Happily Ever After

While the other bridesmaids and I were passing out bubbles after Natalie and Kevin's wedding ceremony last Saturday, a woman that I didn't know (or at least didn't recognize) came up to me and told me that she could just tell that I adore my sister. She said she watched me standing up there and that I was just beaming and she said that I looked at Natalie with so much love. I told her that it's true- I love that sister of mine to pieces.

And now that sister has a new last name (she is now Natalie Furness), and I have a brother-in-law! I'm very excited about that. I even started out my toast by talking about how when Natalie and I were little, we really wanted a brother... but we got Nancy. And Nancy is wonderful, and I love having two sisters, but I always wondered what I was missing without a brother. After four years of hanging around this Kevin fellow, sometimes I thought I hadn't missed much! Kevin picks on me with the best of them... but he also is very sweet and protective of me, too, and I really appreciate that. Now he's officially my brother-in-law. It's just fun saying that. My very first in-law.

The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. Kristie did a nice job with the ceremony, Matthew did an excellent job with the music (he performed "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds), the weather was beautiful, and everyone was all smiles (and some tears). I could go on and on... but instead I'll just share some of my favorite pictures:

Me and my sisters with Matthew and Kevin at the rehearsal dinner:

My beautiful sister...

My family:

Nancy and our cousin Hillary:
The bride and groom:
Matthew and me:
My favorite picture of us from the day:
A silly shot of the bridal party:
Dancing with my daddy. He was so nervous about his big line, but he managed to deliver "Her mother and I do" perfectly.
And speaking of dancing, Matthew took some great action shots. I love Natalie's facial expressions (and her moves!) in all of them, particularly the first one in the second row.
Guess who caught both the bouquet and the garter?? And no, it wasn't rigged!
And they lived happily ever after...