It’s done! It’s over! The long-awaited family wedding was on Saturday. (For readers who laboriously read through my “what should I wear” posts, I bought a new dress — no, I didn’t wear my funeral dress, but I did wear my old trusty shoes.)
The wedding was at an urban venue so I didn’t know what to expect. My family was there (again, I didn’t know what to expect).
As I looked around the room I realized how diverse the family is. It was everywhere and in everything. As I struggled with what I should wear (new dress or funeral dress) others did not. There was every level from jeans, cowboy hats and boots, to long evening gowns and nobody cared. Everyone looked fabulous. Everyone belonged.
The wedding party was all in navy blue. It looked beautiful and very spring. The dress styles were all different but the same color including the mother of the bride (who looked stunning!).
People were of different races, nationalities and everything else. It was a striking change from the family of my youth where everyone was homogenized. Back then the differences were the variations of hair color (some encouraged by Clairol) and height. (We had some short people in our family. Not me of course. I represent the old national average!) Being Lutheran stuck out in my proper Catholic family like a sore thumb!
It was a great opportunity to see the other side of the bride’s family who we know but rarely see. Even though some heads were grayer and gaits slower, the old sparkle that we knew from days gone by, was still there.
The biggest difference was in the kids. They aren’t kids anymore. They used to be teenagers but now are pushing 50. They are talking about retirement. How does that happen?
People say you can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family. If I had to pick a family, I would pick the one I have — kind, fun-loving and mostly great line-dancers. (No I didn’t let the beloved husband line-dance. He would have cleared the floor with his swings in the wrong direction!)
May this be the start of a long happy marriage.
Editor’s Note: Sadly I did not take pictures. The few I have are from other photographers and I didn’t feel it proper to post.
Woohoo!! 😎
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Glad to hear you didn’t opt for the funeral dress. Glad you had a great time. Seems as we get older we only see extended family at weddings or funerals. Weddings are much more fun..:)
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And there are more funerals than weddings.
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What a joyful occasion! I really relate to the feeling that comes over me, as well, when I look at my larger family and the generations that have followed from the time I was married. We, too, are a very diverse group of people, and each “sub” family brings me joy. We are traveling to Oregon for a large family wedding in July, and it will be a time to reconnect. Your happy words provide me a jump start on anticipation!
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Sounds wonderful! I’ve never been to Oregon. Enjoy!
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Sorry there were no pictures to share but glad that it went well. LOL about not knowing what to expect with your family. I’ve had moments like that as well (mostly with the husband’s side).
Janet
K is for Kihncert
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We had a few years where there was a startling revelation at each reunion. I still wonder what will happen when I go.
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If everyone were the same basic shape, identical dress might make sense. But since that seldom is the case, same color, different styles is the way to go. It sounds like you have a great family. I’m glad you enjoyed the gathering.
My greedy eyes are sad. They were looking forward to seeing the wedding party and your dress. Oh, well. I’ll just have to turn on my imagination.
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We should have taken pictures as I rarely spend time dressing up with all the makeup. But we didn’t. The different styles worked really well. Everyone looked good in the style they chose.
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If we could pick our family, we’d always have regrets anyway. For one thing, the price would be too high! Glad your outfit worked out in the end. – Marty
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I wish someone in my family would win the lottery but then again that may change everything.
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Lovely post! Reminded me of my nephew’s wedding 2 years ago. We had such a fabulous time, nothing like family!
Loved reading about how yours is so diverse but the love runs deep!
I have one niece getting married June and a nephew in August. A summer of fun! And I need to go shopping 🙂
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Enjoy the shopping. As I looked at dresses for myself I sashayed through the prom gowns as well just for kicks. I love fashion.
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Yay! You have a lot of celebrating to do. Not only did the wedding go well, your dress was perfect (glad you didn’t wear the funeral dress) 🙂 and you appreciate your family and its diversity and laughter and love. WOW. xo
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It was such a win-win all the way around!
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I LOVE it when that happens!!! 🙂
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How I envy you that big happy family. What fun there must be when you all get together. And I’ll bet you looked great in your new dress and comfy shoes.
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We don’t get together often enough but that makes it more special when we do.
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I loved read this, especially with son’s wedding coming up in 2 weeks! We will see what we end up with there on the beach in bare feet . . . .
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A beach wedding! So fun! Enjoy!
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I intend to!
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Hooray for diversity. And also for comfy shoes, including cowboy boots. 🙂
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And comfy relatives too!
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I love weddings – especially those with great music and dancing! I also love the diversity that you described… hopefully this is becoming the new norm. I would have fit in very nicely with the wedding party – navy is my go-to color.
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Sparkle it up with a little silver and you would have been a part of the wedding party.
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What a lovely post, Kate. You are right about family — it’s everything — and your family sounds amazing!
BTW – I am still sad about the no photo thing. Now I want to see the whole group!
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Me too. At our reunion I have given that task off to someone who is much more dependable than me and we will have a our first group photo since about 2005.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the wedding. Family gatherings can be so wonderful.
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Yes, there are a lot of people you know so it’s like home.
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Congratulations to the couple. I’m glad it was enjoyable for you.
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Thanks. We had a great time.
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Oh, I forgot, I’m with you, I also wouldn’t trade my family.
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We are lucky. Some folks aren’t so lucky.
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Yes, dressing standards are pretty open most places now-a-days, but glad to hear you treated yourself with a new dress and that you had a great time.
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Guess I’m old school. I still like to dress up.
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I wore numerous dusty rose dresses, the navy sounds beautiful. Congratulations to the happy couple!
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Dusty rose wasn’t too bad. Lemon yellow is my worst color. I also had a white and brown dress with a big pink sash that I hated.
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I can’t think of a better wedding to attend than one that is your family and it’s family that you love and like. And line dancing always makes a wedding fun!
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There was a new line dance I hadn’t seen before. It looks great when 30 people are perfectly synchronized. Sadly that doesn’t happen at my family get togethers.
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It’s great when the family you have is the family you want . . . even if the kids grew up way too F~A~S~T! Glad you enjoyed the gathering.
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A long time ago I had a friend who I thought had the perfect family. No conflicts. Everyone was even blonde! As I got to know them all better, it was awful. There was a lot of passive-aggressive crap in the background. There is no “perfect” family. What matters is that we come together and we care about each other.
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A lovely posting. Thank you for sharing your family’s joy.
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Thanks for stopping by and reading.
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all the best to the happy couple ;o) I always wonder when I see member of my clan after some years… I nearly got a heart attack as I saw the daughter of my cousin behind a wheel… she was a baby… yesterday or last week or so :o)
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I know! When did they let 2 year olds drive?
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Or have kids. My nieces, born last year or so gave birth themselves – last year … Who has asked me if I want to be a grand-aunt?
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I know! I know puberty comes earlier these days but really! BTW I found 4 of your comments in my spam file (next to all the porn spam). I’m sorry I don’t check it regularly but hopefully it will recognize you as a “real” person now.
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That is my fate … I often do take part in bloghops – and then I leave my blog as a link at the site that hosts that bloghop. That must make me a spammer in wordpress-eyes.
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Navy blue? Interesting. I can imagine how pretty that color would look on everyone. Back when my friends and I got married the colors were all so contrived– seafoam green, dusty rose, pale peach. Navy is much nicer.
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It was navy with sequins and silver shoes. It was the shade of nave that was so beautiful. It wasn’t too dark nor too light. You didn’t have to work to figure out if it was black or navy like you do with my blazer! 🙂 Maybe it wasn’t truly navy but dark blue. Whatever, it worked. And yes, I remember the “sorbet” bridesmaids colors of my youth.
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Sounds perfect. Much better than what we were stuck with!
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