To Have and To Hold

     All the right touches were there...a radiantly beautiful bride...a groom who wept openly as she gently made her way down the aisle to him on the arm of her father. An historic chapel whose plain wooden pews, beautiful heart of pine floors, and tall windows provided a lovely setting that required hardly any embellishment to make it a place of great beauty. Praise music that crept into every pore of the soul and lifted the heart to the heavens...a pastor who tenderly reminded the couple and the rest of the congregation of the joys and struggles that comprise a marriage...a gospel choir leading the congregation in the singing of the hymn Amazing Grace. It sounds like the stuff of which dreams are made, however, it was a very real wedding with a very real bride and groom.
   The Husband and I traveled to Memphis this weekend as guests at the wedding of a young woman who is very dear to me. She and I worked together at Christ Presbyterian Academy the year before my retirement, and I have had the joy to watching her relationship with a special young man deepen and develop into the love of a lifetime. We were honored to share this special day with the two of them. The setting for the couple's wedding was the beautiful historic Evans Chapel at Germantown Presbyterian Church, a house of worship that was constructed in 1851.

Doors at the back of the sanctuary

   

The Bride and Groom with her parents and sisters

       After I wiped my wedding tears, we hopped in the car and made our way to the Crescent Club for the reception. After a cocktail hour in the club upstairs followed by a seated dinner in the soaring atrium, we danced the night away! There were also lots of special touches throughout the reception. In addition to the lovely wedding cake, there was a buffet table laden with gourmet chocolate. The groom and his family are the owners of the North Carolina based Davidson Chocolate Company http://www.davidsonchocolate.com/. This is no ordinary chocolate; these hand-crafted delights have the depth of flavor and the quality of ingredients that you find only from the finest European chocolatiers. But best of all was the happiness that emanated from the bride and groom. Their joy could scarcely be contained. All in all, it was a special evening to celebrate and to be remembered for a very long time to come!

Granddaddy kissing the beautiful Bride