Southern Weddings

unfortunately, my daddy is 8 hours away! but he is coming to mobile for the 4th of july weekend for the first time since i moved here a year ago! i haven’t seen him since thanksgiving and i am too excited! i plan on taking him for a drive to see the beautiful old homes lined with oak trees and moss. i will take him to my favorite brunch spot for a sweet, belated father’s day brunch. then, on to the river for a boat ride and dinner at the rivershack with my mom and boyfriend. i miss him so much! but, i am excited to show him the town he will be spending a lot of money in, since this is where my boyfriend and i plan to get married!

For Father’s Day, we’ve usually just spent the day together as a family (the same for Mother’s Day). Rather than buying something they don’t need, this is a funner alternative. We’ll probably end up BBQ-ing and relaxing by the pool (if the weather is nice!).

After much deliberation about the location for our wedding reception – I decided to have it in my parent’s backyard at my childhood home. My dad worked so hard to get ready for the big day. He painted the house, re-did the driveway, and even built a stage for the band among many many other things. It was truely a labor of love – and it turned our more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. I felt so loved and so poud to be his daughter as he walked me down the aisle, and at the reception we danced to his favorite song – “Fields of Gold” by Sting. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without him!

I’m such a daddy’s girl. My dad thinks this movie(and the sequel) are hysterical! I was married in April. One thing we did is in addition to having a “first look” with my husband, I also did a first look with my dad. He only saw the dress once before–the day I found it, I took a pic with my phone and sent it to him so it didn’t really fit and there was bad lighting–and avoided looking at it or me in it(I may have pranced around the house once or twice) before that day. I actually think I was more nervous to see him than my husband for their reaction! He also picked the song we danced to–Johnny Cash’s cover of “Forever Young”.

My mom left my biological father when I was weeks old. She was a business professional in a job that had little respect or flexibility for mothers. Her best friend stepped up to the plate to take care of me. He rocked me at 6pm everynight when my collic set in, he bought food for not only me, but for her. He taught me how to say his name( “kong” was the closest I got to “Tom” for many years) and he proved that being a dad was far more than the phyical act. He took me to my first ballet class at 3 and never stopped until I was 18. Every class, rehearsal and competition, he was there. At five, over icecream he asked my permission to marry my mom. My response: “of course, silly!” He has never been my moms best friend or my step father. As i told many at 5 on their wedding day, “kong” is my “real dad” not my”biological” dad. And on my wedding day, he will walk me down the aisle to “I hope you dance”.

Well, this past week, ive spent time in the Abacos, Bahamas…and my dad has watched my chocolate lab for me. Needless to say, I think I win this trade off. So to pay my pops back he’s getting a nice box of cubans….just don’t tell customs.

I’m lucky enough to have my Dad marry us, as he’s been a pastor for 40 years. To have him give the message and do our vows is so special to us. And he can tell the real truth about us when he gives the toast at the reception!

LOOOOOVVVVVEEE Father of the Bride! My Dad and I are very close. He is always looking out for me and we get lunch at least three times a week! My mother is out of the country, so my Dad has been helping me plan the wedding. He helped me pick the dress, the wedding band, even the flowers! Without him I would be lost, and NOT just because of the wedding. Today we have another one of our “lunches” scheduled. I cannot wait!

I will be getting married next June 9th and there will be a huge void without my daddy there. My daddy passed away when I was 16 years old from complications from lung cancer, due to his exposure to Agent Orange while he served in the army in Vietnam. Without ranting and raving endlessly about what a wonderful father and person he was, I will just say that he was my absolute hero. Ever since my fiance and I got engaged at the end of February, I have struggled with the thought of my daddy not being there on my wedding day. It will be very important to me to incorporate his personality and tributes to him into the wedding day. We will be getting married in the church I grew up in, while the reception will be on the farm I was raised on. Jonathan and I both want to be married in a church, but it was very important to me that the reception be held on the farm because it will ensure that my daddy will be there in spirit. My Godfather – also my dad’s best friend since the Vietnam war – will walk me down the aisle. My Godfather is a big softy, so I am sure we will both cry all the way to the altar. I am trying to find a first dance song that is not too sappy or sad because I want to try and have a dry eye at some point in the wedding day! The song I chose to play at my daddy’s funeral was “Wind Beneath My Wings,” but I can’t even say the name without crying, so I don’t think that is good idea… I have also thought about dancing to the “Tennessee Waltz” because I went to every Tennessee football game with my daddy since I was old enough to walk and that’s also where he taught me to whistle with my fingers loud enough to be heard on the opposite end of Neyland Stadium after a Tennessee touchdown! Whatever song my Godfather and I choose, during that dance I plan on having a picture of my daddy and me projected on a wall at the reception. It is a picture of the two of us dancing at my cousin’s debutante ball when I was 8 years old and it is so doggone cute.

My dad is going to walk me down the aisle, and my step father is getting ordained and he will perform the ceremony. This way the man who helped create me and the man who raised me will both be a part of our special day :)

Love this!!!