The veteran flower girl

Turner was honored to be the flower girl in our friends' wedding back in July.  Lauren and Jonathan are a precious couple that we've grown to know and love through our church, and Lauren's parents are long-time friends of our family. This is Turner's third wedding (I'm afraid she's starting to think that this is an annual experience) and did a precious job in some interesting circumstances!

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge how blessed I was to have my mom here helping me during wedding weekend.  Mark was ending session #10 of CWE, attending the end-of-camp dinner (normally at my house, this year somewhere else due to the rehearsal dinner), and spent most of Saturday/wedding day gearing up for and attending the CWE end-of-summer banquet.  I haven't mentioned yet that I was the pianist for this wedding, and oh by-the-way, wedding Saturday was also my 34th birthday.  :)  Mom made multiple trips to various stores to ensure we had properly fitting shoes, comfy socks, a long enough slip, and that I stayed sane with plenty of Diet Coke.  I don't know what I would have done without her help.

The rehearsal was quite long and on one of the most humid and muggy nights we've had this summer.  But she was a trooper and stood in her spot for nearly an hour!

Jonathan's mother, Mrs. Marla, was so in-tuned to Turner's personal interests and prepared the most thoughtful gift basket for Turner.  Is this shirt not the cutest?  Turner really enjoyed the Barbie and Ken bride and groom!

Perhaps most amazing, is the fact that Mrs. Marla hand-made this dress just for Turner.  It's absolutely stunning and of course Turner felt like a princess.  We are overwhelmed with gratitude for this sweet gift!
We've only gotten to know Mrs. Marla through this wedding, but she had noted a conversation she had with Turner several weeks ago during which Turner told her about the "homemade" ribbon wands that Mark makes for her (out of ribbons and cut off skewers). Of course Mrs. Marla found some ribbon wands and they provided many minutes of entertainment and several ribbon dance shows throughout the day.

This little girl was the daughter of a bridesmaid in the wedding and she and Turner had the best time playing and dancing on wedding day!

As it goes with summer outdoor weddings, a storm showed up about an hour before the wedding which certainly put a kink in some of the best laid plans.  Though the rain shifted a few locations and delayed the start of the wedding for about 20 minutes, thankfully it stopped and the rest of the night was filled with laughter, fun, and friends.  Turner was stealing a glance at me on her way down the aisle.  :)

They had the best kids' table filled with a variety of wonderful activities and treats for the younger guests. 

The band played long into the night and the kids (both big and small) danced the night away!