Jill came up with a wonderful theme for the reception - Afternoon Tea. We have enjoyed sharing tea many days and decided it was the perfect way to celebrate our marriage. Jill made most of the food: buttermints, cheese wafers, sugared pecans, and sausage balls, while Carin, Evan and I jumped in to finish her cucumber sandwiches and the fruit skewers. Prepare for a shock, I made the shortbread cookies. As you may already be ahead of me in this process, yes, Jill indeed made the cake too. A marvelous white layer cake with orange and lemon filling and seven-minute icing, displayed on vintage family cut-glass cake stands. The table linens, china and flatware, and silver trays and coffee service were also beloved family pieces. Even the two goblets that Jill and I shared at the cake cutting came from her mom and dad’s wedding. That heritage made it all the more beautiful.

We were so happy to share our celebration with a limited number of friends and family, and we treasure the photos of people we love gathered to bear witness to the love God has designed us to share.

There are so many other photos that in a couple of weeks I am going to do one more post.