The wedding that Jesus was invited to (and other adventures) {pretty, happy, funny, real}

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life.~

With the lovely ladies at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Some say, "when it rains, it pours." Well, it has been literally and figuratively been pouring in my life lately. On the literal side, we've gotten a fair bit of rain lately. On the figurative side, I've had so much going on in the last week that I think that this might be my most-jammed-packed {pretty, happy, funny, real} yet.  While I've spoken a lot about the drama of moving (it really hasn't been that dramatic, but everything is more dramatic when you blog, isn't it?), life hasn't stopped. Indeed it has been bustling me right along.

 {pretty}

As I talked about last month in this PHFR post, May 25th was the day of weddings! In the morning, my dear roommate of two years married her favorite person in the whole wide world, Johnny.

Holly and I before the wedding Mass (her mom made her wedding dress--gorgeous!)

Man and Wife at the reception

Holly and Johnny were married in a Tridentine Latin Mass. This was the third such wedding Mass that I have attended and, I have to say, it is really growing on me. Here are a few reasons:

[1] The marital vows are professed at the very start of Mass (technically before-Mass). This is done so to not conflate the sacrament of marriage with the sacrament of Holy Eucharist, which the Mass celebrates. Also, the tradition is that the vows are said first so that the very first thing that the couple does as man and wife is participate in the Mass (both the Liturgy of Word and Liturgy of the Eucharist). [Disclaimer: As someone who has the propensity to be late for anything (seriously, I will probably be late for my own wedding...my mom was an hour late for hers, hah), I can understand if the change of order might be a cause of consternation to those whose tardiness will cause them to miss seeing the vows.] 

[2] Following Communion and after praying at the altar of the Blessed Mother, the couple also visits the St. Joseph altar. The groom lights a candle at the foot of St. Joseph, asking for his intercession to be a good husband and father. I think that is pretty baller. 

[3] Also baller is the "Exhortation before Marriage" that is read by the priest at the start of the Rite of Marriage. It's pretty powerful, in my humble opinion, and offers a beautiful illumination into what lies ahead for the couple entering into marriage together. Hearing it and reflecting upon the state of marriage today, it makes me really wish it to be read at every wedding!

As Holly comes from a very creative family, the reception was filled with personal touches. 

My favorite: Floral bouquets homemade of ribbon and brooches

** the title of today's post comes from a hilariously awkward exchange that Johnny had with a grocery clerk two weeks ago. When asked "how are you today", Johnny responded, "I'm doing great! I finished law school today and I'm getting married in two weeks!!" The grocer earnestly said, "Is Jesus invited to your wedding?" Johnny's answer? "Why, indeed He is. In fact, Jesus will be prominently featured!"

{happy}

The second wedding of the day was of my wooonderful friend, Theresa, of Little House in Chicago, who married the man of her dreams, Frank.

With Tess and Frank (clearly I need some hair product that can withstand two-wedding-kind of days)

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend Tess and Frank's wedding Mass, as I was two hours away at Johnny and Holly's. But, I am so grateful that the distance was merely two hours and I was able to attend Tess's reception. Oh, and she totally spoiled me with a good 30-minute conversation, in the midst of all the (well-deserved!) congratulations and well-wishes from the many other guests. Seriously, this girl is one of the favorites in my life.

Similar to Holly's, Tess's wedding dress was a custom gown that she got to design on her own. It was stunning. The skirt was shantung and the top/bodice was a lovely, feminine lace. With a sweetheart and wide-lace neckline and elbow-length sleeves, it was just so Tess: elegant, feminine, and classically beautiful. Frank looked pretty snazzy too :)

Tess chose red and white as her wedding colors. I'd never been to a wedding with this kind of color-combo and I wasn't sure what to expect. BUT, let me tell you, it was oh-so-elegant. It also worked out very nicely that the reception hall had red and gold carpeting. Here are a few pictures from the reception (I wish I had better ones, but my camera was not cooperating with the room's lighting).

the knot looked like a rose, which I loved!

Last but certainly not least--concerning both weddings--a great part of the weekend was the amount of good friends who I was able to see. After celebrating the married couples themselves, seeing friends is my favorite thing about weddings. I got only a few pictures with people, but here are some people I get to visit with:

{real}

This year, my family has two graduations: Maddie from eighth grade and Dan from high school. Both happened yesterday, at the same time, in different cities! I guess you could call it one of the "happy problems" of big families--the calendar gets busy with lots of people having good things happening!

School has never come easily for Dan. There have been a lot of roadblocks that our family has overcome alongside Dan, so this was a very, very exciting day for us. We are incredibly proud of Dan for his hard work (I admit, I got choked up at the ceremony!). Dan was pretty stinkin' proud too!

with Mom and Dad

Because this was such a big day for Dan, Maddie, who graduated from eighth grade, generously insisted that my both of my parents go to Dan's graduation instead of her "rite of passage" ceremony (for some reason the school doesn't treat it as a graduation, which, I guess, made the decision easier for all, even Maddie). Still, not everyone was able to be there for Dan. Helen, the youngest, was at Maddie's graduation, by nature of the fact that she and Maddie go to the same school and school is still in session for Helen. Betsy (third-youngest) had high school finals. John (oldest) and his wife Katie are both teachers and had to be at work. But, for those of us who were able to join Dan on his special day, we were incredibly grateful to everyone who has helped Dan get to where he is today.

{funny}

Dan's graduation was a day of much rejoicing. But, to keep it really real, here are some awkward family photos.

yes, it's hard being so good looking in a steamy-hot gym

perhaps one day I'll regret posting this photo. that day is not today.

Me: "look this way, guys, I'm trying a new setting on my camera"

Grace: "if you're still trying your camera out, how about you take pictures out the window"

Grace's request effectively killed my interest in experimentation. landscape photography is beautiful, yet boring

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