Uncle Jeff and Aunt Rani's Wedding

 Now that I am back on blogger ( I had to purchase more space to continue!) I can officially congratulate Uncle Jeff and Aunt Rani on their marriage!

After a year and a half engagement, my brother was about to get married, and Bekah's debut of being a flower girl had arrived!

The wedding weekend was wonderful, and just like everyone thought, Rani was a glowing bride and was absolutely stunning!

( wish I had a picture of Jeff and Rani posing, but I wasn't very good at getting pictures that weekend! Matron of Honor+ Mother of the Flower Girl+Sister to the Groom+ a daddy for a Groomsman=not many pictures!)

 But I will start at the beginning of the weekend extravaganza:

Here is Rani and her sister Brittany at the rehearsal:

 I was very impressed with the way Brittany arranged all of Rani's ribbons from her shower to make for a pretty attractive fake bouquet!

 Some of her bridesmaids:

 Trying to capture a picture with my little flower girl.

 My was she excited that night, she was running all over the place and was so friendly and curious with everyone and everything! I really think it was due to the fact that so many people she loved were all in one room! Little did I know what would come the next day . . .

 At the rehearsal with her dad.Not only was Rani a beautiful bride, but she honestly couldn't have looked any more excited to get married! All weekend long, she was so poised and calm with everyone and Jeff seemed so chill and joyful, reminding me just how perfect they are together!

 Bekah the explorer, checking out every nook and cranny around those pews! On our practice runs, she did so well walking down the isle, holding my hand!

 Loving on May May:

 The rehearsal dinner didn't start until about 7:30 and my little party girl was still going strong, which completely surprised me! It gave me this false sense of hope for the actual wedding day! She did so well hanging with all the grown ups, eating with a big girl fork and all! ( Daddy the Eye Doctor cringes when he sees such a sight!)

 Proud Parents of the Groom- Grandpa and MayMay

 We were so happy to have Aunt Sarah back in town with the family!

 Family Pic with a toddler is very different than with a perfectly still baby!

The always supportive Frolow Family:

 Bride and Groom at their table:

 Our table with a tired toddler that was quickly approaching a much needed exit! Thanks for taking her home Aunt Sarah!

 The two Mr. Mays:

 The two Mrs. Mays:

Being both married and a parent myself, I enjoy seeing how happy Rani and Jeff's love makes my parents. I can understand on a whole new level their joy now that I have a child of my own!

 The next day involved lots of primping and preparing for mommy and not much of a nap for the little flower girl. She couldn't have been sick, I thought to myself, she had JUST been sick the week earlier, so I quickly dismissed that possibility and packed her bag full of lollipops, handed her over to Gramommy, headed to the church, and crossed my fingers!

Rani's gorgeous dress:

 Our bouquets. I included this pic because this is about all you will be seeing of Bekah's cute little flower girl basket. Later on, when she arrived at the church with Gramommy, her refusing something full of flowers and LOOKED LIKE A PURSE baffled me! Well, maybe when you are sick, even a purse doesn't seem enticing . . .

 Ranid trying on her dress:

 So pretty!

Something that really meant alot to me was how Rani asked if she could borrow my veil!

  Maybe one day Bekah will want to wear it!

My cousin Katherine and I:

 My mom looked so lovely in her purple dress!

 Rani and all of us bridesmaids. We all agreed that she did a fabulous job picking us out great dresses that we can easily wear again!

 After all the before pics were taken, my little one walks in with Gramommy, napless and really not wearing much of a smile on her face . . .  She sure looked adorable though! Pretty much the only thing she took an interest in was Gramommy's IPhone. At one point I even saw her lay her head down on the ground! When I saw that I thought, "Okay, she is fussy and tired, I don't blame her, so we will just keep her happy until the ceremony is over  (meaning, fruit snacks and lollipops galore!), maybe she can take a catnap in the car on the way to the reception and all will be well!"

So I thought!

 Kath and Bekah:

Maybe the real photographer got a better mommy daughter pic of us when we walked down the isle . . .

because, I hadn't exactly pictured us posing for what looks like an IPhone ad, when I had thought of our pictures together!

And so, to make a long story short, the ceremony was wonderful and beautiful and went exactly how they wanted it to go, I even got Bekah down the isle! What a trooper! Granted I had to hold her, she did not want to walk as we had done the night before, sicne she was not feeling well, but I think I was the only one disappointed in that aspect, since I had images of her walking down the isle, with her dress swinging to and fro, like a little angel baby : ). That's okay though, it was really special to be able to hold her : ). When I got to the front, I handed her over to Gramommy and then stood by Rani's side. Surprisingly, she did really well, with the help of a lollipop and pretty much stayed in the pews, quietly the whole ceremony. Nora did decide to take her out when Rani and Jeff said the vows that they wrote for one another, which were so well said and touching!

But by the time we started taking pictures after the ceremony, Bekah was a mess and could not stop crying! She felt hot and just looked miserable! It was so hard, making the decision to let Gramommy and Pops take her home, if she was just tired, maybe a cat nap would take care of things before we got the the reception perhaps? I so wanted my little girl to be with all of that night, dancing on the dance floor, spending time with friends and family that don't get to see her too much, but when I got the call from Gramommy that when they took her home, she did not want dinner,  had a 101 temp AND then, threw up in her crib, I knew we had made the right decision. Poor, poor girlie!

Knowing that Bekah was well cared for at home, we continued on with the super fun reception!

Jeff and Rani dancing:

Mom and Jeff:

Rani and Jeff had spent so much time making sure each detail of the reception perfect, it was so great to see all of their efforts play out into a wonderful evening with friends and family!

Still being a bit worried/sad about Bekah, and with a Matron of Honor speech to soon give, I wasn't that great, once again about getting crowd pics, but I did get this pretty one of

 Rani and my two cousin in laws, Alexis and Mandi : ).

And I think it was one of them that grabbed the camera to get a pic of me and my bro!

Everyone agreed that it was one of those weddings that ended way to soon, no one wanted to leave the dance floor and head home, we were having so much fun! But, we had to let the couple go so they could get some rest before their amazing honeymoon!

I'd like to take a moment to once again thank the Burkharts for all the ways they helped my family that weekend! I don't know what we would have done without them! Sarah looked after Bekah so much that weekend and she even  had the important job of picking up Rani's wedding band!  And had it not been for  Gramommy and Pops volunteering to take Bekah home after the reception and watch over my sick little flower girl, I may have missed my own brother's reception!

It was just another one of those weekends that made Zack and I feel so very grateful for the way God has blessed us with family, whether we are adding new members (Rani May!) or simply taking care and supporting of the ones that we already have, gosh Bekah is lucky to be surrounded by so much love!

Congrats again Rani and Jeff!