Jeremiah & Allison's Wedding & Weekend Festivities in Iowa!

What fun it is to again go through these pictures and re-live the joy of my dear sister's wedding weekend! It was such a sweet and special time and I will cherish the memories always! Here is a little recap.

The weekend (for our little family) started on Wednesday night with a "drive through the night" trip to Iowa. John thought it might work well for our little men if we left at bedtime and (hopefully) got them to sleep on the way. It was a grand idea and worked like a charm! Both Axton and Elliot slept the whole way (five hours) and we arrived at my grandma's house (she lives one mile from my family's farm, and we stayed with her) around 1:30am Thursday morning. We got a good nights' sleep for the remainder of the night! 

Thursday found us in and out of my family's house--eating, visiting, and helping with wedding prep and projects. 

This was a definite highlight--the bride and groom took this little group of out-of-town friends/family out for coffee! Such a nice time to relax and chat before the weekend activities really hit!

One of the most fun things about the weekend was alllll the friends and family that kept arriving! Such a treat to see so many dear people! With Elliot being so little, this was the first time to introduce him to most people, which was so lovely. 

Allison's dear friend Susy & co arrived from Mexico and did all of the florals for the wedding! It was a huge job and a little challenging with the heat of Friday, but they were incredible.

So many flowers! They resulted in many beautiful bouquets and arrangements.

Friday decorating....

ironing....

arranging....

more arranging (by the talented reception coordinator..)

And smiling!!

The centerpieces for the reception tables were glass bottles spray-painted silver and filled with hydrangeas from my family's prolific hydrangea bushes.

Time for the rehearsal to start! Axton with the bride and groom..to be!

There isn't a whole lot to say about the rehearsal part. What would a rehearsal be without tape, intense expressions, discussing possible options, and trying to keep the bridal party from chatting and not paying attention? =)

Afterwards we all enjoyed a delicious rehearsal dinner downstairs. 

I love it when I get to introduce my babies to my friends! 

You might recognize this same frame and stand from my wedding! 

What can I say, we sisters like to share. =) 

The church, wedding morning, ready to go. Simple and beautiful.

An early morning back rub for the bride...

This sweet friend did hairstyles for the bridesmaids. Again, it took me back to our wedding, because she was part of the hair/makeup crew for my wedding also, almost three years ago.

So many smiles on this very special day!

Almost all ready!

Here are a few "behind the scenes" pictures from my phone, which I had given to one of the personal attendants. The professional pictures are of course WAY better, but sometimes it is fun to see the production from this different angle, too.

My sister was literally the most beautiful bride. I know that is always said about every bride, but seriously...she was absolutely gorgeous!! She had her dress and veil specially designed and sewn from this seamstress on Etsy, and it was a vision! I'm sure she will post more about it herself in the future, but it was amazing. Its not everyday you can find a seamstress who can sew you a dress like this with only three example pictures, and measurements. 

I consider myself a fairly competent seamstress, but that lady is in a WHOLE league of her own to be able to make up a pattern and sew a dress that needed no alterations, with that little information!

Such a fun bride tribe! Three sisters, three sisters in love, and three sisters in love to be.

Some of the bridal party pictures were taken at the beautiful old Victorian home of a friend of ours. (interesting note is that some of John and my wedding pictures were taken here as well, only ours were indoors due to a much different weather climate!)

Sisterhood! We got our own sandals (all either silver or grey) and then Allison bought our dresses from four different online boutiques. 

My sister is getting some ADORABLE nieces and nephews! What a cute little crowd. Right after I took this picture they were all clamoring to see it, so I got down to show them, and the one flower girl gave a little gasp and said, "awww, I look SO CUTE!!" =) 

It was all I could do not to laugh out loud. Quite the charming little lady. 

Prayer right before starting time.

Allison and Rebecca. Such a tender sister moment.

Here we have the tiniest and possibly the cutest itty bitty wedding attendee, Elliot. =) He was good as gold the entire day! He ate and slept lots and smiled in between.

The reception was absolutely beautiful. It was held in the town square which was just a few blocks from the church. There was a light breeze and lots of shade and it was SO PERFECT. 

Send off time! 

My friend Emily was the wedding photographer and it was such a treat to see her again! Way back in the day, we used to travel with a girls ministry together, and a group of my friends and I even took a road trip to South Dakota to attend her wedding back in 2013.

Now we are both married and each have two boys. Time flies! 

She did an absolutely incredible job with photographing the wedding. You can view her post of the wedding and lots of the professional pictures, here at this link! 

I didn't get a picture with my little family, sadly. But at least I got one with this hot usher who happens to be my favorite person! =)

Quick outfit details, also: 

Dress: Lana Lace Midi Dress by Citrus & Lemon

Bracelet: I got it off of Amazon, but unfortunately it is no longer available. This one is very similar, however. There were so many cute styles!

Earrings: Walmart (can't find them online)

Shoes: Silver Heels by I.Miller

(picture by Emily Mitton Photography)

This is one of my very favorites of the professional pictures, because it is such an example of God's goodness to my family! Only five years ago we were a tribe of twelve--two parents and ten very single singles. =) At the beginning of 2016, my parents began to very seriously fast and pray for marriages in our family. And what do you know, as my dad would say, "they started dropping like flies". =) 

Four of us got married in 2017, making our number 16.

Two grandbabies arrived in 2018, making our number 18.

Two more grandbabies in 2019, making our number 20.

Another marriage and three more grand babies in 2020, at the time of this post, with granddbaby #8 arriving, Lord willing, in early December.

By the end of 2020, our clan of original 12 will have just over doubled to the number of 25! Wow!

God is so good and faithful and I am in awe continually of all He has done in our lives. We are so blessed!

And I am so grateful for the incredible and godly husband that God provided for my dear sister. It was a beautiful wedding, truly, and such a special day!

Hope you enjoyed this post!

-Chels

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