Wedding Old, Wedding New

This afternoon we attended a wedding in the same church where we were married a couple years ago. A few things have changed since then



but I'm still a pretty lucky lady.

Unlike us old farts, this is a young couple just starting out. In fact, this is one of those disgustingly adorable couples that honeymoon resorts want to put on the cover of their brochures. The kind of couple that you look at and can't help imagining all the disgustingly adorable children they are going to have. And of course, they are both so disgustingly nice, you can't hate them for being so disgustingly adorable.

I don't have any pictures of the wedding ceremony, because long about the time the groom saw his bride coming down the aisle and had to wipe his eyes, or perhaps somewhere around the time the bride's voice cracked saying her wedding vows, I got something in my eyes and had to keep wiping them.

Which caused my contac lense to slip up into the corner of my eye, so I almost missed the kiss trying to shove it back into the right spot.

But, I did get a few shots of the reception, starting with this cake:

Okay, it's not actually a cake, but isn't it gorgeous? And such a neat idea! I know a dozen of you are probably going to tell me you have seen this before, but I haven't yet, and I love it. So classy-looking, and it stays looking nice even after everyone has had some. And nobody has to stand there serving it! You can also have several different kinds of cake this way - and of course, we had to try each kind.

Of course, you still have to have the obligatory bride-and-groom-serving-each-other.

I. want. that. dress.

I still can't believe I got this shot - I am always either too early or too late.

Groom's sister, M. and S. Wish I had a better shot of both girls' dresses, they looked great! Scary to think some day we will be attending their weddings, possibly in this same church. You know, in 15 years or so. When we have picked out a suitable husband for each of them.

The very sweet bride and her sister both made sure S. got flowers, too. (Like how the bruise on the temple matches her dress and hair bows?)

S. was playing shy, but C. never passes up a chance to get close to a pretty girl. Is this the same shy little guy who was supposed to be part of our wedding party, but who hid behind a potted plant instead?

Another must-have part of the reception. They ran into a problem with the next step, though - while there were several girls vying for the bouquet, there was a sum total of one bachelor to catch the garter. Only brother not married. Handsome young doctor, too! No pressure, J., no pressure.

So, here was the question of the month: what do you give a young couple just starting off - and leaving immediately for Germany? Yes, there is the obvious answer, but you want something fun or personal to open, too. Not to mention small enough to pack easily, not breakable, etc., etc. I finally found something based on a quote on the bride's Facebook page, but that got me to thinking about some of the gifts we got for our wedding. I asked for a lot of kitchen stuff, and still use all of it, but there were also a few outside-the-box gifts I wanted to share:

This was, hands-down, the best gift ever.

I won't bore you with the whole long story, but basically this book helped me get Daddy to finally ask me out. For my birthday, he gave me a stuffed dragon, and for his birthday, I gave him a doll dressed in a paper bag. When we got home after our wedding, a package containing this book was waiting in the mailbox. Inside:

No. Freakin. Way. Turns out my wonderful friend Shiona is friends with Mrs. Munsch. Still looking for an appropriate display case for this, as nobody is currently allowed to touch it, breathe on it, or look at it too intently.

Another great gift came from this sweet couple, who have since gone home to Germany:

They also brought cake - yum!

Their gift was a large pot containing three plants, still in their own individual pots inside the dirt. They said it was a money plant, which didn't make much sense at the time - must be a German thing, and hey, I like plants. And they brought cake!

Then when we got home (and recovered from the coolness of the book), we noticed there was a quarter sticking out if the dirt. So, we lifted the plants out and started digging. Soon we moved to the backyard, where we sat in the dirt laughing hysterically as we uncovered about $50 in change. Loved it!!! I don't know if this is something commonly done in Germany, or if we just have friends with a creative sense of humor. I just hope I always have friends who will think that this was as cool a gift as I do.

And that then got me to wondering, what neat/creative/bizarre gifts did you receive when you married? Or for a birthday/Christmas/Labor Day? What are your favorite memories from your wedding or reception? Please share in the comments! And congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. S.!!!