My sister Hannah got married last weekend. It was beautiful and fun and lovely. We celebrated and partied and did what my family does best... put on a BIG party! My parents adopted Hannah from Romania when she was a baby. She married an awesome dude named Chase, also adopted from Romania. Is that amazing? Why yes, yes it is. They have an incredible bond and a wonderful love story, and it was FUN to watch their lives start together!
Zach was able to take some pictures during the rehearsal so we'll start there. Other than that, I'll mostly have to steal pictures from family members to share the story here. Behold... the rehearsal!
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| okay I lied... we'll start with the bridesmaid luncheon. Hannah and Leah wearing their lily dresses ;) |
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| VZ sisters ((yes- all of us! plus my Leah!) |
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| MUSIC! we love Ryan and Whitney :) |
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| More music practicing from my brother Kyle... a man of many talents! |
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| gathering to start ... Hannah and Chase got married in a meadow next to Salem Tavern in Winston-Salem |
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| getting organized... |
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| Zach taking selfies |
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| men! plus wedding coordinator |
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| Leah trying to get my nieces to walk down the "aisle"... went much better on the actual day! so so cute... |
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| Laela saying "no way mom!" ;) |
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| Caroline did fine as long as she had her water. SO DARN ADORABLE |
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| all lined up (Kyle in the middle... he officiated the wedding because he's all badass like that) |
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| here comes the bride! |
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| awwwww |
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| cry babies :) |
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| the practice hand-off... Hannah removing the sunglasses I handed her to pull herself together. You got this Hannah! |
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| Mascara check! "Becca how's my face?!?" |
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| pretty sunbeam pic |
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| boys hangin out with mama dede and papa doc |
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| ladies |
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| fathers of the groom soak it all in :) |
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| The perfect pair, ready to move on to their big day... |
We left the rehearsal and went to celebrate at the rehearsal dinner. We had toasts and a wonderful surprise video from my brother Tyler, deployed to Afghanistan. It was such a bittersweet moment! I said a few words too, which I really suck at (the whole public speaking thing is not my jam), but I wanted to honor them somehow. I joked a little about how instead of getting a horse, I got a sister (obviously that turned out fabulously ;)). But what I really wanted to convey was how overjoyed I was that each of them had found their partner, and feel so
beloved. When I was thinking of what I would say, it struck me that I could recite a short, but meaningful poem that I had read many times in one of my favorite books of poetry. It perfectly captures what I could not so eloquently say:
Late Fragment
by Raymond Carver
And did you get what
you wanted from this life, even so?
I did.
And what did you want?
To call myself beloved, to feel myself
beloved on the earth.
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