Don't you just love weddings?
I do.
I mean it. I'm the kind of girl who gets teary-eyed watching television commercials of complete strangers getting married.
I sob at Hallmark commercials for anniversary cards where long-married couples recall their wedding day.
I'm not kidding....ask anyone who knows me.
I'm a sucker for love.... and I've been called a hopeful romantic more times than I can count.
Of course I am...but really, when it comes right down to it, Aren't we all?....
Now that I've reached a certain age (no, I'm not going to be more specific), I take great delight in having watched my nephews and more than one of my friends' children, find the loves of their respective lives and get married.
It's amazing to watch love grow.
It's even more amazing to be a part of the special day that celebrates that love.
Mitch and Haley grew up as friends. Then, a couple of years ago, something happened...something changed...their friendship developed into love.
I remember sitting on the stairs at the Spring Vintage Market in 2012 talking to them when they were first falling...it was wonderful...I could see it happening...all of us mom's just smiled....we knew it...
....probably even before they did.
So, when Mitch proposed
and Haley said, "Yes!"
(and Haley's Grandmother,Karen, bought a farm at an auction while we were standing in the freezing cold at a flea market {true story})
and Mitch and Haley decided to have their wedding at the farm in August I thought, "Wow! How incredibly cool....and completely perfect for them."
And my heart smiled at the thought...and my eyes welled up just a little.
But then, in the very early days of summer, when Mitch and Haley asked me to arrange their wedding flowers (link HERE) and Polly asked me to make a banner and take a few photos, I was done...
....I was finished....I was a sobbing mess....
(As in, "Pass the tissues and keep 'em coming, sister.")..I was completely, tearfully, THRILLED!
Plans were made, tents were erected, pies baked, and families and friends gathered. Everyone brought their own special touches to the day; the gifts of time, and talent and self. There was so much love present that you could feel it.
...as she peeked out the window to see him waiting for her at the altar.
I cried happy tears....
for the beautiful bride and the darling groom; childhood sweethearts who became husband and wife in the warmth of the sunshine and the love of those who wouldn't have missed this wedding for anything in the world.
For my girlfriends, Polly and Karen, long time friends who became relatives by marriage that day (not that they needed a wedding to consider each other family)
and for the rare and incredible gift of having been a very small part of something magical that occurred on an autumn afternoon, at a farm, in Illinois.
I'm blessed beyond words.
Oh, and one other thing, I'm excited to tell you that this wedding will also be included in FiFi O'Neill's new book, Prairie Style Weddings (Link HERE). It was so much fun to finally meet this lovely lady in person after having been friends in the blogsphere for almost two years!
If you'd like to see more photos of this amazing day, head on over to Polly's blog Counting Your Blessings (Link HERE) or...watch FiFi's page for the release of the book!
Have a glorious weekend!
