After our grand exit, we made an announcement for all immediate family and the bridal party to join us back in the church for pictures. Everyone else hung around for a little while and then made their way back into town. To this day, I'm still not really sure what everyone did in between since I left so much time before the reception. I'm sure some of them went back to their hotels to freshen up, and I think my parents actually left our garage open with some drinks and chairs if anyone wanted to stop there for awhile since it was on the way.
If you remember, I put an insert into the back of our program that outlined a plan for our pictures.
And while we kind of followed that order, it actually was a little more spur of the moment. First we started with our officiants, and then we moved on to the families. It actually went pretty quickly, and without a hitch. I got all of the pictures that we wanted too, which surprised me. I went about it in a pretty methodical method. I started with my mom's side of the family and called out each individual family to come up and take a picture with us. I made my way through all of my aunts and uncles and then at the end of them all, I called them all back up for a large group photo. Then I went on to my dad's side. After that, I called up my godparents to get pictures with them. Then we proceeded through Mr. T's sides in the same manner.
It ended up working really well, even though I was shouting orders throughout the whole ordeal, everyone said it was nice and organized and was the best way to approach the situation.
Oh, and just a warning...I have the most awkard forced smile which will make an appearance in some of the pictures.
First the officiants:
My dad's side of the family:
My dad's parents.
My dad's sister and her husband.
With her two sons and their grandson, our ring bearer.
My dad's brother, his wife, and their son. Their oldest son couldn't get away from school. He's in the middle of his PhD in physics or something ridiculous. It seems like he's been in school forever!
This is my Grandma's sister, my dad's aunt. It was so nice that she was able to make it, we don't see her very often.
The whole group on my dad's side. We make a pretty small family!
My mom's side of the family:
My mom's mom. My grandpa passed away when I was in 8th grade.
Her oldest sister, her husband, and their three daughters. The one on the left just got married a year ago and their son was almost a month old then. On the right in the orange is with her fiance. They got married a month later =]
Her younger sister and her husband. They live in Vegas and we hardly ever get to see them.
Her third sister, her two kids, and her boyfriend.
And the baby of the family, her younger brother.
And the whole group. You'd think with her having four siblings, we'd be a little bigger. But not all of them had children, so now we're filling in with husbands and grandkids =]
My godparents:
My dad's brother, and my mom's sister.
Mr. T's dad's side of the family: (the relations will all be to his dad)
His parents.
His brother and three kids. The oldest daughter wasn't able to make it.
His sister, her husband, and their two boys.
His other sister and her two girls. Her husband wasn't able to make it.
His oldest sister, and her boyfriend.
The whole gang. They're all located within 40 minutes of us here, so it's nice to have people to visit when I'm feeling homesick.
Mr. T's mom's side of the family: (all relations will be to her)
Her parents weren't able to make the trip.
See if you can follow along on this one. This is her husband, his wife, and their three children. On the right is their oldest daugher, her husband and their two kids. On the left is each twin son with their respective girl. The blond son has a girlfriend, and the other has a fiance. They're getting married in October!
Her other brother and his wife.
Her sister. She has two sons. One lives in Ohio and wasn't able to make it. The other lives in Arizona with his wife and daughter. They're expecting a son around December. They couldn't make it either, unfortunately.
Her other sister, husband, and son. They also have two daughters. One is married and they had just left for the Peace Corps in Fiji. The other is married but was almost popping with their first son so they couldn't make it either.
The whole group. Even with so many people missing, it's one big family! They're also all within 40 minutes of us, so we have some great get togethers from time to time.
Mr. T's godparents:
His godparents are his two aunts on his dad's side.
And that's probably enough pictures and confusing family connections for one day. Tomorrow we'll do our immediate families with parents and siblings, and then also the few we got of the bridal party.
Next up: Family portraits, part two.
Unless otherwise stated, all pictures are by Brandy Swartz of
Photography by Brandy.
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