The Wedding of The Year

Our dear friends Travis and Leslie got married last weekend! Yay!!

It was quite an event. Beautiful. Over the Top. Fun. Heart-Felt. Romantic. It was indeed the Wedding of The Year!

Tyler served as the Best Man and Dash served as one of the "ring bearers." He actually carried a picture of Travis's dad (who recently passed away) down the aisle. 

The main thing that Tyler and I have been worried about for months was if Dash would make it down the aisle. In the rehearsal, Dash was as confident as could be, but of course, before the ceremony it was a different story. He was not behaving, coping an attitude, and well, I finally had to break away, take my seat up front, and just pray that the coordinator could get him down. 

When the moment came, though, Dash pulled through--but in his own way. As he walked, the crowd "Ooo'd" and "Aw'd" (I mean it was just about the cutest thing ever!), but the more they did and the farther he got down the aisle, the lower his head got. Lower and lower and lower...until finally all you could see was the top of his head. 

(he's the one in the back...)

And then when he would sneak a peek and lift it, he had such a sad/nasty look on his face. 

Until finally, about 10-feet from the front, when Dash saw me. (I was kneeling at the front row.) I gently reminded him to smile, and sure enough he did! He raced to arms, asked for his prize (oh c'mon--bribery was the only route Tyler and I could take), and surprisingly sat through the entire service--quietly!

All-in-all, I count that as a success!

Some unique touches of the wedding were:

the elegant decor

the photo booth with props (check out my fridge for the pics)

the groom's cake (a BMX track!)

the candy bar (all black and pink sweets...I've never tasted such delicious strawberry Oreo's!)

the live entertainment (The Grooves--uh-mazing! Tyler and I danced and danced and danced...)

the groomsmen's shoes: Old school black and pink Nike kicks with personal monograms. Pretty sweet if you ask me. 

this is a bitterwseet picture, because those are the shoes that Travis' dad was going to wear...they sat on a table up front during the ceremony.

some one-liner descriptions of each person in the wedding party (printed in the wedding program)

the "guest book" (it was actually a printed photo book of engagement portraits...all the guests signed on open white space, and I think that makes for a super-special guest book)

the get-a-way car (an old, hot-rod of some sort---Tyler will kill me that I don't know---that Travis actually rebuilt and cleaned up with his dad. Tyler had fun driving it up so the bride and groom could escape, even adding a loud, rev of the engine at the perfect moment when they appeared at the door. Lots of fun!)

And here is the only picture we got of us that night...a quick snapshot my mom took before we walked out the door.

For Tyler and I, it was such a great time! We love our kids, but we really loved having two nights in a row for us to be out. We enjoyed a nice dinner and caught up with old friends at the Rehearsal Dinner, and then of course, stayed out late for the wedding. We owe my parents a HUGE thanks, as they so graciously watched the boys and even made special arrangements  to pick up/deliver Dash, so he could participate in some of the festivities, and then Tad, so he could be fed! Thank You GiGi and Paw-Paw!