One for the history books

Remember our sweet little bride-to-be college girl we surprised with this wedding gift a couple of weeks ago?


Well, this past Saturday it was finally time for Kami and Alex to tie the knot!

And because of the holiday, a very fun plan was set into motion that involved a post-wedding trip to the lake for Memorial Day! I was graciously invited by the Hagans to ride along with them to the wedding and then shack up at their lake house for the weekend.

An offer no one in their right mind could refuse.

On Saturday afternoon we all loaded up in our wedding best and hit the road to Dublin.

Marlee, the brains of this operation, studied Accounting on the way. She's in love with her calculator.


Jake, the goon of this operation, sat in the back and admired his tatts.


Here's what you have to know about Jake.

He is WAY beyond his years in so many areas. I would feel confident in saying he is a lot more mature than most guys substantially older than him....he's deep, he's funny, he's respectful, he is one of those people you can ask any random question and somehow he knows the answer (or he can at least make one up that sounds 82% legit).

The point is, it's easy to forget that he is only 14.

Until I come to his house and he's dressed in his white dress pants and his white under shirt, and he excitedly shows me how he put rub-on Pirate tattoos on both his arms, one on his stomach, and one on the back of his calf.


Right before a wedding and right before a weekend out in the sun.

His mother was less than thrilled, and in his little all-white get up I told him he looked like a prisoner you might find on the side of the road somewhere picking up trash. All he was missing with the orange vest.

Kids.


And in the most shocking event of 2011 - we were actually early to the wedding! So early they wouldn't even let us in. But it was just fine because it gave us time to visit with our darling girly girls who we've been missing.

The ladies and a few handsome men.


Pretty blue eyed girls coordinating ever-so-beautifully in their blue.


My girl.


The church was so pretty!


On the outside AND inside. I have always been a fan of the stained glass.




Here is the amazing picture I got of Kami and her daddy walking down the aisle. I can totally see why Marsha wants me to start being her second shooter at weddings.


My view of the action.


Vowing (and crying).


Praying.


Kissing and rejoicing!


The ceremony was absolutely beautiful and perfect.

The reception was at the local country club, so we headed over there and enjoyed lots of yummy food until the bride and groom arrived.

Can I just say that I am loving the new trend in wedding food. For example, self-serve mashed potato bars.


There is something about freely flowing cheese, bacon, and sour cream that just feels right.

Cupcakes are another example (Kami and Alex had these too, but I failed to get a picture which was kind of shocking).....and new at the Clark wedding - GIANT strawberries.


Marsha holds a fork to give you a size scale. That thing was the size of a apple....I don't know what they are feeding strawberries over there in Dublin, but they are massive.

Best looking table in the house.


Kami and Alex weren't the only love birds in attendance that night. Our dear Becca and her guy, Cameron. SO cute. They would later make history on the dance floor.


Our beloved Rebecca!


She is one of the cool college girls that is staying in The Boro a while longer. She and Cam also went to the lake with us, so this is the first of many pictures together from the weekend. LOVE her deeply.

Pretty soon....party time.


After we ate, the cute and beyond excited couple made it to the reception!


Mrs. Clark!


I THINK she was excited. Homegirl even changed her dress as to be more able to shake what her mama gave her.


Such a sweet, fun, beautiful bride. And quite impressive on the dance floor, I might add.


In fact there was a WHOLE LOTTA shakin' going on.












It was seriously one of the most enjoyable receptions I have ever been to. We all danced like crazy people the whole night. They had hands down the BEST band I have ever heard, and we thanked them by dancing with everything we had to every single song they sang.

We were literally pouring sweat. Like coming off the dance floor, wiping off our faces, necks and arms with napkins....grabbing whatever liquid refreshment we could find. It was very attractive and VERY fun.

My girl Ans.


Em and Ansley taking a breather.


I think these two have a future on So You Think You Can Dance.


Kayla. Oh Kayla. She was my partner out there and I'm pretty sure once we teamed up, we collectively burned 3,485,970 calories. She is a machine and her moves complete me.


Time wore on and eventually we started winding down and moving in the direction of leaving. Thankfully Kami caught us and let us know that we should stick around a few minutes more because she had a special little surprise for Alex.

Once the band got back from a break, they called Kami and her bridesmaids up on stage. Kami took the mic and with Alex standing directly in front of her - she serenaded him and the crowd with a special performance of "Living on a Prayer."


It was the greatest thing I've ever seen happen at a wedding in all of my many (many) years of wedding-going.

She was killing it.


I can still hear it, "Take my hand...we'll make it I swear....WHOA-OH living on a prayer...."


The bride finished out the stellar performance with a little air guitar that would have made Bon Jovi weep with pride.


Throughout the performance, the groom's smile could not have been any bigger. And I'm not sure he could have loved her any more than he did in that moment.


None of us could - and the whole thing reminded me of the early days of Bible study when we first fell in love with our little Kami. It was actually a strikingly similar scene.


Eventually we really did have to leave. We snapped a quick picture of some of the group...many of whom were crying at this point (breaking up is hard to do). Such sweet sweet girls. We love them all.


Thankfully our sadness was turned to joy when we noticed something familiar near the guest book on the way out. AWWWWWWW. Full circle moment.


It was such a great night and really set the stage for the rest of the weekend!

Up next: The Hagans & Co. take on Lake Sinclair.....

A lovely weekend

Well it's Wednesday so I think it's high time I recapped the weekend. (Wouldn't want to make it TOO timely.)

This past weekend was filled with love in many forms.

Friday night I felt the love when Marsha treated me to a little Your Pie. This made me love Marsha, pizza crust, life, etc.


Marsha and I were actually together when we first stumbled upon this establishment in Athens in early 2010. Basically, it's Subway - but with pizza. Basically, it's a realized dream.

When we ate there in Athens, I ended up choosing a salad which turned out to be a great decision.


When one opened up in the Boro, I was very influenced by the pizza-getting people around me and opted for some kind of chicken pizza. It was good, but I didn't leave with the Your Pie high I once knew in the Classic City.

So on Friday, I learned from my mistakes and made a prodigal return to the Your Salad.


Just to be clear in case it's you're not able to tell from the picture - that salad bowl is a pizza crust. Hence the intense love.


Saturday was a very fun day!

I had the privilege of helping Moesha take pictures at a very sweet wedding. I think she mainly employs me due to the fact that my huge muscles make hauling all the camera gear a breeze.


I hold this with two hands.


Michelle and Gary were married at their home on the golf course. It was a beautiful day and even the 100 degree heat couldn't melt the excitement and joy felt by the happy couple!

The wedding was at 7pm, but we spent the day at the house with everyone and had such a good time! The bride was calm, cool, and collected - and SO fun. We laughed all day.

Marsha getting creative with the rings, pre-wedding.


Michelle's two children walked her down the aisle. It was SO sweet.


They walked her down to the gazebo where her groom and their closest family and friends were waiting.




It really was such a great wedding, and we were honored to be a part of it!

Marsha did all the pictures during the ceremony (I snapped a few with my camera just for the sake of the story-telling) and then she took several fun ones of the happy couple out on the golf course.


The gorgeous bride!


Besides getting married that day, Michelle also joined the team to find me a husband. Welcome, Michelle!

The reception was at the Country Club and you could tell upon walking in that a good time was going to be had by all. At this point, Marsha had bestowed upon me one of the big dawg cameras and I had fun snapping away at all the guests.

Never get to far away from the cake...that's my motto.


They had a dance floor of course, and it was filled with lots of movers and shakers the whole evening. Here is Michelle and her friends mid-Macarena.


I for one am glad to know the Macarena lives on.

The whole night was so fun and Marsha got some really amazing pictures! I so enjoyed getting to meet and hang out with Michelle, and we enjoyed being there to experience all the love during their day!

Sunday Big Al shared some brotherly love with my uncle, Ashley.


Ashley was in town this past weekend for a class reunion. The boys had fun playing golf on Saturday and hanging out with Iris on Sunday for church and lunch. Ashley had to head back to Alabama, but not before Daddy gave us a heartfelt performance of the newest solo he is going to be singing on an upcoming Sunday morning.

He is also going to be going with a friend of his who is preaching at another local church next weekend and doing a special performance of his famed, "Child Forgiven."

Basically, he's going on tour.


He must have been talking to his publicist here.

Speaking of solos - he actually had one that very night! The choir at FBC did a special concert for Sunday night church. They sang all the songs off the CD they recently recorded.


Big Al is #4 on the record.


Someone get this man a Grammy.

In keeping with the theme of this recap, I absolutely LOVED the concert. They had about 100 choir members present and the whole orchestra...it was just amazing.

Definitely a lovely way to end a LOVEly weekend!