This past weekend we had my brother Justin and Sister-in-Law Katsuree’s Wedding at our home in Texas. We did a pool side ceremony for immediate family and then a dinner and dance celebration under the stars after dark. It turned out to be a perfect evening and everything came together for a beautiful, intimate affair.
Justin and Katsuree were legally married in Thailand three years ago. However, there was no formal ceremony or family in attendance. They now have a baby on the way, so they wanted to have the ceremony with family before the baby arrives. They currently reside in Houston, so having the wedding at my house in the Dallas area made it easy for the rest of the family to fly in and stay. Justin is a civil engineer for a major company and was just recently relocated state side for his job. This worked out perfectly, so that the family could come to the wedding and it could all be planned right here in Texas.
We planned their wedding event in less than 2 months time. The key to the event was hiring a good pastor. We found one that specializes in wedding ceremonies and he had great reviews from the many couples he has married over the years. Justin and Katsuree hired pastor/preacher Gordon Nelson. https://m.weddingwire.com/website/the-wedding-preacher-fort-worth/5e89f0cfb0045e6e/index.html
He did a wonderful job creating a Christian program for the wedding that was heartfully spoken. The ceremony was special with his message of Love and Christ making a marriage complete was spot on. My Mom read some scriptures from the Bible and my Dad led a family prayer during the ceremony.
Katsuree was a beautiful bride! She had a gown custom made for her in China. She was absolutely stunning! My friend Lidali Hernandez is a professional makeup artist, so she was hired to do Katsuree’s makeup. She did a wonderful job making beautiful Katsuree even more beautiful for her special day. If you ever need a makeup artist send me a message and I get you her personal info. My sister Jessica did Katsuree’s hair. She has a gift of doing hair beautifully.
My friend and professional photographer Sara Erlinger took photos. I will post those in a few weeks on the blog when they are ready. For now you can view my shots from the wedding. I also added some IPhone photos that were taken by my Mom Jenny, my sister Jessica, my sister Rachel, and Sister-in-law Katsuree.
Here are the pre ceremony photos- we worked as a team to get everything set up pool side for the event; while Katsuree got ready for the sunset wedding. Katsuree hand tied every bow and ribbon flower that was used for the ceremony and reception. She has a real talent for making intricate bows and flowers using ribbons and fabrics.
The flower girls for the wedding were my daughter Brielle and my niece Lydia. The ring bearers were my twins Alex and Charlie. My niece Piper was an attendant to the bride. The kids all did a great job! As a mom, I was just happy they made it down the aisle smiling. I was very happy our former Nanny Taylor (who is now a working Occupational Therapist) was able to come to help with all the kids. My twins did not sit still for the wedding, so I was glad she could take them out to the yard to play. Much less disruption during the wedding because Taylor was there to help.
The wedding ceremony started just before sunset and ended just after the sun set. Here are the photos from the ceremony.
The reception was under the stars. It was an absolutely perfect night. We even had an area for music and dancing. I am very thankful for the Party Angels company http://www.partyangelsus.com/Home_Page.php. Suzanne was our helper for the evening. She served us tableside and did a great job hosting all the dinner efforts and clean up so we could enjoy the evening.
Here are the photos from our evening following the ceremony. It was a joy filled evening with family!
My brother Justin integrated lots of old and new traditions into the reception time. He chose several old Norwegian and German traditions to incorporate including smashing a dish that the bride and groom clean up, presentation of the cake, dancing around candles, and the ceremonial cutting of wood. He assigned each adult attending with a tradition. The traditions were each printed in a personalized program that my brother Justin made.
Mine was presentation of the first wedding gift. I gave them a set of fine crystal champagne flutes.
Jessica’s tradition was the smashing of dishes, which Katsuree and Justin had to clean up. This is symbolic of the couple working together. Mitchell’s tradition involved holding a log, which Katsuree and Justin cut through with a saw. This symbolized the wedding couple completing their first task as a newlywed. Rachel’s tradition was presentation of the wedding cake. My husband Justin had the toastmaster tradition. My parents performed the old tradition of dancing around three candles. If the candles don’t burn out it is symbolic of a long marriage. They didn’t blow out either! Of course the newlyweds had their first traditional dance. Here are some photos of the traditions being completed. It made for a fun and festive time!! My brother is certainly creative and ensured it was a memorable evening!
Congratulations to Katsuree and Justin! I love you both (and not just because you gave me a Chanel gift as a thank you for hosting, I loved you before that too ????).