What God Has Joined Together..

We arrived at the wedding venue about two hours before the actual wedding. Decorating was furiously taking place.

My brother, Jon, and Don survey the process.

Pre-wedding pictures were taken and I lurked around behind the professional photographer shooting my share of pictures, catching Emily with cousin, Jake.

Emily and her attendants, Hannah, Meg and her sister, Aly.

Emily was just regal.

Emily’s bouquet was wrapped with Mama Trudy’s pearl necklace. Mama Trudy is Emily’s great-grandmother who is now in Heaven. During the ceremony, I heard a pearl bounce on the floor. Moments later, as we were singing, “Amazing Grace,” the pearls begin to hit the hardwood floor. Meg, the maid of honor, caught my eye in a look of panic.  I smiled happily at her as the tears spilled over the rim of my eyes. She smiled back and the tension left her face.  In fact, all tension left the entire room.  As my niece and mother of the bride said later, “It was a moment that was meant to be.”  A divine moment.

The beautiful gluten-free wedding cake decorated by the bride’s grandmother, Regina Circeo.

The Communion and Marriage License signing table.

As Kyle, the groom, took his place and took in the room full of friends and family, his mouth quivered and I thought he was losing his composure, but he re-cooped.  When Tammy reached the doorway, for Kyle, the room was empty.  The emotion in the room was precious.

The minister did an amazing job of comparing the marriage of a man and woman with the relationship of Jesus Christ and His Church.  God was most definitely lifted up and glorified in this marriage ceremony.

At this point and probably fortunately, the battery in my camera went dead.

One of my favorite moments of the ceremony was at the end when the minister said (completing the sentence began in the title), “…. let no man put asunder."  And the bride said a solid, “Amen!” louder than she had said anything during the whole ceremony. The “Amen’s” echoed through the room

Uncle of the bride, Tom DeRusha, announced,

“Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Ryan!”

Robert and Salby Sherman, dear, sweet friend of Tammy Circeo.  Salby stepped up and was a huge help with everything. In fact, she was indispensible.  We fell in love with them!

How delighted I was when I realized that Emily and Kyle were foregoing the tradition of pouring champagne in each other’s mouth and shoving wedding cake all over each other’s face.  Where did that hideous tradition start, anyway?

Following the toast by the maid of honor and the best man, Ken, father of the bride, read a poem that he had written for “My Brown-eyed Girl.”  There wasn’t a dry eye in the room when he was finished with his emotional and sentimental reading, including his.

Emily and Kyle Ryan dance their first dance together as husband and wife.

I will insert here that we love Kyle Ryan and believe that he is perfect for our Emily.  He is so attentive to her and we have no doubt that he will take good care of her. It did not take long visiting with him to realize his love for God and that’s the most important element of his relationship with Emily.

Next, the bride and her dad dance and we all witnessed another “look of love.”

Oh, my. (sigh) …. worth a thousand words.

After much festiveness and fellowship, it was time for Mr. and Mrs. Ryan to leave the reception.

It was a beautiful wedding and reception and Don and I are so thankful to have had the opportunity to share this blessed event with our family and friends of Emily and Kyle, Tammy and Ken.

[Have no fear… all pearls were gathered up and safe in my possession to see another wedding in the future.]