here comes the bride. again.

i never thought it would happen.  but finally.  my girls were asked to be flower girls.  or it could be that i just had them crash the party like the bride.  

our good friends donna and john were married last year.  there wasn't a ceremony or big reception.  they just walked hand in hand to the courthouse and said their vows.  and that was that.  because love doesn't mean having cake.  

here we are one year later and john decided it'd be nice to treat his bride to a surprise wedding for their anniversary. he gathered up close friends and had us all arrive at the chapel thirty minutes prior to the start of the ceremony. then he blindfolded his wife and drove her to the destination.  

also.  the church has a bumpy dirt parking lot and donna did mention that she thought at one point john was driving her into the woods.  too bad i didn't know that until after the fact.  because i would have totally stood outside the car howling and scratching at the windows.

when donna's blindfold came off, she was standing in the atrium.  her son met her and she screamed.  we all heard it behind the wooden sliding doors that were pushed open to reveal lil and mad standing there with the flower bucket and a room filled with some pretty awesome folks.

a chapel with red doors.  a surprised bride.
flower girls and their ensemble from chasing fireflies and chooze shoes.

yada yada yada.  donna walked down the aisle.  the bouquet was put in her hands.  the garter was slipped onto her wrist.  and they lived happily ever after.  except.  at the dinner afterwards?  there still wasn't any cake.  this kind of love sure is crazy.

ps.  the bouquet was handmade by our friend tracey.  a few of us contributed brooches and jewels and the like to help create this beautiful arrangement that was absolutely perfect for donna.  it is also heavier than a mack truck. so probably donna will drop her shake weight and start curling the bouquet because she has not let that thing leave her side.  i wonder if she'll use the garter as a headband.

the most beautiful weapon ever.

oh.  lil and mad were great and behaved as expected.  sweet.  and smiley.  and.  wait for it.  mad dropped the bucket after taking about three steps and ran to the front alter leaving lil and my husband to finish the walk.  and after the ceremony, the girls laughed and played and punched each other.  and a wonderful time was had by all.

true to form.

also.  as a reward for keeping their outfits clean all day, we let the girls play on the beach in them.  and as evening came and we started our leave from the beach, we met another beautiful bride who was also married that day.  she held her bouquet and we wished her good blessings.  i wonder if she had cake.

i look at these girls and i'm like.
this is so much better than cake. seriously.

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