Yesterday, 2/27, Justin and Erica got married. It has been a fun couple days. I will do a separate post on the rehearsal dinner but for now especially for those of you who were unable to come, here are some photos and a video from the wedding. I know my dad has some great pictures too...so when I get those, I'll post some more.
It rained for several hours before the ceremony, but about an hour before the ceremony was suppose to start, it stopped raining, the sun came out and it was beautiful. Justin and Erica got married outside in a beautiful walkway/ portico. Pastor Forrest from our church officiated. Nicole was a flower girl and had been looking forward to this day for weeks!!! She did a wonderful job.
Getting ready to walk down the aisle
Beautiful in the sunset
Nicole loved every moment of being a flower girl
Erica getting all dolled up. She was beautiful! I started crying when I saw her.
The guys....hanging out before the walk down the aisle.
Justin's first glimpse of Erica
Justin and Erica did a unity sand ceremony. Pastor Forrest poured a foundation colored sand into a vase. This represented that their marriage would be based upon the strong foundation of Jesus Christ. Then, Justin and Erica each poured in their own color of sand, representing their two different families. They topped the jar off with pouring each of their colors in at the same time representing their families being joined together.
Sand Ceremony
At the very end of the ceremony Erica's mom had worked out a surprise for her. She had butterflies to be released as a symbol of their new life, and as a remembrance of Rick, Erica's father who passed away last May.
Here are some random pictures...
Isn't Hannah precious in this purple hat?
My friend Kirsten made Nathan his tuxedo onsie. I LOVE it!
Nicole with the bridesmaids and ring bearer
Nicole and Logan, the ring bearer (Nicole sat down next to him and said, "Do you think I'm pretty?)
Hannah enjoying the ceremony
The reception was lots of fun with great food. Nicole and Hannah danced the night away. Literally. Those two girls were unstoppable. They dance ALL NIGHT LONG! As you will see in the video. Nicole had a blast dancing with her daddy and Hannah would dance with anyone who would pick her up and twirl her around.
Mom, Dad and Nicole being introduced at the reception.
Justin and Erica's table
Their first dance
Hannah having a great time with her daddy
Our Family
Our family has a tradition of doing a sort of fundraiser for the newly weds. For Justin's wedding we put together a video of him dancing as a kid and including a video that came out on the internet his senior year of him dancing like a popular singer, Usher. Most of us had no idea he could dance like that, and until last night, most of us had never seen him do it in real life. So...we asked people to donate a few bucks to Justin and Erica and Justin would dance for the money. You HAVE to skip forward on the video to check it out. It's pretty much amazing I think anyway.
Justin, enjoying himself
The video is pretty long. I wanted to include all the footage I could for those of you who couldn't come down but wanted to see what was going on. If you get board watching my adorable little girls dance, then you can fast forward the clip to these highlights:-)
0:00 Ceremony (Nicole being a bridesmaid, the wedding vows and the butterfly release)
3:38 Dancing at the reception (you have to at least watch a little bit it was a blast)
9:21 Cutting of the cake
9:44 Mother/Groom Dance
11:08 Usher (Justin Dancing...a MUST...do NOT skip this part)
15:20 Other fun dances at the end of the night.
It was a beautiful wedding and a memorable day. Justin and Erica will be living in Ohio. We will miss them very much here in Florida. We wish them a very happy and long lived marriage.
