Wedding weekend in Florida

DH, Moe and I spent last weekend in Jacksonville FL attending a family wedding.

A typical FL wedding - folks in shorts and flip flops

It was a quick trip - we weren't there 48 hours. DH's neice married a nice young man at a lovely location, Kingsley Plantation, on the banks of the St. John's River. Kingsley Plantation is a National Park service site, the location of an old plantation (built in late 1700s) with an interesting history. The plantation owner married one of his slaves, a Senegalese woman names Ante Madgigine Jai, or Ma'am Anna.  Ma'am Anna was later freed and ran the plantation herself until the laws regarding freed slaves changed. She hightailed it to Haiti in 1837. The plantation is carved right out of the jungle (which still comes up to the narrow road), and somehow they cultivated Sea Island cotton and sugar cane there.

Anyhow, the wedding was held outside the main house, right on the river. Yes, that's outside in mid-August in Jacksonville, at 4 pm, with no shelter from the sun. I broke out my umbrella. It was absolutely sweltering with very high humidity. The wedding was blessedly short and sweet, and after a few pics were taken below the adjacent live oaks, we headed out to the reception, some 45 minutes away. (We had to catch a ferry get to the reception.)

Fortunately, the reception was heavily air conditioned. It was a nice big room, tastefully decorated. I was surprised to see that they were serving a meal (not a given here in the South). As the bride and groom were footing the bill, I had expected cake and punch, which makes for a nice reception. But they had a great little buffet and wine on all the tables.

Moe hung out with his cousin D (the bride's youngest brother) and played bartender, which only involved opening beer bottles and getting tea refills. We made him dance with the bride a one point, and I got funny pictures to use as blackmail at a later date. I am so bad.

These darling little boys were blowing bubbles and having a blast at the reception. It was a lovely event, good especially since DH's brother, the father of the bride, has been very ill lately. He and his family all had a great time, and we're very happy for them.

Sunday, Moe and I drove the 380 miles back in time for me to go the the grocery, get some laundry done, and drop with exhaustion.

 
While driving, I tried (and failed) to get a picture to the Big Peanut, a local roadside attraction on I-75. It is not to be confused with the Big Peach. But it's still kind of awful.

In other news, Curly is having major issues. He got sorta screwed by one of his part time jobs, which caused him to lose another PT job. Plus, he's really messed up with his landlord and is having to move out ASAP. And he's off his meds, which has made him mess up with me in a big way. We aren't really talking, and he can't live with us. If he does again what he did to me this week, I'll have to get authorities involved. I pray he gets it together.

This week I treated myself to some new thread, and I got these cool shuttles to add to my collection. You like?

SIlver

Way back in July of 1986, DH and I got dressed up. It was very hot that summer in Hotlanta, and the house we were renting only had one air conditioned room, but still we got some fancy dress clothes on for an afternoon gathering. A lot people were coming.

And they saw DH and I put on the dog and get married. We did it right, marrying at a lovely Presbyterian church in what's now a trendy neighborhood in Hotlanta. Lots of friends and family there. Had a great reception in one of those big houses on Ponce de Leon Avenue, ate lovely food and drank good champagne, with bluegrass music played by some friends.

DH looked like a stick - so slim! I had big hair, big glasses, and a hoop skirt. My younger sister was my only attendant , and I let her wear whatever she wanted. My dress wasn't fancy - I found it at Penny's outlet and paid $90 for it. (That included the plastic storage bag. Really.)

We had yummy cake - it was chocolate with raspberry filling, made by a friend.

And guess what? Three children, two houses, many jobs, a house fire, and a brain tumor later, we're still married. (We are firm believers in sticking to things, plus marriage counseling does help when needed.) Whoda thunk we would last?

So, what are we doing to celebrate? Not much. No money! DH made a laughing suggestion that we get matching tattoos, but I politely declined. Um, no. Not ever.

Happy 25th, DH. (And no tattoos.)

The Wedding!

Whew!  It's over, and it was great!  I'm glad to be back.  Most of my family and I were in Charleston, SC all weekend.

We stayed off the peninsula, near the base of this modern bridge. It's very long, over 3 miles.  Curly enjoyed running on it.

It's very impressive when you drive on it too.  Very very tall.

The bride loved her tatted handkerchief, and thanked me several times for it.

The rehearsal dinner was terrific.  It was held at one of the oldest buildings in Charleston. The Stooges (Larry didn't come - had to work) got a tour of the old Provost Dungeon in the bottom.  Too cool. The food was very old south - fried chicken, squash cassarole, green beans, red rice, and lemon chess pie.  Mmm.  Lots of my brother's friends (and me) got up to toast them.  It was great fun.

The day of the wedding was so pretty.  But damn, it was HOT!  It was a very humid 90 degrees, really warm, even for Charleston in October. 

The wedding was held at the church that was my dad's last as full time pastor.  (He died in 2007.)  Daddy would have been delighted about all of this.  Isn't the church pretty?

I read the scripture (I Corinthians 13) and my sister sang a gorgeous piece in German by G F Handel. My sister has a lovely clear soprano.

The Stooges, DH, and I cleaned up pretty well for the wedding. Moe's jacket and tie were from the same thrift store where Curly's suit was found.

I surreptitiously took some pictures during the ceremony.  I had to sit over to the side, since I needed easy access to the pulpit.  I took this one with my cell phone looking over my program while we sang a hymn.

The bride looked radiant, and the groom handsome.  The groom is my only brother.  The colors his bride choose were melon - honeydew and cantelope.  The flowers were lovely.  Isn't her dress pretty?

The reception was at this elegant hall, on the second floor.  Another very old building.  Charleston is really quite spectacular.

The food was great.  These are a few of the hors d'oeurvres.  Many more were passed.

The cake was beautiful; the decorations matched the invitations exactly.  If you look, you'll see that it's not fondant frosting - it's butter cream.  That takes some real talent to do.  And it was delicious - the frosting was orange flavored, with key lime pie cake. Mmmmm

There were lots of good eats, including shrimp and grits, she-crab soup, gazpacho, sweet potato biscuits with ham, delicious beef tenderloin, scallops with proscuitto, and shrimp salad sandwiches. Lots to drink too.

And there were many guests.  Friends of the happy couple came from Japan, Norway, Germany (the bride is German, though now a US citizen), the US West Coast, and Boston.  Our family came from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Georgia.  I love seeing all my extended family.  I really and truly am crazy about all of them.

                         

One things my family is known for  - we know how to throw a good party!  We do it up right.  (Curly said he felt wealthy in his suit with the elegant surroundings.)  And a good and happy time was had by all!