Wedding: Rehearsal Dinner

Rehearsal Dinner

Corinne did all the cooking for the Rehearsal Dinner. Neither of us were in the wedding party, and we're not exactly rolling in cash right now... so our wedding present was the Rehearsal Dinner.

Here you can see one of the spreads... but this doesn't begin to show the sheer volume of food Corinne cooked. The gentleman in the background is Harry Tackett, my Mother's brother-in-law. Beyond him you can see Tiffany McInturff, one of my beautiful cousins.

One of the counters... covered with food. Much of the food she cooked was never even set out! My sweet, hard-working wife needs to learn a bit about volume managmenet. There was enough food here to feed 150 - 200 people (easily), but there were only 30 guests, and some of them were children!

This is my Mom. I've seen better pictures, she doesn't look particularly happy in this one. Then again, she didn't know I was taking the picture! :-)

After everybody had eaten, Sarah and Art started opening presents. Art seemed a bit stressed and confused ;-), so Sarah did most of the opening. In this picture, she's hugging Brother John Woodward, presumably for the present that he and his wife Heather gave them.

Other people: in the background, just sticking out behind Sarah, is Art. To Sarah's left, against the wall, is Sister Ethel Wallace, the wedding singer. The cute little girl in the foreground is Avonlee Pride.

Uh oh, Sarah's getting a headache! Thankfully, she didn't faint once this whole weekend.

Around the room, starting at the top: Sharon Tackett (Mom's sister), Art, Sarah, the arm of Eleanor Dillingham (my Grnadmother), the hands and knees of Tiffany (again), the crooked head of (friend and) Brother Mark Drake, and the back of Sister Bonny Pride (Avonlee's lucky Mom).

The only notables about this picture: the guy on the right who is reaching for the gift is Brother Eric Pride (Bonny's husband, Avonlee's Dad); also, Mark's head is back on straight again (for now), and Bonny appears to be putting on her new necklace (I think it was her present for being in the wedding party).

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Wedding: The Ceremony

The Ceremony

The wedding ceremony lasted about 30 minutes, and was 'officiated' by Brother Dave Pride of the Cranston, RI ecclesia.

This is Sister Ethel Wallace (of Cranston, I think). She was the wedding singer. She sang a lovely song/hymn at the very beginning of the ceremony, before anyone in the wedding party had entered.

The Lovely Bridesmaids!

In the top row: Sister Betsy (Wilkinson) Wells of Worcestor, MA; Sister Tiffany (Dillingham) McInturff of Hudson, NH; and Sister Bonny (Bounds) Pride of Westerly, RI. I've known all three of these sisters my whole life.

The flower girls, who actually spread gold glitter instead of flower petals (the wedding's colors were gold and black, in case you hadn't noticed): Brianna Woodward and Avonlee Pride.

The Groom

Keeping it Together

Art did a great job of holding himself together through the whole ceremony. OK, that's a lie! The truth is that he didn't cry until Sarah's entrance... so he held it together for all of five minutes. :-)

I don't know the other two guys, but I do have their names. The best man (hiding behind Art) is Art's best friend, Jim Harrigan. The other guy is Julio Rodriguez. Not pictured is the third groomsman, Felix Rodriguez.

Not Keeping it Together

Art's crying in this one, though you can't see it very clearly. The doors have been thrown open, and behind them Art saw the woman he loves... dressed up as much as it is possible for a woman to be, in a truly amazing wedding gown! The train was approximately one half mile long, and was carried behind her by an entire marching band. I didn't get a picture of that, as I was told by both Mother and Wife to get a picture of Art crying.

Unfortunately, they didn't want flash pictures during the ceremony, which is why the color is so funky. Sorry! No, wait, I'm not sorry, as I had nothing to do with it. The truth is, the whole idea of "no flash photography" is incredibly silly! Why would you spend so much time and money on presentation, and then not let anyone record it!? Thankfully, the annoying (but paid) wedding photographer completely ignored the direct orders to leave his flash turned off, so he's probably got some good shots of the ceremony. The little weasel was like a fly buzzing around them the whole time!

Yeah, he's crying again, but you can actually see it this time.

Okay, there's nothing particularly special about this shot, I just liked it enough to include it. It's fairly solemn, which is how the ceremony itself should be. This was taken during the actual exchange of vows.

Presenting Mister and Missus Arturo Pena!

Yay! They're married!

I really like Art, he's a brother twice-over, a friend, and he's even an employee... but I wish we'd been seated on the other side of the room so that I could have gotten some pictures of my sister! The seating arrangments at weddings have always bugged me: the family of the bride should be on the groom's side of the room, so that they can see her face! (This isn't a complaint about this wedding, it's about weddings in general.)

And they're off! Hey, it's nice to have an action photo like this! Unfortunately, they weren't really "off"... even after the hundreds and hundreds of photos were taken (outside), and after the reception had wound down, they weren't able to leave in the limo until after 7:00... almost six-and-a-half hours after the ceremony!

Art and Sarah Pena are now enjoying their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, which is Art's motherland. We've received word that they arrived safely (can't say the same for her luggage, though) and are very happy. So are all of us back home!

Incidentally, Corinne and I are a little jealous and want to go away on another little honeymoon. The only thing holding us back right now is the (lack of) money! We hope to have the problem rectified shortly, and then we'll be off on a little private vacation.

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RE: The Wedding Hymn

Thanks. Lisa

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Almost an Uncle

Art and Sarah are now at the hospital, she's in labor.

My Dad called and asked me to say a prayer for them... "and Art and Sarah too". I'm excited about having a new neice/nephew, but I don't think anybody is (or could be) as excited as my parents are. My Mom was up at 2 AM this morning, just hoping that Sarah was "ready to go".

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RE: Almost an Uncle

On 2/5/02, Greg Pierce said:

>How exciting!  Hope everything goes well....now Corinne will be able
>to look at somebody else's babies for awhile. ;-)

Just for the record, she does like looking at your babies ("More pictures! More pictures!"), but she likes looking at her own baby more than anything else.

Now that he's 21 and living "away from home", he's a lot less colicky, too. ;-)

Seth

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RE: Allison Ella Pena

A whole new chapter of your life is starting now. (Believe me, I know!)

Sean

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Welcome to Our World, Talia Kayleigh Pena!

At long last, my little neice Allison has finally gotten around to having a little sister! Took her long enough.

Talia Kayleigh Pena was delivered to Art and Sarah Pena (my sister), and Allison!, this afternoon, five weeks earlier than originally planned. She must have caught a strong tailwind on her way in (how else could she have arrived so early?).

Six pounds, two ouces. Eighteen inches long.

I haven't met her yet, that won't happen until tomorrow afternoon, but in my Mom's totally unbiased opinion, "Talia is beautfiul."

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Proof that Talia is a Cutie

Here is a couple of shots of my new, baby niece, Talia Kayleigh Pena.

I thought five weeks early would mean "not yet fully formed," but that's not at all true. Her voice is a little weak (high pitched and quieter than some of the other babies in the maternity ward), but she's perfectly healthy and complete. And cute.

Sunday evening at the hospital, she slept on my chest like that (in the picture) for ninety minutes, and barely made a peep the whole time.

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