So many activities have kept us busy these past few months, that I have not until now had opportunity to complete the wedding posts.  Here is the final one.  (And I’ll be brief so it really gets published!)

the cakes

decorating the cakes

Those of us who hurried ahead to the reception had things to do before the arrival of the guests such as milking the cow and putting the flowers on the cakes.

As people began to arrive, we were very grateful that we had erected our big tarpaulin.  It never rained heavily during the reception, but the clouds drizzled from time to time.

Nana and Grandma & Grandpa

The reception went well.  There were speeches and blessings from the groomsmen and the fathers, and the couples shared songs and Scripture passages too.

Toward the end of the afternoon, amid cheers from the remaining guests, the couples left in their well decorated cars – one bound for the east coast, the other for the west.

leaving

There were tears in many eyes as we watched them go.  Life would never be same again.  But even as we sorrowed over our loss, we rejoiced in our gain and took heart in the remembrance that sunset in one place is sunrise in another.  In closing one chapter of life, God opens another.  Though He was, is, and always will be changeless (Jas 1:17), the Christian walk is not a stationary process.

the couples’ chauffeurs

As soon as the pre-wedding photos at the house were over, the photography team headed up the hill to set up for photographing the ceremony.  Mrs. Taylor, both of my parents, and the ring bearers followed soon after.  Though we were already a little late, the rest of us lingered a while longer to give plenty of time for all to be seated (and the grooms to become impatient).  At last we girls climbed into the nicely cleaned up farm truck and Mr. Taylor drove across the street, heading toward the hill.  Just then, his cell phone rang: a needed corsage had been left in the house!  Quickly we turned around and came back only to discover that no one had the house key.  Not a problem – even in her fancy attire, Evelyn succeeded in climbing through a window to rescue the corsage.  Now we were really on our way.

Ascending the hill, we looked at the sky.  A seemingly endless stream of dark, grey clouds scuttled quickly across. Mr. Taylor prayed aloud, “Lord, please make those clouds go to the south and to the north.”  And God did just that.  All around, heavy rain clouds hurried by, but in a circle above the farm, there constantly remained a clear blue sky with only the occasional fluffy whiteness.  Numerous people commented how the hill was ringed by a “halo.”  There was no question about the miracle.

The wedding ceremony went without any major incident.  Amy was the perfect little flower girl and did a wonderful job of spreading the flower petals – on the way back out too! 🙂  None of us had thought to teach her how to do the recessional!  It was cute, though.

A brief message during the ceremony reminded us all of how serious a commitment marriage is.  This a covenant for life and is not to be taken lightly.  The delight of being joined together as one also comes with responsibility.  May God provide to all you who are married all that you need to live out faithfully this picture of Christ’s relationship with His Bride.  And may those of us who are single, be careful not to treat marriage flippantly – as though it were to be bought for a song and later discarded as an old toy.

No sooner had the ceremony ended, when the sky overhead began to darken and a cold wind blew.  The rain was on its way.  There was only time for two photos before a sprinkle was felt.  That quickly changed to a stream and then a downpour.  Guests and wedding party alike fled to the waiting vehicles.  The remaining photos were taken under the trees by the house.

And now for the final part of the day.  Some of us had to hurry quickly away…

August 4th, 5:00 a.m.  Nathanael’s cellphone rang.  The momentous day had finally arrived and the weather did not look very promising.  A decision needed to be made now.  “Was the ceremony to be at the top of the hill or in the hay shelter?” Mr. Taylor asked the two grooms to pray together, and make the decision.  A few minutes later, they called him back.  Both felt confident that as God had lead so clearly until now, demonstrating through His repeatedly perfect provision that He desired all the glory of this union to be strictly His, He would not allow His glory to be displaced now.  At 6:00 a willing team was at the top of the hill laying out hay bales, decorating, setting up the signing table and guest book table, etc.  Grey clouds scuttled continuously across the sky, but withheld their contents.

photographers

the horses looking nice

At our end, chores were again done in haste and all but Daddy, Mommy, and the two grooms piled into the van and headed to the farm.  Once there, we joined in the last minute decorating and helped out where we could.  The photographer arrived with his team.  Two of his daughters assisted with the photography while the eldest daughter and a friend shined up the horses – a beautiful final touch to the decorations on the hill!

pinning flowers

The grooms arrived with Daddy and Mommy.  A tie tying session ensued and boutonnieres were pinned on.  During this time, a problem was discovered with the sound system at the top of the hill.  Nathanael quickly dashed off to try to solve it.  (Nothing like keeping the groom busy on his wedding day!)  He returned back to the house just in time for the grooms’ photo session with their parents.  About this time, the sun began to make itself seen from time to time.  The horizon all around, however, remained dark with heavy clouds.

Once the grooms had headed up the hill, the girls emerged from the house: another photo session.

The photos over, it was now time for the remaining wedding party members to head up the hill. But I’ll save that for the next post.

loading the sound equipment

August 3rd dawned cloudy and drizzly and the forecast for the following day didn’t promise anything more cheerful.  Nevertheless, we went about the day as previously planned.  Chores were done in haste. Nathanael headed out early with the SEM van pulling the trailer, already loaded with sound equipment.  Our van was loaded up with things that would stay at the farm for the following day and all the remaining family members.

talking together

Arriving at the farm, we met up with the Taylors and the family of the officiant and musicians.  Mr. Taylor showed us around their new cover-all shelter where the ceremony could be held if it were raining.  It was a roomy, open shelter that would do nicely, though it definitely wasn’t as picturesque as the top of the hill where we all hoped the wedding would take place.

discussing seating

Then we moved up the hill.  The rain throughout the previous week had left the road up somewhat muddy, though it wasn’t terrible.  There was some discussion as to whether running fifty vehicles over it would render it impassible for the last few.

ominous clouds

The rehearsal itself went fairly well, but we were forced to take cover under the trees at the edge of the field a couple times as it began raining.  The big question on everyone’s mind was, “Can we plan on having it up here with good weather looking so unlikely?”  Mr. Taylor chose to put off that decision until the following morning.  Visitors staying at the farm had volunteered to get up early and help set up all the hay bale seats then.

fruit plates

sandwiches

As soon as the rehearsal was over, Mommy and the girls headed home to begin the final sprint of food preparation.  The men remained behind to discuss parking, and Nathanael had some sound system issues to sort out.  Not long into the afternoon, we were joined by the G______ family.  Their contribution to the afternoon’s labour was inestimably valuable and most appreciated!  Thank you G______ Family!  Together we made sandwiches, prepared fruit plates, and organised how the reception would run.

By the end of the day, we were all tired, but everything we had planned on doing that day at our end was done. Only putting the flowers on the cakes remained as a last minute preparation the following day.  Everything was culminating toward the big day, but I’ll tell about that next time…

In contrast to how long it takes to write about it, and even to show pictures of it, the cooking was really a big part of preparing for the reception.  The challenge, of course, was to have everything ready on time without having it done so far in advance that all the food went stale.  Juggling all the different things to make was interesting.  It made for fun times in the kitchen, though!

wedding favour

working late one evening

A little over a week in advance, wedding favours were made.  These little boxes had the names of the two couples pasted one on each side.  Then they were made up, filled with a piece of traditional fruitcake wedding cake, and decorated with a piece of curling ribbon.  It was certainly teamwork to get them all done.

During the final week, the kitchen became a hectic zone.  In one day, nearly one thousand two hundred cookies were made in four hours.  That is about 12 seconds per cookie!

What a mess!

cookies, cookies, cookies!

more baking

And of course there were the cakes.

the cakes minus the flowers

The last minute food preparation wasn’t done until Saturday afternoon, August 3rd.  However that tale will come later along with pictures of the rehearsal that morning.