All dressed up and somewhere to go! Ed and I in the lobby of the Marriott Courtyard Hotel in Farmington Hills, where we were gathering to take the Bridal Party B Team - the Groom, his supporters, the juvenile attendants and ourselves, in one of the vans to the church. Vince was driver.
Here we are, the proud parents of the Groom. My outfit was from CC ; Ed's suit was from Next; Rick's from French Connection, and he bought all the shirts from Hugo Boss and the ties from River Island, so the boys would match.
Here are our contribution to the junior supporters - Jake the Stephana Bearer and Georgia the flower girl, Rick's youngest cousins. Also my Mum Joyce - Dad was behind the camera.
This is my Dad, with me when we arrived at the church. Do you like my halo? Notice also that Dad has acquired his buttonhole, tiny green chrysanths, as worn by all the adult male supporters.
Groom's Mum and Grandma, with the Bride's Mom Kathy - also in navy blue, but she chose a beaded evening gown in contrast to my cocktail dress and jacket. I had agonised about going long or short, with or without hair decoration, and finally opted to go for the Full English style and be in contrast. With the similar colours, I thought it worked well. We both opted against a floral corsage, although my Mum had a spray pinned to her handbag.
Other guests begin to arrive - on the left are Kristin's Uncle Gary Sheiko and his wife Linda. Fellow genealogy buffs, we had a lot to chat about over the weekend.
Rick's Auntie Marion, with husband Vince Maddison and the children. Marion looked lovely in pink, with silver accessories. She and Georgia, Mum and I had all been to the same hairdressers earlier in the day to have our hairdos. Jake has put on his buttonhole - an orchid to match the Bride's bouquet! Georgia's outfit also gives clues about the Bride's dress!
In charge of floral distribution was Stacey, seen here with husband Kyle Sheiko, Kristin's brother and Koumbaro. They are looking forward to the birth of their daughter in November.
Father of the Bride Paul makes my Dad look short.
The Groom and his supporters, otherwise known as The Men in Black, gather. Left to right: Roland Ellison; Brett Marchand; Lewis Laing (Best Man); Rick Davies the Groom with Jake Maddison; Kyle Sheiko, and James Sutton. Cool or what? Notice Rick has a red dahlia for his buttonhole and that the Officers in the party are taking their roles too seriously to don sunglasses!
Rick and Jake. Jake was a little disappointed to be "Crown Bearer". He had hoped to emulate his hero Frodo and be a Ring Bearer!
At this point in my wedding webpages, I usually sneak forward to give everyone a look at the Bride next. Well, go on then! Here she is arriving at the church door! Stunning, or what? Did we all cry? You bet! OK, I'll talk about the beautiful gown in detail later, but now concentrate on the sequence of events...
The show gets on the road. The guests get seated first - here's my friend Gill being ushered by Jim. (Notice the only other fascinator in the church - it was Gill who egged me on to have mine!)
Rick and his Best Man get into place.
Then we were escorted up the aisle, followed by Kristin's parents, Kathy and Paul ushered by Roly.
We all read the Order of Service, and notice the list of departed loved ones remembered at the back. Chris points out their parents' names to Toots. We think of Edna and George and the grandparents who would have loved to have been here.
Lewis and Richard wait, getting a little more nervous now.
Father Nick offers reassurance.
Jake does his stuff, almost bending under the weight of the solid silver heirloom salver and the responsibility. He was silently cheered along all the way up the aisle, and made it safely to the steps where Father Nick relieved him of his burden. He proceeded to stand still brilliantly all throughout the service, although obviously a bit bored by the end, when he resorted to picking his nose for entertainment!
The Groomsmen and Bridesmaids processed up the aisle next - Brett and Laya, Kyle and Angeli, then Jim and Claire followed by Roly and Autumn.
Finally Lewis met Laura, the Maid of Honour. You can see the flower girls waiting behind.
Georgia and Athena came up the aisle, strewing yellow petals and looking really sweet and only slightly self-conscious. I love this picture as not only is Rick smiling encouragement, but you can also glimpse Georgia's Dad looking proudly on as she passes.
They join the adult bridesmaids near the altar.
The Bride! Breaking from tradition, she set off up the aisle by herself, looking radiant in her figure hugging ivory silk gown, carrying a simple spray of red-centred white orchids.
Half way up, her proud father went to meet her. Look at everyone's faces!
He brought her the rest of the way to the front of the church towards Richard...
Handing her over with a hug. A very emotional few moments for us all.
I call this "Wedding Tableau". See the arrangement of the attendants. Good view of the back of Kristin's dress and petals down the aisle. The Service begins. It's the Priest saying all the words - there are no vows made by the couple in a Greek wedding ceremony. Kris says that's one reason why their Fiji Wedding was more significent than she'd anticipated, as she'd made her vows to Rick then, and vice versa, which she'd never expected to have the chance of doing.
"The Priest blesses the rings, touches the foreheads of the Bride and Groom with them and makes the sign of the cross above their heads. The rings are placed on the right hands, and (the Best Man Lewis) exchanges the rings three times. The exchange signifies that in married life the weakness of one partner will be compensated for by the strength of the other, the imperfections of one by the perfections of the other. By themselves the newly betrothed couple are incomplete, together they are made perfect. The ring is placed on the right hand because the right hand is considered stronger and in the Bible it performed miracles."
Two candles were lit and burned through the service, held first by the Bridal Couple, then by different groomsmen at different points. "The candles are like the lamps of the five wise maidens of the Bible, who because they had enough oil in their lamps, were able to receive the Bridegroom, Christ, when He came in the darkness of the night. The candles symbolise the willingness of the couple to receive Christ, who is with them throughout the sacrament and their coming life together."
"The hands of Richard and Kristin remain joined throughout the ceremony to symbolise their oneness. The Priest calls upon the Lord to unite them in one mind and one flesh.
"The Crowning is the climax of the wedding service. The crowns (stephana) are signs of the glory and honor with which God blesses the couple. Joined with a ribbon, the crowns symbolise the Bride and Groom are to be King and Queen of their home and family. The Priest holds the crowns above the couple's heads before placing them. The Koumbaro (Kyle) then exchanges the crowns three times, serving as witness to the sealing of the union."
"The Couple share a common cup of wine, symbolizing the sharing of all that life will bring, doubling the joys and halving their sorrows."
Then the Priest leads them on a ceremonial walk in a circle round the table. The Koumbaro follows them, holding the ribbon to sygnify his lifelong support of them. The Maid of Honour helps with the train. "By tracing the circle, which has no end, they have affirmed their oath to preserve their love and the bond of marriage."
(On his way past, Rick took the opportunity to discretely swipe Jake's finger from his nostril, to the amusement of all who saw it!)
We finally reach the bit about kissing the bride!
Don't they look pleased with themselves?.
Richard escorts his wife to meet his family.
We are delighted to welcome her into our family.
They process joyously back down the aisle, to the acclaim of all their nearest and dearest.
Then they come back again, ready to pose for the official photos!
At last you get a full length view of the beautiful bride in her truly gorgeous gown.
Kris and her bridesmaids.
Front and back views of the bridesmaids and their bouquets.
Sharing a joke with the attendants.
The formal shot.
With Kris's parents Kathy and Paul.
With Ed and me.
And again. Perhaps not so "good" of me, but I look so proud, which I was!
With Kris's parents and brother Kyle and his wife Stacey.
With us and Rick's grandparents, Gerry and Joyce Locking.
The Sheiko family.
The Davies family. Marion is very fond of Julie, but it was kindness rather than affection which prompted her to hold on to her - thus discreetly hiding a vicious red mosquito bite Julie had suffered on her upper arm!
The Daros family. Unfortunately, I can't go on to show the Locking family - they were unable to attend, as Holly gave birth to twin daughters Ivy and Elsie just two days before the wedding!
The Greek Team.
The complete travelling Away Team!
The Happy Couple.
Rick and Kris opted not to have a car to take them to the Reception - consequently they came with us in the bus! So here is their unconventional send off - Kris with a holdall slung over her shoulder and her skirts over her arm off the damp ground. We'd been told no confetti or rice, so Gill enterprisingly threw cereal fruit loops at them instead!
On to the Reception. On the grand piano in the ante room were laid out a collection of family wedding photographs from throughout the years.
Here's Vince showing Jake his wedding picture from 1990. Kyle and Stacey's 2004 picture is on view too.
The American and English Wedding Cakes. The one on the left is their traditional sponge at the bottom, with chocolate cake for the top tier. On the right is our traditional rich fruit cake, which we had brought with us in our hand baggage on the plane. It was quite a saga, but apart from having to take it out of the box to be x-rayed, the journey was uneventful and it arrived safely, ready to be decorated to match the home version, in a selection of the red, green and yellow wedding flowers.
They try to cut the English cake - the icing is a bit hard, and the knife a bit blunt!
The sponge cake proves easier to access.
They do the American thing of feeding each other cake - without smooshing it into each other's faces!
Delicious!
We made our way to the tables - all decorated slightly differently with a selection of the wedding flowers and candles in glass vases. Gentlemen received a white chocolatiere box tied with red ribbon, ladies with yellow, and all received white voile bonbonieres with sugared almonds.
Paul and Ed opened the speeches, saying a few kind words about their children and welcoming all to the wedding celebration.
The Lewis made a typical scurrilous Best Man's Speech.
Kyle added his two-pennorth about the sorrows of being the less preferred child!
Lauren as Maid of Honour added more kind words to round off the toasts. Father Nick said Grace, and the meal commenced. Michigan salad, followed by chicken. Lovely.
Everyone is gathering round in a flurry of cameras, because...
...the Bridal Pair are opening the dancing. they chose the song "I Get a Kick out of You."
Then I danced with Rick and Paul with Kris, to the song "You are the Sunshine of my Life." After a while, Ed cut in with Kris, Rick danced with Kathy and I danced with Paul. Next we reverted to our own partners, everyone joined in and the party started!
Roly and Keighly making moves!
Marion and Jenny get some fresh air out on the deck.
The Bride apparently about to become the Bride of Dracula!
Looks like a similar fate awaits the Groom!
The two Best Men getting on a treat.
Laura and Keighly showing similar taste in accessories.
It's all too much for Georgia, who falls asleep in her mother's lap. Jake is already asleep on the bus with his Dad.
