Wedding Bells

Wow, I had a big surge of blog hits on Saturday and Monday!  I know why you're here--you want to hear about the wedding, don't you?

Dave and Sarah were married on Friday.  The wedding was lovely (happy, but a little sad at the same time), and the reception quite enjoyable.  I took lots of pictures and I'll post a few in a minute, but first I have to give you an update.

When I wrote about Sarah's wedding shower, I said it was too bad that Sarah's sisters Leah and Rachel wouldn't be here for the wedding.  Well, as it turns out, they were here after all!  You see, Leah had to come back to the US a little earlier than expected.  And it would have been very difficult to fly back alone, while pregnant, with two small children, so her sister Rachel came along (with two of her own children) too.  While it will no doubt be hard for Leah and Caleb to be separated till March, the silver lining to the cloud is that Leah and Rachel were both able to attend their sister's wedding!  How nice to have all seven siblings together for the momentous occasion. :)

I'm sure you are all eager to see pictures, so here goes:

The groomsmen were all Canadian cousins of Dave's: Jonathan, Ben, and Randy.  The bridesmaids were Sarah's sisters Anna and Leah, and her cousin Shelby.  Ushers were Sarah's brother Josh, and Dave's brother Casey.  Here is the receiving line, after the wedding.  Left to right: Sarah; Dave, giving his mother a hug; Jonathan; Anna; Margaret greeting Ben Kuiper; Leah; Randy; Mr. Kuiper walking past Shelby; Josh; and Casey.

The wedding was performed by Rev. John MacLeod of London.  Here is Rev. MacLeod outside of church, talking to Donald from--you guessed it--Scotland.  As you can see, it was a beautiful day, warm and sunny.

The head table at the reception.  Left to right: Randy, Ben, Jonathan, Sarah, Dave, Anna, and Leah.  I managed to cut Shelby out of the picture somehow.  Oops!

But I did get a nice picture of Shelby later on (she's on the right), with Anna, and a Canadian fellow who decided to jump into the picture. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Kuiper were very happy to have gained a daughter-in-law.  Look at their smiles!

Here is Sarah with her stepmum Anna.  Anna had the most beautiful purple hat.  Sadly, I did not get a photo of the hat.  

Leah is supposed to be staying off her feet and taking it easy, but she was a trooper and managed to stand through most of the wedding, only sitting down for a few minutes at the end.  I tried to help her take it easy by taking Brooklyn off her hands at every opportunity.  Of course, I was competing for Brooklyn with Leah's siblings, who are also happy to hold Brooklyn every chance they get!
Here are Leah and Shona looking pretty.

Shona was happy to reunite with her cousin Olivia.  These two get along beautifully.  They have long conversations that the rest of us can't really understand.  Shona is concentrating on her candy here, but of course just after I took the photo, she gave me a beautiful smile. :)

Our accessor elder from Scotland, Mr. MacPherson. 

My sister Mercy and her mother-in-law, also the bride's aunt, Terry.

Jenny and Martha from Canada.  

A good-looking Dutch couple. In the background are Dave and Sarah with Rachel Winkels.  

Another good-looking Dutch couple--well, half Dutch--Mr. and Mrs. Weprin. :)

Dave and Sarah with John, who is looking forward to a wedding of his own in about two months.

Stephanie and Carl.

My boys.  Easily the most handsome young men at the reception!

James and Hayley with their two boys.  Hayley made the wedding cakes--cheesecakes that is.  The chocolate caramel pecan cheesecake was fantastic!

Last but not least, Nat and Gerrit, photographer and assistant photographer, respectively.

(Is that enough photos for you?!  Sorry I don't have a better shot of the bride and groom!  Though if you're on Facebook, you've probably seen photos there, and I'm sure there will be more forthcoming on Facebook and on a blog or two.)

Now, sadly, we must say farewell to Dave and Sarah, who are off to Canada to start a new home together.  We wish them the best in their married life.