was the first time I've seen that and thought it was so cool!!

They had personalized Pop figures (bottom center left) #soadorable
One of our wedding gifts was a guitar pick with their picture on it (Miranda is a musician); also freaking adorable! (right, third from top)

There was an open bar so we all hung out and drank after the ceremony. Fun, but less so because it was outside in the early evening heat. (๐ŸŒž It would be another 2-3 hours before the sun set.) Initially, Kelly from sewing club, was the only other person I recognized, but then I noticed some other familiar faces. We all stood about in the +90℉ heat and talked about how hot it was, but was thankful it wasn't storming. Yay for summer in Oklahoma. ๐Ÿ˜’ By pure coincidence, we sat at a table with Kelly and Donna... Miranda's two other friends who sew! We had homemade authentic pork tacos made by one of the groom's friend's family. ๐ŸŒฎ The tortillas were so good!! I ate four ๐Ÿ˜‹ I was hot, starving, and slightly buzzed by dinner time so I forgot to take any pictures of the meal.

We watched the first dances, cake cutting (๐Ÿฐcake was also delicious and I ate it all before I remembered to take a picture), and listened to toasts after dinner. I've been to plenty of weddings, and I think Miranda & Josh have the most caring and genuine friends. Their toasts were so heartfelt; I almost started crying when Andrea started crying during her maid-of-honor speech. Then Josh gave a speech about how happy he is to have joined their family and how much he loves Miranda.๐Ÿ’‘ I would have been weeping along with him if I wasn't so mad about how hot & sweaty I was. One of his seemingly drunk friends grabbed the microphone after his super emotional speech to give an annoying bro speech, which I thought was kind of rude but it was a good segue into the next round of activities for the night. We had the anniversaries dance (Wes & I came in third with 10 years; Miranda's parents won with 48 years!), the shoe game, and the bouquet toss. ๐Ÿ’We were chatting with her before the toss and I was about to take a picture with her when the DJ announced it. I was like, we'll find you later for our picture. She insisted that we take it now, so I stupidly replied, but you have to toss your bouquet. Then I remembered she's the bride and I should take a picture with her and everyone else can wait. I was four drinks in by this time... and there was no water. Insanity. We were all outside, there was an open bar, jug of lemonade & tea that kept getting refilled, but no water. There was a small jug of water at the beginning of dinner, but no one knew where more was after it ran out (and trust me when I say I asked around). The bartender took pity on me and gave me a cup of ice with a little bit of melted water from the bottom of his bucket. ๐Ÿ’ฆ I knew it was time to head out when heat exhaustion and dehydration started setting in. LOL 

The wedding was a ton of fun and the food was amazing (much better than your standard wedding catered fare); I'm extremely glad & thankful Miranda thought to invite us and let us be a part of her special night. ๐Ÿ˜ My dress was literally stuck to me by the time we got to the hotel. I showered, drank an entire bottle of water and promptly fell asleep. I didn't even notice when Wes got in bed. ๐Ÿ˜‚

We got there just before the rush. I've learned that if we're going to a popular breakfast spot, it's best to get seated before 10am.

The next morning, we went to Bramble for breakfast. It was so good! I got the birria chilaquiles; highly recommend. They had a breakfast cocktail menu but all I wanted was water. (I would definitely go again and I'll get a mimosa then.) Wes said he liked his breakfast, but the sausage wasn't as done as he'd like and the latkes were a little over done... if only they met in the middle.

I told myself I was only buying fat quarters for the shop hop block patterns, but I couldn't pass up the Ruby Star fabric with the dainty bows.

We stopped in Sand Springs on our way home. I had another fabric store to visit! We went to Quilt Nuts. It wasn't as big as the shop in Tulsa, but I liked it more. The owner was friendlier and the store just had more welcoming vibes. Most of the fabrics weren't my style, but she had Ruby Star Society on the clearance rack!! ๐Ÿ˜ฒ This NEVER happens. I asked how much it was discounted and she said 70% ๐Ÿ˜ฎ, so I had to get 3 1/2 yards. Main Street in Sand Springs had a ton of cute little boutiques & antique shops, but we couldn't browse because we had to pick up the dogs from camp early. We did stop into Boulder Coffee for a driving home drink. I got the Almond Joy cold brew, but without coconut syrup, so it was more of a chocolate covered almond-flavored cold brew. ๐Ÿฅค Wes got a plain cold brew and said it tasted average. 


I am so jealous of this lush & healthy basil plant. Mine is dead. ๐Ÿ˜ข

It was a short trip out of town this time, but we enjoyed it. ๐Ÿ˜€ I really liked the hotel we stayed at, and am glad we got to attend Miranda's wedding. I would consider her sister, Andrea, a close friend but I was a little surprised when we got Miranda's wedding invitation. Wes & I have been to a bunch of weddings, and I think (and Wes would agree) that we felt most welcome & comfortable at this one. It was like we all knew each other and were ready for a good time... more like an evening out with friends than a formal wedding. We talked to everyone, including Miranda's parents, and everyone was just so authentically happy to be there. ๐Ÿ’— Best wishes to Josh & Miranda Mulkey!! 

Monday, December 11, 2023

Wes and Erica's vacation photo album // Tulsa, OK // December 2023

We went to one of my friend's weddings in Tulsa. Wes absolutely hates selfies. 

One of my childhood friends got married on December 2nd and we got to celebrate with her. ๐ŸŽ‰ The wedding was on a Saturday afternoon in Tulsa (only a 2 hour drive), so we could have just went and came back... but why waste a chance to take a mini vacation and eat out as much as we can??!?

A suitcase Christmas tree... very appropriate for a hotel lobby. We stopped in Barnes & Noble after dinner for my Unicorno. They had the sky mochi series, which I've been wanting! ๐Ÿฆ„

My friend, Chinh, and I met as alter-boys (are they called alter-persons now?) at St. Patrick Catholic church in middle school. (She's a bit younger than I am so I think I was in high school and she was in middle school... regardless it was a loooong time ago). I haven't talked to her in ages so I was pretty surprised when I got the wedding invitation from Zola. I was so surprised that I texted my mom to make sure she also got an invitation, and to make sure that it wasn't spam. LOL My mom texted Chinh's mom and confirmed that yes, we are all invited to celebrate this happy day. ๐Ÿ‘ฐ 

Our first meal in Tulsa was dinner at Zogam Cafรฉ, a Malaysian restaurant. The restaurant was a tiny spot in a shopping center. It was really hard to find since their sign was unlit and we came when it was already dark. This was my first time having Malaysian food and it was really good. ๐Ÿฅ˜My favorite part was the runny egg on top of my fried rice. (Wes said he would have preferred his egg fried.) I also liked the bits of anchovy mixed into my rice. The only thing I didn't like too much was that the sweet & sour sauce for the tofu was way too garlicy, but I'm not a huge garlic fan so that's on me and not the restaurant. The restaurant had pictures of Malaysian landscape hung on the walls. One of the pictures showed two men looking off into the mountains, it didn't show their faces but I swear one of the men in the pictures was our waiter. ๐ŸŒ„

We ate breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Daily Grill, the next morning. About the hotel - we stayed at the Hyatt downtown and the valet service was superb. ๐Ÿš— Like, seriously the best! The Grinch musical was performing at the BOK center when we arrived, and there was some sort of professional bull riding/rodeo convention going on at the hotel that same night. Regardless of how busy it was, we were still checked in super fast and my car was parked right away. And it was brought right back out as soon as we needed it. We came and went a lot so we got to know both the day and night valet drivers. Both were excellent. ๐Ÿ‘ Anyway, back to breakfast. We originally were going to walk to Dily Diner. It was only about a 10 minute walk but it was 37℉, and I only packed a hoodie (silly me forgot my jacket in our haste to leave the house). I got an everything lox bagel and Wes got the steak and eggs. He said the skirt steak was marinated really well. I liked my bagel but I think the restaurant was pricier than the tastiness of the food. 

Notice how there are no pictures from inside the market because it was just a giant slow moving crowd.

We had some time between breakfast and the wedding ceremony so we went to the German Christkindlmarkt. ๐ŸŽ„๐ŸŽ… It is an annual tradition at the German Association events center. The events center is very small and the market is very large. I've been a vendor at events that try to cram in as many vendors as possible and it is NOT an enjoyable experience. All the shoppers are funneled through like cattle since there is literally no aisle space and you don't really get to interact with anyone. I did not enjoy the Christkindlmarkt at all because there was zero room to browse & shop. I'm sure the building was 5-10 times over capacity and we'd all be in danger if there was a fire or any other sort of emergency. There were a few booths I would have liked to look in but I couldn't get near them because of the crowds. It was awful. Even so, we still managed to support a few local vendors. We bought honey butter, Wes bought a bookmark, and I bought Christmas ornament (pen pal gift). One of the German association members collects nativity figurines which she displayed in a tiny room (probably a broom closet) called Bethlehem village. She had so much stuff!! All the figurines were laid out in a cityscape on a table. 

Now onto the wedding of Chinh & Steve. ๐Ÿ’— This is by far the nicest and most elaborate wedding I have ever attended. Chinh was flanked by 3 photographers and a videographer everywhere she went. She also had a drone circling overhead for the outdoor events. The ceremony was held at Holy Family Cathedral and the Bishop of the Tulsa & northeastern Oklahoma diocese presided. ⛪ It was a traditional Catholic wedding with a full mass. No cell phones were allowed so I didn't get any pictures but it was a beautiful ceremony. We had a sendoff afterward and a 3 hour break before the reception.

We went back to the hotel to grab a snack at Topeca Coffee. I got a strawberry Italian soda (good but I wish it had whipped cream on top) and a salted chocolate chip cookie. ๐Ÿช☕Wes got a juniper berry latte which he said had too much berry and not enough juniper. (He got a cold brew from the cafรฉ previously and said it was good).

Reception time!! ๐Ÿ™ŒWe all gathered in the foyer of the Big 10 Ballroom for a meet & greet with Chinh and Steve. We got a turn to take a picture with them and sign their wedding book. Once the reception officially started, we were ushered in and found our tables. Wes & I weirdly weren't seated with my mom & stepdad. There were a few others from St. Patrick there but none of us were seated together. Wes says it's so we can mingle and meet new people, but I would have preferred sitting with old friends to catch up. The reception started with a traditional Vietnamese lion dance! ๐Ÿฆ

To all of my friends who plan on getting married soon -if your wedding reception doesn't involve a lion dance, I'm not coming. LOL

Then it was time to eat; there was a Vietnamese buffet on one side of the room and an El Salvadorian buffet on the other. ๐ŸดI stood in line on the El Salvadorian side behind one of the groomsmen and got tips from him on what to get. He suggested the mixed pupusa (with pork, beans and cheese) and it was so good!! I ate from both buffets and enjoyed the Salvadorian stuff more. The reception had all the usual dances and speeches, and it was all very nice (and extremely organized!) The other neat thing, besides the lion dance, was a troupe of Salvadorian dancers came out to perform traditional dances. Around 9pm, we had a faux sendoff (drone awaiting) where Chinh & Steven got into a Rolls Royce, drove around the parking lot and came right back in. LOL It was freezing outside. It gave us oldies a chance to go home while the cool kids danced the night away. 

The next morning, we had brunch at Kilkenny's. I've always heard great things about this restaurant but have never been. It got the traditional Irish breakfast and it was SO MUCH FOOD!! I only ate half of it. It was really good but I think I prefer an American breakfast. ๐Ÿ˜…My favorite part was the grilled tomato - a whole tomato!! ๐Ÿ… I only expected a slice or two. 

After breakfast, we stopped in Hey Boba to get drinks for the road. I got a honeydew milk-tea with boba and Wes got a passion fruit oolong tea with boba. Both were standard drinks and pretty good. The owner is what made this cafรฉ so cool. Aside from being a boba cafรฉ owner, she teaches Sunday morning square dance lessons at the park and she is a horticulturist. ๐ŸŒฑ๐ŸŒธShe grows Chinese plants in her yard and brings them to sell at the cafรฉ. I bought a Chinese mum and she gave me very thorough instructions on how to take care of it. ๐ŸŒบ๐ŸŒฟShe is the sweetest lady; she gave us a piece of oatmilk candy for being her first customers of the day. 

My plant is currently enjoying the weather on the patio. I'll take a post a picture in a few weeks if it survives. ๐Ÿคž

And that wraps up Tulsa. We have to wait a week at home, and then it's my annual birthday trip to Carrollton, TX to eat at as many restaurants as we can at the Carrollton Town Center! Until then ✌

Saved the best picture for last: delicious wedding food!! ๐Ÿ˜‹


Sunday, November 7, 2021

Wes & Erica's vacation photo album - Audrey and Ryan's wedding - October 31, 2021

If you like wedding pictures, this is the blog post for you! ๐Ÿ‘ฐ๐Ÿ’—๐Ÿคต Our whole reason for vacationing in Iowa was to attend my coworker, Audrey's, wedding. She got engaged in 2019 (on my birthday, actually) and we've been talking wedding planning & details ever since. Audrey is an extremely meticulous and dedicated wedding planner. It was nice to finally see the fruits of her labor!

Neither Audrey (Iowa) nor her fiancรฉ (Illinois) are from Oklahoma so I assumed that none of their wedding guests would be either. Luckily, a coworker of mine was able to attend and Audrey sat us together. Always good to see a familiar face! We were also sat with the parents of the matron of honor and the husband of one of the bridesmaids. 

Audrey and Ryan were married at The Celebration Farm. It didn't much resemble a farm but it was still a very pretty event space. The wedding and reception was in a large round, contemporary-style barn that was set on a large plot of land with wooded landscaping. She warned me about the cooler temperatures (and sometimes even snow!) in Iowa this time of year but it turned out to be a lovely day.

Audrey and Ryan had a beautiful traditional Christian wedding. They built a unity cross at the end of the ceremony. I've never seen one before. It's a three part cross. The outside frame was placed on the stand by Ryan (I guess he is the foundation of their marriage). Then Audrey put the center part in (to fill their marriage with her love) and then they placed the pegs into the cross together to hold it all in place. We weren't seated too close to the alter so I couldn't really hear their minister. I thought she asked them to use eggs (instead of pegs) to hold the cross together. I was thinking they were really going to make a plaster and cement that cross together... ugh, what a messy chore to do in a gorgeous wedding dress! Wes politely informed me that I had misheard. LOL

We had a happy hour between the ceremony and reception while the wedding party took their pictures. The night before the wedding, Wes and I had dinner at Big Grove Brewery and I loved their beer. Guess what was served at the open bar??? Big Grove Brewery's Boomtown beer! Since it was a Halloween wedding, they had a candy bar and a treat/toy bar for children. I really wanted to raid the toys (glow sticks, stickers, masks) but they put up a sign proclaiming, "No Grown-ups!!"

Much like the ceremony, Audrey and Ryan had a traditional reception with a delicious buffet dinner, speeches & toasts, first dances, cake, phot booth (the most fun part!) and more dancing -- Wes actually danced!!! *Gasp!* I made him do the anniversary dance - the one where all married couples get on the dance floor and the pair married the longest wins. We got kicked out pretty early since we were only married 6 years. LOL The winning couple have been married 69 years! ๐Ÿ˜ฎ Wow!! My coworker, Reba, wanted me to do the Cupid Shuffle with her so I did... and failed. I completely forgot how to! Which is pretty hard since the instructions are in the song. ๐Ÿ˜‚ The theme of the reception was The Nightmare Before Christmas. Audrey and Ryan changed into costume! A lot of the guests did, which was pretty fun! A quick note regarding Ryan's shirt - Audrey wanted to be Jack Skellington (in her elegant black dress) so he had to be Sally. She bought a white dress shirt and some patch fabric that looked like Sally's dress. She wanted to remove the original sleeves and back panel of the shirt and replace it with the fabric she bought. She thought of this idea last minute (like a week or two before the wedding) and wondered if it was doable. I told her it was doable... for a professional tailor...not an amateur hobbyist like me. LOL You can't really tell in the picture below but his shirt turned out so good!! And now I have an idea of what I want to do to upcycle an old button-down shirt and fun fabric!

Since I travel primarily for food, I will now detail our meal. Hors d'oeuvres were a charcuterie platter, pigs in a blanket and flatbread pizzas. For dinner, we had either brisket (what Wes got) or chicken breast (what I got), green beans with crรจme fraiche (the best part of the meal), au gratin potatoes, macaroni & cheese, farm slaw (a weird coleslaw with red cabbage & blue berries) or house salad, and smoked cornbread. A very yummy meal!! ๐Ÿ˜‹ The three layer cake consisted of yellow cake, red velvet cake and carrot cake. I think wedding cakes are meant to be pretty and not tasty. It wasn't bad but I've definitely had better red velvet cake. 

All in all it was a beautiful and fun wedding; you could tell everyone was having a good time. Audrey's mom came to our table to thank us for coming all the way from Oklahoma! I was shocked she recognized mine and Reba's names and/or faces. I'm pretty sure Audrey must have mentioned us to her mom while they were arranging the seating chart but I didn't think she would remember that tiny detail in the midst of everything else that was going on. She was so nice and exactly like Audrey (or I guess Audrey is exactly like her! LOL) Congrats again to the bride and groom. We wish you a long and happy life together!! 



Monday, July 4, 2016

Hue & Mike got hitched...about time!

A friend of my mom's from church was hired as the wedding photographer so he has all of the professional pictures. Mine aren't that great but they have a candid quality.

The past two weeks I blogged about all my DIY wedding ideas but, I haven't even blogged about the wedding itself...how selfish of me! No juicy wedding drama, just a good ol' time to be had by all! I got to see some of my family from out of town, catch up with some of my mom's friends from church & her job and finally meet Mike's family.
Trevor and Athena are laughing at the same joke.

After getting new contacts, a haircut, taking both dogs to the vet, doing laundry and finishing up the wedding decorations, I was ready for family to come into town. I spent a day with my favorite second cousins, Trevor & Andrew. They're grown teenagers now so they're a bit harder to entertain but we still had a good time. We hung out all day at my apartment playing with Sadie & Athena and playing Street Fighter 5. I also took them to the Asian grocery store and we made sushi for lunch.

Wes, myself, Sandy, my mom, Mike & Bill. Patty, the music teacher, took the picture so she wasn't able to be in it. One of the flower girls had plans so she was also absent.

First on the to do list was the wedding rehearsal and dinner. The music teacher at Gatewood Elementary (where my mom teaches) sang the Ave Maria, two of my mom's former students were the flower girls, I was the matron of honor, Mike's best friend whom he's known since the second grade, Bill, was the best man and Wes walked my mom down the aisle. The rehearsal was straight forward and simple. My mom & Mike opted for an abridged wedding (no Catholic mass) so that saved a ton of time!

 Then it was time to eat. Mike suggested Fuze for dinner because it is a giant buffet with all types of food. Everyone would find something they liked. The restaurant was packed and they sat us right next to the live music. Aside from the noise, we had a nice dinner.

Andrew & Wes with matching Fallout shirts.

After dinner, we all went back to my mom's house. Everyone stayed up chatting and swapping stories. Then after that, Trevor & Andrew came home with us to play more Street Fighter. Correction... they played with Wes. I got home and went promptly to bed. LOL

The kitchen crew was amazing; they cooked & served the food, cleaned up the entire kitchen and kept a happy attitude all day.

WEDDING DAY!!! The decorating and cooking started at 8am. One of my mom's former students and her mom were already at the church when we arrived. They helped with decorations all morning. A handful of my mom's friends from Gatewood prepared an amazing lunch. A teacher baked and assembled the cake. Another Gatewood teacher did my mom's hair & makeup. I think every teacher from that school was present that day.

The bells tolled at noon and it was showtime. We all looked sharp as we walked in. The wedding was short and sweet. My mom and Mike were extremely happy. Everyone did great and no one fainted. LOL After the ceremony, we took tons of pictures. Then Wes & I witnessed the signing of the marriage certificate.
Check out the paparazzi! 
Two out of three of Mike's brothers - Nick & Pat.

When the photographer was happy with his portfolio, we headed to the reception party. (Mike's eldest brother, Jim, and Wes were the reception photographers since the wedding photographer had anther engagement.) For lunch, we had eggrolls (a gift from one of my mom's friends), salad, oven roasted chicken, green beans, fried catfish and rolls. Everything was delicious! It was nice to see everyone as my mom & Mike made the rounds (I followed behind them as their unofficial photographer). I got to catch up with an aunt who I haven't seen in probably five years, our Statefarm agent, my mom's neighbors who've known me since I was in grade school, all the teachers at Gatewood and my former Sunday school teacher.
All of my mom's new in-laws.

Mike didn't do much of the decision making during the wedding planning but he did want some say in the cake. They ended up with a three tier marble cake with yellow frosting and nerdy wedding toppers. He kept joking that the wedding would represent the joining of two empires. I didn't think my mom would let it happen but Uhura and Darth Vader ended up on top of their cake!

Before everyone left, my mom did the traditional bouquet toss. All the single ladies went out to the parking lot. One teacher's teenage daughter, Heather, caught the bouquet. 

The day started off stressful (as I assume most wedding days would) but everything went smoothly and I had a really good time. My mom works with the best and most supportive coworkers. I've never seen an entire school rally together and come out to one of their own's weddings. I think they did about 50% of the work before and after the reception and comprised 75% of the attendees at the ceremony. Wes was also a wonderful help and looked handsomely stunning in his tuxedo. My mom & Mike were beaming with happiness and love all day.