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Wedding daze
Monday, March 28, 2011 at 07:44PM 
The newly-minted Mr. and Mrs. Damon and Genevieve FrahlerOkay! Despite certain obstacles, it got done.
Damon and Genevieve are hitched.
It was lovely.
Except for the weather, which couldn't have been less cooperative unless it had decided to start snowing.
I won't lie to you: the rain and cold (the high in Greenville on Saturday was 46, and this after a week of temperatures so warm, the wedding party picnicked outside and many got sunburnt) made everything more difficult.
Audrey had driven to Columbia from Knoxville on Friday night, so she rode with us to the wedding.
Damon looks around at the crowd assembled to witness his marriage to Gena
It's not quite a two-hour drive from our house to Greenville.
But making a somewhat longer day trip of it were our daughters Stephanie from Lenoir, North Carolina, with her two girls; Erica from the Atlanta area; and son Andrew from Knoxville.
If you're a mom whose kids are old enough to drive, you know you never stop thinking about all that can go wrong.
Pastor Chris Folkerts, brother-in-law of the bride, officiated
Especially when they're each on a separate Interstate and the weather is inclement.
But we all arrived safely even if everyone was a trifle more damp, chilled, and bedraggled than we would have liked.
The ceremony was beautiful in its simplicity.
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord. Proverbs 18:22
Two of Gena's four sisters served as her bridesmaids. Damon's two brothers were his groomsmen.
All seven of my sister's grandchildren paraded down the aisle and stood briefly with the bridesmaids before being seated on the front row beside their grandmother.
Sisters! L to R Rebecca Cabaltica, Susanna Garreau, Joanna Garreau, Genevieve Frahler
Most of them are girls because on our side of the family, it's almost unheard of to have a boy before you've had a bunch of girls.
Until Saturday, Damon had no sisters ... just two brothers.
In fact, it's because of one of those brothers that Damon met Gena in the first place.
The bride and groom with her parrots
Are you listening, Hobbit? I got the whole story just because you asked!
See, Damon's brother, Trey, is a pitcher for the Bucknell University baseball team.
Last year in the late spring or early summer, Damon's whole family (who are from Chicago) had traveled by air to see Trey play. I'm not sure where he played, but for the final leg of their journey back home, they were obliged to catch a flight out of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.
My niece, Rebecca, with TG
Genevieve, who also lives in the Chicagoland area, was on the same flight. She'd been in Greenville visiting her parents.
When it was time to board the plane, Damon's dad handed out boarding passes (and seat assignments) willy-nilly to his party.
The bride's family
Just get on and sit down, he said.
Damon, however, was hoping against hope he would not end up seated next to Chatty Cathy. He wanted to study.
Then he saw Gena.
Just a plane old wedding cake topper
(Here is where the story gets murky because some say he was assigned the seat beside her and others contend he just sat there because she had earbuds in her ears and was listening to something on her iPod, and he thought that might make her less likely to engage him in conversation.)
(Twaddlespeak, says I. First of all, if you don't want to talk, you don't sit beside a girl. Second, if you don't want to sit beside a talkative girl, you don't pick Gena. Third, if the girl in the seat beside him -- assigned or not -- hadn't been cute, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't be talking about this at all.)
My sister and my mother. They are not pirates.
No sooner were they airborne than Damon made the mistake that would make him a married man less than a year hence.
He whipped out a Bible and began reading.
Genevieve's father, my brother-in-law Pierre-Philippe, is French
In addition to being eager to converse under the proper circumstances, Gena is a fine Christian girl. At that point she was a very single fine Christian girl. A girl with purpose and morals and integrity. A girl who, it is perfectly understandable, wanted a man of her own.
And she's cute.
Chicago-style hotdogs were served at the reception
Taking advantage of the supremely opportune moment (where was he going to go?), Gena removed her earbuds and got the attention of her future husband.
Somewhere along the way Damon decided to talk enough that he got Gena's phone number in case he wanted to ask her out on a date.
The dogs were consumed with great relish ... and sport peppers
Which he did.
And now you know the rest of the story.
They lost their hearts at 30,000 feet and now another Christian home has been established, grounded in the truth.
The guest favor table was laden with honey, chocolate-covered nuts, and dipped pretzels
Take that, godless progressiliberals.
The reception venue was on the same property where the wedding was held, but it was a wee hike from Point A to Point B, and it was still raining.
TG drove me because ... well, you know how it is. That's what gallant gentlemen do.
Melanie
There was a sweet table and a Chicago-style Vienna hots table and a French buffet table. Everything was scrumptious.
I know this because everyone said so. I myself ate two grapes and drank part of a Diet Coke.
Dieting? No. I was taking pictures. And I apologize for all the "noise" in said photos but I was constantly having to jockey for position to get the shot.
Audrey comforted Allissa, who had been gently chastised for something or other
There existed a formidable phalanx of amateur shutterbugs. Everybody thinks they're a photographer these days.
Plus which, much of the time I was too far from my subject to get a good shot without using the full range of my zoom lens. Makes for images that are less than crisp, like the kiss picture at the top of this post.
Avuncular interest
Apologies. My hand may have trembled on that one because the kiss is my favorite part of every wedding and the bride and groom did not disappoint.
I mean, how could they? Just look at the two of them.
At long last the lovebirds posed for me alone
If you'd like to see my best pictures from Saturday, nice and big, with descriptions of who everybody is and how they're related and what all went on, click here.
You can look at each picture individually or make it a full-screen slideshow.
To watch the same pictures (only much smaller) in a slideshow without leaving this page, click on the picture of TG below.
Reader Comments (10)
Looks like a wonderful wedding! And I love the story of how it all began!
The bride's dress is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Absolutely gorgeous. I love stories of serendipitous love. And don't ever apologize for your photos, they are worthy of any praise.
Wow, what a meeting, and what a great time you all must have had, in spite of the rain. And aren't you a Princes (Pirate) getting driven and all.
What a Lovely wedding Miz Jennifer! And the couple is Beautiful!
So glad she removed her earbuds....Hahaaa
Happy day to you!
hughugs
Now that's a great "meet cute" story. Maybe I should fly more often to increase my chances? :)
wow Jen..I feel like I was there girl!..the pics are your best but I say that every day!..lol (HUGS) and congrads again!!!! xoxoxox
What a gorgeous couple and I adore the story about how they met! They will have many, many years together!
A lovely time was had, by all. In spite of the weather. :-)
And YOUR MOM is *knock-out*! I want you to please tell her, that I said so.
\\*.♥~♥.*//
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