Under the Arch

I'm sure you've all been to a wedding with a flower girl or ring bearer who never makes it up the aisle, that panics at all those people looking at them and cries for mommy. That is not my nephew.

Hayden greeted us in the lobby of the church with a giant grin on his face. "Look! I have a PILLOW!" He carried that pillow down the aisle, keeping pace with the younger flower girl and looking as pleased as punch about the whole thing. I wasn't on the aisle, so no pics of the ceremony and I really wish I could have seen him hitting Mark, the groom, with the pillow...on the ass no less. Then, he spotted his mom, my sister, and waved, stage whispering, "Hi mom!" Then he waved to my mom and dad and anyone else who looked his way, which at this point was nearly everyone. He's a ham, that kid. At this point, I had to shush my dad who was laughing so hard he was nearly choking on it. My sister was pretty embarrassed, but I think anytime you have a child in a wedding and they don't have a raging meltdown, it's a good day.

The ceremony itself was lovely. Simple, with a nice mix of the traditional and the personality of the bride and groom. Mark sang a Sister Hazel song (the name of it escapes me at the moment) and it was all I could do not to burst into tears. I don't know the bride at all, but I've watched Mark pal around with my little brother over the last few years and it's always a shock to realize the kids you know turn into adults right before your eyes. I wish the two of them all the luck and happiness in the world.

Enough of the mush, here's the pictures...they were all taken after the ceremony, as we waited for the wedding photos....

Hayden, as they posed for pictures

Ever tried to focus on a moving target in a dimly lit church? I felt for the wedding photographer, I really did. (She did have much better equipment.)

As they waited for the photographer to set up, the wedding party started bobbing up and down while singing, "Oompa, Loompa!" Buncha goobers.

The only way I could get anything at all with my camera was to set it to continuous shooting and just hope one was in focus. Occasionally, I would also get something neat, like this one.

Oh, the DRAMA!

The ONE time he agreed to look at the camera

His gift for being in the wedding was a pair of sunglasses. He actually agreed to do it for the promise of a pair.

the famous pillow

Crazy child

Mom has to make an adjustment