the week of the wedding part two

Thursday night we went to the rehearsal and Madelyn did pretty well at first playing on the floor with her book that Gigi and Papa sent her last week.

She started to get a little fussy after about 30 minutes so Luke came and got her to show her off. The change distracted her from the fact that her bed time had already passed for a little while...but not for long.

After she started squawking (for lack of a better word) and I started having visions of her squawking during the wedding, it was back to the book and roaming around on the floor.

Luke and Brandon (the groom and Luke's friend since elementary school days). Brandon is such a remarkable guy. Luke and I could not be more excited for he and his new bride as they start their marriage!

I had to get a picture of the three of us at the rehearsal dinner. Madelyn was pretty good considering there were so many people that there was not any room for a high chair (I do not recommend a nice dinner out without a high chair with a nearly nine month old way past her bed time). By the time dessert rolled around, she was grabbing at everything. I think we ended up with a collection of like 10 spoons underneath our chairs (thanks to everyone passing them down as each one fell) because Madelyn was using them as her drum sticks!

In a matter of minutes, everyone was passing down their napkins (notice the pile of about 20 red things right in front of me??) because I wasn't being careful or paying attention and Madelyn pulled my FULL drink down all over she and I. It was comical and humbling. Thankfully it didn't get on anyone else!

After dinner we went to the bride's parent's house so that Luke and the rest of the bridal party could work on a special dance for the reception.

It definitely made for some good laughs.

They wrapped it up around 11:30pm, so we made our way back to the hotel to put the wee one to bed (yes, she woke back up after the short car ride from the restaurant to the house-thankfully she was at least happy and playful).

I felt so bad for Madelyn every day because we just drug her all over the place. She did really well, but next time we will definitely find someone to come with us or leave her with family! It just wasn't fair to her.

Friday morning we took it easy around the hotel because I knew it would be a long night for Madelyn. We dropped Luke off for all the pre-wedding festivities and went back to the hotel to get ready.

Madelyn looked so cute in her dress and her daddy looked hot in his tux!

I love this picture of the two of them.

I didn't get too many pictures (as I was trying to make sure there was no squawking like the night before) but I did manage to snap this one of Luke walking back down the aisle.

The wedding part after the ceremony getting their picture taken. They all looked so great and the bride was simply beautiful!

I think this picture of the bride and groom watching from the back of the room as the bridal party was announced at the reception is adorable. Everything was beautiful. We were able to see some good friends (no pictures=sad). The wedding was so them and so perfect!

After their first dance as husband and wife, the wedding party took the dance floor. It was so cute and I loved watching the hubby have fun! The video is a bit shaky because I was holding on to Madelyn with my right hand and holding the flip with my left...

Brandon is a firefighter so this was the "getaway car" for the new husband and wife! We snuck out there to get a picture of Madelyn and her handsome Daddy.

I absolutely love weddings. It takes me back to our special day and brings to mind how much fun we had. The first time we met Brandon's new wife was when he brought her to our wedding nearly three years ago. They are precious and our prayer for them (as the hubby put it in his toast) is that they have fun, enjoy each other, and that their marriage points others to Jesus. Congratulations Brandon & Amanda!