wedding day eve cont.

wedding day eve brought the rehearsal dinner including a full on wedding ceremony rehearsal. 

wedding rehearsal went first. let's do this........

grandpa gerry was invited to open and bless this special, special ceremony and this night, kensey's father bill stood in for their family's dear friend mark, who would be the officiant.

kensey's ten bridesmaids included her adorably pregnant older sister taylor as matron of honor and nine of her oldest and dearest friends from dallas. in high school this close group of girls made a promise together to be bridesmaids at each other's weddings whenever and wherever they took place throughout their lives. pretty special.

ben's groomsmen included his brother in law andrew, his close cousin christian, long time friend mack as well as best man sebastian and the rest of "da boys", all best friends from high school. 

their cute flower girl and ring bearer were ben's little cousins, lila and charlie.

i just have to say, this entire group wins an award for "best looking bridal party" - whoa!

as the processional began, nicole, margo and gabi were asked to sing the 18th century christian hymn, come thou fount of every blessing accompanied by andrew on the guitar. beautiful.

next, with bridal party and family reaching grand proportions (70 important people), we included everyone and made the rehearsal dinner a casual and comfortable affair on the deck.  a chili bar was served offering both white chicken chili and chili con carne with all the fixin's as well as cornbread. for dessert, everyone gathered around the firepit roasting marshmallows and building s'mores.

finally, off went kensey, her bridesmaids, friends and sisters-to-be in one direction doing their fun thing and ben and his groomsmen off in another direction doing their thing.........

fun night!