Off-the-Rack Gown, Haute Couture Hubby...

Back in the early Fall, my cousin-in-law got engaged to a military man.  They had been dating a while, off and on, through college.  At first things were tough.  She had been in a long term relationship with a friend-of-a-friend of his.  When that friend-of-a-friend became one of his roommates, it made things a little uncomfortable.  She wanted to date and have fun... he wanted something different.  So for a while there it looked like they were constantly at opposite sides and would never get things figured out.

But then he joined the Special Forces and soon he was gone.  Apparently all my psychology professors were wrong (at least in this case)-- absence did make the heart grow fonder.  Soon they were involved in a lovely long-distance relationship.

When he came home they were always at each others' side and we all knew it wouldn't be long before they made it offical. 

I knew it was serious when she started talking about eloping or having a courthouse wedding.  My cousin-in-law, who I've known for 11 years, loves clothing and designer duds and more over, loves to be the center of attention and when I heard her say that she just wanted him over a huge party, I knew that this was serious.

So this past Fall they became engaged.

As all new brides-to-be, she and her family wanted to start planning.  But then there was this whole Afganistan War to contend with.  Because he is in the Special Forces, he could be deployed at any moment.  To complicate matters more, he wanted his brother there when he said 'I do' and, of course, the brother was in the Special Forces as well.  So the question of when became the sixty-four million dollar question.

In December they felt certain that he would be deployed in February-- they just weren't sure when.  In January it still looked like a February deployment but not until the middle part of the month.  The weekend of February 6th started to seem like the date. The brother would be back from his mission and that left three weeks to pull off a ceremony and reception.

The ceremony and sit-down dinner reception took place on Saturday, February 6th at the brides church with around 100 guests attending.  The bride wore a beautiful off-the-rack gown.  She was quick to tell my sister that "it was not the dress, but he was the guy." 

Below I have posted some pictures from that night.  Enjoy!

The Bride after the ceremony

Bridal Accessories by Jenny

Wedding Bands

Jenny and Me--

I'm actually dying for chapstick or lipstick at this point in the evening.  I'd even threatened to kiss someone on the lips for a little gloss!

The Hubster and Me

-- he wouldn't wear the purple shirt and tie I had for him to wear... the Hubster is sooo vain!

Brother-in-Law-- Chance and Girlfriend (that we love)-- Nicki

The Happy Couple and Bridal Party doing some strange dance moves...

A happy follow-up:  The Groom has not had to deploy yet.  They are waiting at this time for a new deployment date.  Meanwhile, my cousin-in-law and her husband are in the process of building a place to live.