As Mother of the Bride, of course I simply couldn't take many pictures. That would have been inappropriate, counterproductive, and contrary to this principle of mine, which is to live the moment, even at the expense of recording it (a principle which may sometimes have negatively affected aspects of life and memory, not to mention blog content, but that's how it goes).
Soon you'll have a proper view, but I wanted to show you how I did get the beginning at the house and the end at the couple's last dance.
The beginning, when the photographer has headed out to arrive at the church before the wedding party, the wedding party has mostly left, and it's just a few people, including the bride, waiting for the right moment to leave. And the end, when I could grab the camera and capture a few shots from a bit outside the action; ones that sum up the peace, loveliness, and joy of the day.
Thanks for your good wishes and sweet thoughts as we've been minimally keeping you up on what's been going on. Truly, we have the best readers! I will try to gratify your interest :)
Suzanne's dear friend Liz (in the blue dress), bridesmaid, graciously offered her vintage Mercedes for the ride to the church.
I found that I had a good view of Deirdre.
But it took me a moment to get a good over-the-shoulder blind view of Sukie.
There we go.
Rosie was our florist (she will give you a good post on flowers soon, but you can read about hers here, as well as the story of the little beaded bag). We ordered them online, but that glorious peony, the fragrance of which you can't perceive through cyberspace, but which was heavenly, was from the garden.
A highlight of the reception was that in addition to the iPod playlist (super fun, danceable music), our friends the Bells called a few contra dances, including, if you can imagine such a thing, a one that told the story of the courtship!
This dance was cooked up by Jerry Bell and Liz and Sukie's super talented friend Dawn, and it went like this: The top couple starts out with the gent chasing the lady around the line (a tribute to John's persistence), then doing a little advance-and-retire, shivering (to depict a memorable episode in which Sukie, too nervous to sit indoors, wanted to go for a walk on what became a freezing evening for poor, coatless John), then spin-your-partner while making the phone motion with your hands (to depict the long weeks spent apart while John did his rotations in medical school), then the gent proposing on one knee while the girl dances around him, then the whole company circles the floor holding hands!
Bridget was bridesmaid as well as musician! She played a waltz for Sukie and John's first dance!
I have so many details to show you and tell you about. It was a lot of work, but what a wedding day!
And then there was the magical last dance, with a radiant Suzanne and triumphant John. What a day. What a gift.
