Anna's Day

 

On last Saturday's crisp, winter afternoon, {who gets married in January, Anna?], David and I crossed the lawn of Berry Chapel, under the foliage of some seriously, huge magnolia trees, and climbed the well worn steps to that little church, nestled beautifully on the spacious campus of Berry College in Rome, Georgia. Here, David and I were the invited guests to the wedding of Anna, a former student of mine -- KMHS, class of 2008, and Brady. 

Note: Berry College, a liberal arts institution, sits on 26, 000 acres of fields, forests, lakes, and mountains -- and shares its land with some cows. Lots of cows -- but not at the wedding.

The sun shone fully on the stain glass of this sweet chapel with its dark wood and linen white walls as the instrumental prelude played beautiful music, including a lovely version of “Edelweiss” by Rogers and Hammerstein. The bridesmaids wore a dark purple, and of course, Anna wore white and looked model perfect.

Two different soloists added modern tunes to the ceremony with “Love Never Fails,” “Word of God Speak,” and “I Have and Always Will.” I admit that I hadn't been to a wedding where all the song choices were contemporary ones, but the music selections finally won me over when the recessional song began. The upbeat “Not to Us” by Chris Tomlin sounded its first notes, right after Anna and Brady were pronounced man and wife,and as they bounded down the aisle [young love and all that],I found myself tapping my foot and nodding to its perfection for the closing nuptials of this couple.

Awesome. Simply awesome.

We joined the wedding party for a buffet supper at the Forrest Place Hotel in downtown Rome, where I got to hug Anna‘s neck and spend some time with good food and Brent, another invitee and former student, and his date Megan. Brent told me that he was currently doing his student teaching.

Seriously?


Seriously.

*sigh*

Brent and Megan

Argh. These guys are acting like adults -- marriage, jobs, and then smart conversation.  I only had to tell Brent to “be quiet” once.

*tee hee*

Thanks Anna for inviting us to the celebration.

David, Melissa, and I at the reception.

BTW: A friend of mine asked me yesterday how many students’ weddings have I gone to, and I have to answer, “I’ve been blessed."