Here Comes The Bride!

Columbia River Temple

We are finally home from our whirlwind trip to the Tri-Cities for Elise and Chase's wedding. We had such a fabulous time seeing so much family and being with Chase and Elise. We had seven aunts, two uncles, nine cousins, and two grandmas to visit with.

On Wednesday, we drove down to the Tri-Cities to attend the temple with Elise, Chase, and my brother, Michael. It was really special to have all three of them going through the temple for the first time together. And, as a added bonus, Chris and I were chosen as the witness couple that evening. I think the temple workers will be remembering our group for quite some time. Chase had been sick for a couple of weeks with the nasty cold going around. And to make matters worse, he started throwing up on Monday. So, by the time that we got to the temple he was exhausted from being sick. At the end of the session, we were all waiting in the Celestial Room for Elise and Chase to enter, when the chaos began. As we were waiting, three temple workers came rushing into the Celestial Room with Chase in their arms who was near fainting. Elise was still in the ordinance room completely confused and concerned as to what was going on with Chase. Poor Chase was as white as a ghost and had to sit in the Celestial Room for about 15 minutes until he felt he could stand. It was a rough ending to a great evening, but hey, we will never forget that trip to the temple!

Thursday was a very busy day. We set up for the reception from 8am until 7pm and then had to go and cook all of the food for the reception. My parents had lighting hung up to the ceiling of the gym and then my dad hung up tulle to create a more romantic tent feel. My pictures did not turn out as well as I had hoped. With the flash on my camera, it lit up the room more than what it actually was. You will have to trust me that the room looked very pretty with the lights all off and just the lighting from the strung lights. The tulle did a great job of camouflaging some of the ugliness of the gym so that you didn't even notice it. Note* Chase was still very sick and stayed in bed all day!

Friday was the BIG day! The sealing was at 11:00am. It was beautiful and very touching. As always, I cried. Michael, being raised by a Mom and FIVE sisters/little mothers , was the first to collect tissues and hand them out to us before the sealing even began...thanks Mike. You are going to be an awesome husband someday...you can thank us later for all the training you have acquired through having to deal with us!

Finally married!!!

Wilson family

Cecily, Kyle and Brennen patiently waiting for pictures (ha,ha. They just happened to be sitting for two seconds)

After the sealing we headed back to get ready for the reception. I tried to take a few pictures while we were setting up ,because I knew that it was going to just get more and more hectic as the clock ticked close to 6pm.

Grandpa Wilson and Brennen trying to stay out of the way

Chase is a musician. So, when Elise found this cake topper, she had to have it. It speaks volumes of about their relationship.

The beautiful bride

The reception was CRAZY! I have never seen such a busy and never ending line waiting to get in. The line went from the gym out to the front doors....for three hours!!! My mom had four friends in the kitchen taking care of all the food, my six aunts helping assemble more food, and that still wasn't enough. My sisters and I ended up having to go and help too. . We served salad, tortilla spinach wraps, chicken and spinach pasta, pulled pork on rolls and a veggie tray. For drinks, we had a delicious punch made with sorbet and also lime water. And, of course, tons and tons of cake. I believe that they had five different flavored cakes, which were heavenly. The coconut cake was out of this world! We couldn't keep the food tables full. We would fill up a dish and by the time we would bring it out, something else was gone. I guess I'm glad to know that people enjoyed the food. We were all sweating by the end of the evening and looked horrid. At least Chase and Elise know that they are very loved. Once the reception was over, we had to take everything down. Fun. Fun. We had a lot more helpers this time and it always seems that clean-up is so much quicker than the setting up, so it wasn't too bad. Needless to say, we were all ready for a good nights rest. Note* Chase was still very sick and not felling well the entire wedding day.

On Saturday, Elise took Chase to Urgent Care and found out that he had walking pneumonia. Once they were done with the doctors, we all watched as they opened their presents. Chase looked pretty sad with the medical mask that he had been given to wear while around everyone. What a way to start a marriage! After watching Elise and Chase open all of their cute, new things...I want another reception. They got such awesome stuff! They are going to have a very cutely decorated home.

Chase in hopefully getting healthy so that he can be feeling better for their honeymoon. They fly out on Friday to Kauai, Hawaii. We hope you guys have fun...you absolutely deserve it! We love you guys and are so happy for you.