{THE} Epic Weekend!!

And now for the greatly anticipated blogging event!

This is a follow up to my dad’s previous post, during the “Love is a Battlefield” blog series. Yes, this is the event I referred to as oh-so epic. I’ll let you be the judge! So take it away Dad:

A Blast From The Past…

…Living In The Present…

… And A Promise For The Future!

The Idea

This all started when I was posting several photo albums on my Facebook account with the titles of “Blast from the past-Our Wedding” and several other albums of older pictures. I wanted to come up with a way that somehow reflects the love that I have for my wife. The love we had 31 years ago when we got married, the love that we have had over the years, the love we share today, and the love we will continue to have until our deaths. I word it like that because neither of us could imagine life without each other. After all, we’ve known each other and were friends since we were 13, started dating at 17, and married at 18. I pray for a “Notebook” ending, if you know what I mean.

(here)

Ladies you will, and if the guys knew, I’d probably have to turn in my “man” card. They just don’t understand that when you lived with 5 women (your wife, 3 daughters, and mother-in-law for about a decade), you had better be in touch with your feminine side. Oops, lost my “man” card again!

The Preparation

I began by wondering if my wife could still fit in her original wedding dress. I thought she could, and so did our daughters. The first problem was, we didn’t have it preserved after we got married. Instead, we placed the dress, silk flower boutique, and boutineer in a tub and put it in the attic. Well, the dress turned from white to yellowish.

I researched local dry cleaners and found one that would try and restore her dress. They tried two different times over a two-week period of time and got it looking pretty good. I also knew that she didn’t have her hoop, so I stopped by David’s Bridal and they suggested I buy an A line petticoat instead, and I did. I explained to them what I was doing, and all three of the ladies started to cry. One of the younger ones even said, “Aw, I hope someone loves me like that someday!”

The silk flowers (mint green, yellow, and white) also turned yellowish. It wasn’t a pretty sight. I then took a picture of what her boutique and my boutineer looked like and went hunting for the supplies so I could recreate the flowers. Did you know they don’t sell mint green silk carnations? So I had to hand paint each of those flowers. I recreated both the boutique and boutineer myself, and both turned out really well. I also went next door to Al’s Tuxedos and ordered a white long-tailed tux for me to wear. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the same size, but it looked the same.

I made arrangements at my church (Tate Springs Baptist Church) to renew our vows. I talked to our Executive Pastor Terry Jeffries, and asked him to officiate, I asked our Hospitality Ministry Leader and Wedding Coordinator to see if they would set up the Bride’s Room, and decorate the stage. I worked with our Worship Pastor to set up a stationary video camera, and a music station to play music. I downloaded to my iphone, “God Gave Me You,” by David Barnes to play when Tina walked down the aisle, and “Love Is Not A Fight,” by Warren Barfield to play when we walked out. I worked with our Children’s Pastor, who held up decorating the stage for our VBS Celebration, until we were done with our ceremony. I can’t say enough, how blessed I am to serve with this great group of people at this great church. God is good!

I booked our photographer to take pictures of the event. To pull this off, I told Tina that we were doing a photo shoot at noon for her birthday (which was true). What she didn’t know, was I also booked her to be at the church at 1:30 to take pictures. I wanted to recreate some of our wedding pictures that didn’t turn out so good 31 years ago. We took pictures outside under some trees, and there were a lot of shadows. So after the ceremony, I wanted to go out to a grove of trees by the church and retake those same shoots. It will be neat to have similar pictures of us, dressed the same way, 31 years apart. I can’t wait to see them, because Kelly Olivares does excellent work!

I booked a limo to pick us up at 2:45 pm at the church and take us to the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas. I booked a room at the Adolphus, and also made reservations at 6:00 pm to eat at Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck, which is the restaurant at the top of Reunion Tower. The only thing that I didn’t have nailed down was how to get our car to Adolphus for us to use on Saturday. At the last minute, the awesome guy that he is, Terry Jeffries was able to get a hold of one of our deacons to help him get it over there. What a lifesaver!

Tina’s birthday was on the 21^st, and our ceremony was going to be on the 22^nd, so I needed to combine the activities for the weekend. I bought her a birthday card, and created a couple of coupons for her to redeem. Since part of her present was the photo shoot, one of the coupons was a gift certificate for her to get a deluxe pedicure and manicure on Friday morning that I had purchased ahead of time. This also got her out of the house so I could load the car with our suitcases, and get to the church to finalize some last minute things. Kind of sneaky, huh! The other coupon was for a shopping spree to purchase a pair of nice scandals and Tom’s shoes she wanted. I also bought us an outfit for Friday after the ceremony, and another one for us to wear on Saturday. I worked with Stephanie (our youngest daughter) to locate a few things of Tina’s that I needed and packed our bags for the weekend. I think that’s all the preparation, and now on to the good stuff.

The Events

I gave Tina her birthday card on Thursday night (with the coupons) and told her we were going to eat breakfast on Friday at “The Porch” then she could go get her pedicure and manicure.

I needed to go finish something at work, so when she got done, she was to meet the photographer and I at the church around noon. I rushed home, packed my car with everything for the weekend and went to the church. I put everything in the Bride’s Room, and set out my stuff in another room. I had scheduled Brittany (our oldest daughter) to arrive a little before 1:30 pm to record the proposal on her iphone, and help Tina get dressed.

At noon, we went to Veteran’s Park in Arlington for our photo shoot. It went great and we had a blast. I can’t wait to see them. Kelly even incorporated in our pictures we were taking, some other framed pictures (Our wedding, all three girls, and our last family picture). When we got done, we went back to the church. I told her that I needed to go inside, and I would call her to join me in a few minutes. I rushed in, changed into my tux, grabbed the proposal card, and went to the lobby.

I called Tina to come in, and she was greeted by me in a tux, Kelly shooting pictures, and Brittany videotaping. Needless to say, she was surprised and confused. I held her hands and said,

“I married you 31 years ago, but I was wondering if you would marry me again today?”

I got down on one knee, asked her to take a seat and read the card.

The front said “It’s your wedding day,” but inside explained what was going on. I asked that she go with Brittany to the Bride’s Room where I had laid out her dress, veil, petticoat, jewelry, shoes, boutique and everything she needed to touch up her makeup and hair. I also placed our original wedding album in there. I went into the Worship Center and joined Terry, and I waited her arrival.
(Note: the camera must have been moved a little because it was NOT supposed to video tape Kelly and I, but it WAS supposed to get the pastor, ha!)

When she was ready, I queued the music (God Gave Me You), and motioned for her to come to me. I think she almost ran! I can’t describe how beautiful she was! As the song finished playing, I told her,

“I can honestly say, that you were beautiful the first time you walked down the aisle to marry me…but today…after 31 yrs, and seeing you in that SAME dress…you are out of this world gorgeous! You rocked the dress again! I’m still proud to call you my bride, and that will never change!”

Terry did an awesome job with what he prepared for the service. I know Tina and I had tears streaming down our faces throughout most of it. Terry may not admit it, but I thought I saw a tear or two with him as well. At the end, I queued the music (Love Is Not A Fight). We took a few pictures and walked out holding hands. We also went outside and took some pictures.

Tina’s surprises were not done yet. When she got back to the Bride’s Room, Brittany had set out her new outfit I bought for her to wear the remainder of the day.

I had packed everything she needed. She bragged on the dress several times, and said it made her feel pretty. She is still a knockout! We moved all our bags to the limo and off we went. Brittany and those same awesome friends picked everything up, and returned the tux! When we arrived at Adolphus Hotel, we checked in, dropped the stuff off at the room, and took a tour of the hotel.

We hadn’t eaten lunch, so we grabbed a snack at the Rodeo Bar & Grill. That evening we went to eat at Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck in the Reunion Tower.

On Saturday, we went to the Galleria Mall. She bought the sandals she wanted ($37 off normal price, amen!), and got a belt to match! She sure looked adorable in her other new dress, sandals, and belt. We truly enjoy just spending time together. It doesn’t even really matter what it is…as long as we are together. That evening we went to eat at Grumps Burgers in Burleson. We sat outside on the upstairs balcony and relaxed, ate, and just talked. It was good to unwind and reflect back not only on our special weekend…but our blessed lives!

Thank you God for so many blessings: my awesome wife, daughters, and grandchildren; our ministry, church, and the body of believers there at Tate Springs Baptist Church. And special thanks to Brittany Estes, Stephanie Sears, Terry Jeffries, Jeremy Asher, Halley Steinhilber, Heather Cross, Sandra Haynie, Joe Wright, Kelly Olivares

(note from Brittany: Seriously after that weekend I am thinking about having my dad start a course on “How to Romance Your Wife!”…right?!?! Anyone want to sign up their husband, raise your hand! *hand raised*)

{This month’s advertisement!}

Comments

Stephie @ Our Marriage Adventure says

July 2, 2012 at 4:25 pm

So where do I sign my hubby up?

Rachel says

July 2, 2012 at 6:18 pm

I want to sign my husband up for sure! 🙂 That was amazing, I have tears in my eyes after reading that…so sweet, so much love and thought went into making that day so special for your mom. Precious!

Kari Beth says

July 2, 2012 at 6:38 pm

Aww this is the sweetest! Your parents seem amazing and your mom is a beauty!!!!

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