It was two wedding weekends in a row for us as we had the honor of watching Stan and Preethy wed in Vienna, Virginia on September 28. Preethy was absolutely beautiful in both her white and red saris and Stan looked dashing in his tux. The bridesmaids and groomsmen complimented each other perfectly in their purple saris and purple vests/ties. I enjoyed the privilege of playing flute for the wedding ceremony. The best part was performing Ave Maria with Preethy's friend, Chrissie. She has an amazing voice and it was the first time I'd ever played with a vocalist before. I actually got goosebumps! After the ceremony we all went to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens for the reception. Unfortunately the weather wasn't perfect -- we found ourselves waiting out the scattered thunderstorms, but it was a beautiful day. Preethy and Stan managed some sunny photos in the beautiful gardens.
On Sunday, September 21, 2008, my little (and only!) sister got married! Jane and Brandon said their vows at Hamilton Baptist Church then celebrated with family and friends at beautiful Whitehall Estate in Bluemont, Virginia. So now she's Mrs. Linton. This is very weird to me, but I suppose it's not less weird than when I became Mrs. Kelly last year. Brandon is a wonderful guy and I'm so glad they found each other. They met several years ago through a small group Bible study at Virginia Tech located in scenic Blacksburg. Brandon is two years older and working on the web team (not sure if that's exactly the right description) at the Carmax headquarters in Richmond. Now that they're back from their honeymoon in St. Lucia, Jane has taken up residence in Richmond and setting up house for them.
The wedding events started on Friday afternoon when I met Jane and Mom for manicures and pedicures. Weddings are the only time I bother with manicures so that was an extra special treat. The evening was low key with take-out Chinese for dinner then dessert at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Hank and Margitta came up from Florida for the weekend and it was nice to have some time with them before the festivities were in full swing.
One small glitch in the weekend -- I had a slight mishap with some self tanner. OK, so it might not have been exactly "slight" because it warranted a desperate trip to Palm Beach Tan in the morning. Jane also had some weird white spots thanks to the tanning bed, so off we went in hopes of not embarrassing ourselves in strapless dresses. It was our first time with spray tanning and it went OK, except that it didn't solve all the problems. After some time in a bathtub with baking soda, my streakiness and orange hue were gone and in the end I would prove to not be the laughingstock of the weekend.
Back to the real wedding events. On Saturday afternoon Jane and Mom hosted a lovely bridesmaid and family lunch at the house. With chips, salsa, fajitas, and of course the bucket of margaritas and cosmopolitans we all had a great time. Jane was incredibly sweet and thoughtful with our gifts. She created special, individual photobooks of pictures of her with each bridesmaid. Despite the dismaying progression of bad hairstyles, it is something I will treasure always. She also gave us lovely earrings and necklaces to wear to the wedding. Thank you, Jane! You can see my earrings and necklace in this picture with my handsome husband.
