A Beautiful Wedding & Celebration

My son Chip, married his beautiful sweetheart, Nancy, on Sunday!  I know I don't often share family pictures on BNOTP but since so many folks emailed or left comments before the wedding requesting to see some, I'm sharing a few today.

Chip and Nancy chose the historic Chapel on the campus of the University of Georgia as the location for their wedding.  They met here at UGA so this place holds lots of beautiful memories for them.

A couple of photos of the Chapel from UGA's website:

I arrived early the day of the rehearsal and snapped a couple of pics inside.

The Chapel was built in 1832 and as you walk across the wonderful old floors, they creak and moan with history.  It's just the neatest sound and it transported me back to my college days at Mercer in Macon.

The 17' x 23' oil painting shown here in the Chapel, depicts the "Interior of St. Peter's Rome" per the UGA website about the painting and restoration.  It was completed in 1847 by George Cooke.  It looks much better in person...looks washed out in my photos.

Here's the bride-to-be discussing some details with her wedding planner.  Nancy made the dress she wore to the rehearsal and it was absolutely gorgeous.  She also made the red sash and all the flowers/decorations adorning it.  That girl can sew!

More discussions between the bride and groom during the rehearsal.  Everyone kept looking up at the ceiling in my pics...not sure what they were talking about.

The bride and her dad made a trial run down the aisle.

After rehearsal, I snapped these photos outside behind the Chapel.

Wedding Day!

I snapped one photo during the ceremony and then put the camera down so I could enjoy the moment.  I pretty much cried the entire time...it was ridiculous how emotional it all was for me. I almost started crying again just creating this post.  Gaaah!  I was a basket case all day!

The Bride and Groom chose a Red and Black color scheme...the colors of the University of Georgia where they met and where they were married.

Afterwards, I snapped a few candid shots.  You'll see the photographer in the pics since I stayed back behind her and out of her way.

The Bride and Groom rang the Chapel bell after the wedding, a long held tradition.  Afterwards they enjoyed a little time to savor the moment with a limo ride around Athens.

The old bell tower (along with the bell) dating back to 1913, had to be removed from the top of the Chapel.  The tower apparently weathered so much it could no longer safetly hold the 700 lb bronze bell.  So a new tower was built behind the Chapel to hold the bell.

The UGA website states, "...physical plant workers spent many hours building a new tower, which closely resembles the original in height (40 feet) and shape."

After all the photo taking and festivities were finished at the church, the Bride and Groom had a romantic dinner alone, while the wedding party and guests headed over to the historic Foundry Park Inn and Spa for cocktails under the pavilion.  I think the bride and groom having dinner is a new tradition.  I'm not sure if they actually did that but that's what I was told by someone.  The wedding started at 3:30 PM and went on until almost 11:00 PM.  It didn't seem that long...everything went by so quickly.

Photo from The Foundry Spa and Inn Website

The wedding reception/dinner was inside the historic Foundry itself.  You can see the old brick walls.  The bride and groom shared their first dance as husband and wife.

The Groom spied Mom snapping a pic. :)

Sniff...I was a mess all night.

Father and Bride love to dance and had so much fun!

One of Nancy's sisters had requested photos of Chip growing up...from baby stage to college age.  She put together the sweetest video (accompanied with music) of the two of them.  You could have heard a pin drop in the room.  The music was so perfect and so moving with the photographs.  Some photos were cute, some made you laugh and some just ripped your heart right out.  It was truly beautiful.

Cutting the cake...

That's the wedding planner in red in the background.

Missed taking a pic of the bouquet being tossed but I did capture a groomsman catching the garter.

Happy Bride and Groom...

They are currently floating in a huge pool in the Dominican Republic, fruity umbrella drink in hand.  :)