The Wedding is over.........

The wedding is over. Laura is on her honeymoon. I saw her briefly before she left today, and she & Michael both seemed very happy. I am so happy that she has found someone to share her life with.

When you have a daughter, you always dream of her wedding day. I have to say that the wedding turned out absolutely beautiful, and it is a day that I will always treasure. Laura looked beautiful, and the ceremony was gorgeous......beautiful music, wonderful friends & family surrounding us.

I have so many people to thank for making the wedding so beautiful:

Deb - for the beautiful flower design, and the help with decorating the church, and all of her great advice.
Deina & Marlena - the most wonderful reception hall decorators in the world.
Deina - for making all the tea at the reception.
Christopher (Deina's Grandson) - for helping decorate the reception hall all day on Friday.
Tawana - for helping with my wedding hairdo and helping with the church decor.
Leigh Ann - for great advice, and all of the nifty things you let us borrow.
Maria - for being a great coordinator and making the church look so beautiful. The things you can do in a few minutes would have taken us hours & hours to do.
Nancy - for helping with the programs and all of the advice & support
Brian - as always a beautiful wedding message.
The Caruso Family - for providing the beautiful music. It was gorgeous!
The Caruso Family - for the great rehearsal dinner. YUM!!!
My wonderful friends - for listening to me talk and talk and talk about the wedding.
Our wonderful families - for love and support
Megan - for being a great friend to Laura, and listening to her "wedding problems".
Christy & Nick - for helping decorate and clean up the reception hall.
Alicia - for helping decorate the reception hall.
Julie - for helping clean the reception hall.
Matt - for helping clean the reception hall.
Luke - my precious grandson. I'm so glad I had you to hold when Laura walked out of the reception hall.
Donna, Harold and the entire catering crew - for making the food absolutely delicious AND beautiful at the wedding.
Donna B - the wedding cake was EXQUISITE!
Liz - for the beautiful vintage purse that Laura carried her flowers in. Laura HAD to have a purse for her flowers, and we could not find one anywhere. The fact that the purse once belonged to Liz made it that much better.

You realize that your children will one day grow up to be on their own one day. I knew that I was going to have a hard time when Laura walked out of the reception, but I really thought I would be able to handle it. When it was time for her to go, I was holding Luke who had just fallen asleep. I hugged Laura and cried and told her that she was the best little girl that I could have hoped for. They were happy tears; happy that she had found the love of her live, but bittersweet because my little girl was going to be moving 3 1/2 hours away. I don't think it was an accident that I was holding my grandson at that time.

I feel like Laura made an excellent choice in marrying Michael. I feel like he will cherish her always, and treat her like a queen. He was raised in a Christian home, and is a hard-working and caring guy. We are blessed to have him as a member of our family!

Please pray for Laura & Michael as they return from their honeymoon & move to West Lafayette in a few days. I miss her, but know that she is happy and in love. What more could a mother ask for?!