Gavin's Wedding

Gavin is a good friend of Kenny's from UofM and we were thrilled for him when we found out he was getting married. We knew the trip to Tennessee for the wedding was going to be an adventure - but we were up for it!!! It was well worth the trip and truly one of the most spectacular weddings I have ever been to.

We started our trip down to Tennessee on Thursday and stopped at Kenny's sister's house in Columbus for the night so we would have a little bit of a jumpstart on Friday. We were glad that the trip could include a short but fun chance to hang out with Val, Paul and the kids! Since it was Easter weekend, Val made sure the kiddos got to decorate Easter eggs, which was very nice since we hadn't had time before we left town. We got going bright and early Friday morning for the rest of the trip down. With just a few stops, we were right on track to get to Chatanooga in time for the Friday night dinner, until it started torentially downpouring and then we came to a complete stop on 75. We were stopped for over an hour and by that point everyone was out of their cars, and in true Southern style had made good friends with all the people out of their cars around them! It was pretty entertaining!!! We finally started going again and it turned out a tree had fallen across the highway. It wasn't until we saw the news the next day that we realized we had been in the farthest outskirts of a tornado! Yikes! We were a little bit late but made it in plenty of time to enjoy the festivities.

Gavin's fiancee Amee's family is from India, so we were excited to experience a wedding like we had never been to before. It was more amazing then I ever could have anticipated! It was truly a two day wedding extravaganza! Friday evening there was dinner and incredible dancing. They had everyone join in on a traditional Indian dance that involved some simple dance moves done with everyone in a circle. The girls thought it was a BLAST! I was SO tired but they didn't want to stop so me and Kenny had to start switching back and forth taking them around! The dancing was spectacular and the clothes were even more amazing. Lexi was very jealous that she didn't have a fancy, beaded outfit to wear too :)

Saturday morning was the actual wedding. It began with Gavin's friends and family meeting outside of the hotel (which was across the street from the Convention Center/wedding location). Gavin was ushered into a horse drawn carriage and the crowd was directed in front of it. Then they turned on loud Indian dance music and we literally danced Gavin's carriage from the hotel to the Convention Center. It involved several stops where the men gathered together and showed off their dance moves, which is what the picture on the right is. The girls thought it was a ton of fun, especially when we pulled up to the Convention Center and Amee's family and friends were lining the street clapping and cheering for us! The groomsmen lifted Gavin out of the carriage and carried him on their shoulders into the building where the ceremony began. The ceremony was filled with beautiful Indian traditions but also incorporated several different traditions from other cultures. Amee's wedding dress was SPECTACULAR and the decorations were amazing. It really was incredible to watch. The girls did a great job making it through the long ceremony and through the luncheon afterwards.

But the fun did not end there!!! After an afternoon break (aka NAP TIME!) we were invited back to the convention center for drinks and appetizers, followed by dinner and the reception. There was so much eating, drinking, celebrating and speech-giving that dinner didn't even begin until close to 9pm! Luckily the girls were so fascinated by all of the festivities that they were very well behaved. Dinner was traditional Indian food and was delicious! Even though it was late, we felt compelled to stay for some of the dancing since it was what the girls had been looking forward to the whole weekend! They were happy to go out and start the dancing even while everyone else was finishing up dinner!!! But the real fun started when eveyone else came out onto the dance floor. It was a great party - the girls were exhausted or we would have stayed even longer!!! One really great part of the weekend was enjoying some time with Kenny's best friend and roommate from college and his family. They live in Seattle so we very rarely get to see them so it was a treat to spend a weekend with them.

That Sunday was Easter and a very long ride home. The Easter Bunny was nice enough to leave little baskets in their carseats in the car which delighted the girls. We left at 9am and got home at 9pm but miraculously the girls were wonderful in the car. We were all happy to be home but greatly enjoyed the two days of an amazing celebration!