Scenes from a Wedding...

Well then what's to be the reason for becoming man and wife?
Is it love that brings you here or love that brings you life?
And if loving is the answer, then who's the giving for?
Do you believe in something that you've never seen before?
Oh there is Love, there is Love.

It's been raining in Dallas for what seems like WEEKS, and Sunday was no exception: when we awoke, the skies were heavy and overcast. Kath and Brenden set to work erecting two gazebos on A's deck, to keep everyone dry, as I set about bedding rosy periwinkle, potting gerbera daisies,
and hanging baskets of bougainvillea and golden eye. When Jimmy the Bagpiper arrived, albeit 30 minutes early, Kath was busy (and muddy), putting down the last of the dozen pavers for which we'd just made an emergency run to Home Depot.

"Uh, is this the right house?" Jimmy asked, looking around nervously at the obvious lack of guests and the numerous last minute preparations still being feverishly attended to. I wiped a muddy hand on my jeans before extending it to him to shake and assured him it was, introducing myself as the Mother of the Bride. I told him to make himself at home and said (confidently, I hoped), "We'll be back in 30 minutes! C'mon Kath!" and with that we were off to my house to shower and get cleaned up for the ceremony.

As it was, I needn't have worried. Back at my house, I'd just stepped out of the shower when I received a frantic phone call from Alex...seems The Groom to Be had literally lost his pants...yes, his wedding pants...and so a frantic Search for Chris' Pants was on. Alex and Chris had been staying at my house from the time they flew in from Chicago on Tuesday until Saturday, when they checked into The Westin for a couple of nights for some privacy. Apparently, in walking from their car to the hotel lobby, Chris's wedding pants had slipped off the hangar and thus were nowhere to be found, either in their room at The Westin or in the guestroom upstairs in my house. Within about 10 minutes of receiving the phone call, though, Chris found his pants, none the worse for wear (i.e., no one had run over them). They were simply lying, folded neatly, on a sidewalk outside the hotel, where someone had thoughtfully placed them. That emergency over and done with, my son Chris came running up to the house in white shirt, double breasted blue blazer, family plaid tie, new shoes and...blue jeans! Seems he'd lost his pants as well (I don't even wanna KNOW)...however, the khakis that he'd worn at the rehearsal dinner the night before were more easily found, hanging neatly on a hangar in a downstairs closet at my house.

The mystery of both the Chris's missing pants solved, we drove fast over to A's, where someone who hadn't bothered with pants was playing festively...









and that would of course be Jimmy the Bagpiper, shown here playing a rousing rendition of The Clumsy Lover...


Here are the guys, lined up after the ceremony, and I think it's fair to say they cleaned up pretty well: Brad (brother of) Chris (The Groom), then da boys (my twin sons) Mike and Chris.








And here are Mike and Chris with Chris' sweetheart, Stephanie...













And here are Chris, Anthony (who graciously hosted the ceremony and reception afterward) and Mike. Note the clan ties, and that's a family clan sash (traditional at Scots weddings) wrapped around Alex's shoulders in the first pic.

















Kath also cleaned up well for the ceremony...although admittedly, this was taken after the ceremony, when she was drinking a well-earned Corona...



As were her brothers (yeah, they're 21)...















And Jimmy wasn't above hoisting a cold one, too...



















Then it was time for some sibling shenanigans...here are my fabulous four doing their rendition of the Can-Can...












And then time for some quiet reflection...Kath, Xander and Brenden...
















And finally, here are we tired oldsters, without whom none of this fanfare would have been possible...Chris' parents, Rose and Manny, and moi and Anthony.

It was a terrific wedding.