The Memphis Wedding

Only about a week late, but I’ve finally gotten all the pictures off my camera from my cousin Rebekah’s wedding in Memphis two weekends ago. I’ve only been to Memphis twice before, once before I was really old enough to have very clear memories (I’m told we visited Mud Island, and it was very hot), and again at the end of our family trip across the country, and all I remember from that is Kay & Craig’s house. (For non-family people, Kay is my mom’s older sister, Craig is her husband, and they are the parents of the bride in this case.)

This time around, I got to see a lot of downtown Memphis, since the hotel we were staying in was two blocks off of Beale St. and directly across from the baseball stadium. That area gets very colorful in the evenings, at least on weekends. It seems to be the done thing to get dressed up in your best clubbing clothes/prom wear and parade along the sidewalks, and then later take rides in horse-drawn carriages each decorated in a highly individualized Christmas light scheme. The carriages are around during the day, too, but they’re not as spectacular when you can’t see all the lights. None of this has anything to do with the wedding, by the way; I’m mostly just recording it for posterity.

Rebekah’s wedding was lovely. It was held in a very nice church with a rather grand and airy sanctuary. I’m told this is the one that she regularly attends, due to its exceptional social action mission. In fact, it was due to the homeless meal program held there in the afternoons that we drove over to her parents’ church for the reception afterward. All of my pictures are from the reception, and from the post-reception gathering at Kay & Craig’s house for the family.

Rebekah and Andy cut the cake

Important things to note about this picture: Kay made Rebekah’s dress, and even though you can’t see much of it in this picture, take my word for it that it is beautiful. Also the arbor they are standing under got put together and set up by my brother and various of the other guys who were around Friday morning, and then it was decorated by my female cousins. Laura in particular claims responsibility for the huge bow.

Me and Mark waiting outside for the bride and groom's exit

Laura, the tulle bow artist

Me and Zack, looking stylish

My parents!

My mom’s corsage is for being the wedding coordinator, switching roles with Kay, who acted as coordinator at my wedding.

The other Rebecca, wearing her son's quickly discarded tie

I wasn’t fast enough to catch a picture of Rebekah and Andy leaving, but she changed into a very cute 1940s-inspired skirt suit, and he changed into a regular suit. (Mark’s question: “Why in the world would he bother to change out of his tux only to change into a suit?” He considers dress clothes to be torture instruments.) The rest of us thought it was a classy touch.

After we cleaned everything up from the reception, we took everything over to Kay & Craig’s house and had a more casual dinner.

Zack and H. playing checkers

Craig and his dog Lil