A Flower Girl

Well the time has finally come and gone, Ellie's debut as a Flower Girl was this past Saturday and she totes rocked it.  Words cannot express how happy and proud I am of her. Weddings can a be a bit stressful but my bestie really did her best to make us all feel comfortable and happy, and she was really mindful of the little ones she was including in her big day which was so thoughtful.

So let me give y'all a little rundown of how the whole weekend went.

On Friday I had the opportunity to work in the morning at my church cleaning one of the nursery rooms (which was a total blessing considering the medicals bills that are coming in from my emergency surgery) and then I was able to go home and have a quick lunch and then pack for the weekend.  Trying to remember everything that I might possibly need for both a Rehearsal and a Wedding was a bit overwhelming but I got it together.  Then I was on my way up to Seattle (a 1 1/2 hour drive) during the middle of Seafair to get my nails did with all the girls.  Then it was off to the Rehearsal and to meet Thomas with Ellie...praise Jesus that he was on Ellie duty for the weekend so I could focus on supporting the bride!  

Ellie got to meet her walking partner, the cutest little Ring Bearer who is a First Cousin Once Removed or something like that - I still don't quite understand how that all works.  He is 5 years old and very well behaved (my favorite kind) and she immediately took to him.  I asked her to hold his hand and she wouldn't let go for a solid five minutes - it was then I was confident this whole Flower Girl job would probably go smoothly.

We ran through the ceremony rehearsal a couple of times and OH MY WORD it was so adorable to watch her come down the aisle, I have to say I had the best view being up at the altar.  It was perfect since Thomas was staying back with Ellie to send her off (a little foreshadowing?) and then I was up front so she had comfort at both ends of the aisle.  During the rehearsal she did great, I knew it might be a little different the following day since the church would be full of people but the Ring Bearer had his job in the bag.  They held hands walking down and Ellie seemed pretty excited about it all.

After the Rehearsal Thomas took Ellie home so that she could sleep in her own our bed and hopefully have a relaxing morning with a bit of normalcy, while I stayed over at my dad's new house to be at the salon in the morning.  We had a fun morning, Ellie refused to nap - so she did in the car on the way up, we had pictures done at the Reception site and then I carpooled over to the church and realized once we got in the parking lot that I left Ellie's Flower Girl Dress in my car back at the Reception Site...we were already running a little bit late (like most weddings) and Thomas was so wonderful to head back and grab the dress.  I should have just left him responsible for the dress since his head is on straight - more so than mine.  Oh well, he was able to run over and get it just in time for Ellie to be part of the pictures and she had so much fun twirling and running around in her dress!

One thing that was great about being at a church was that Ellie got to be in the nursery room, so there were lots of toys for her to play with and to stay occupied.  Before we knew it it was time to line up and get my bestie married!!  I brought my phone down the aisle with me so I could record Ellie walking down the aisle and it was so fun to watch her and all the guests reactions as she and her new buddy did there thang.  I started recording when they began their walk and then about halfway down the aisle the memory on my phone got full and I didn't get to record the whole thing!!! I was so upset but Girlfriend did an awesome job waving her Flower Girl wand around, walking down the aisle and then exclaiming "Mamamamama!!!" when she saw me.  Thomas got stuck behind the videographer  on the side of the aisle so Ellie had a chance to play on the stairs for a couple of seconds before he was able to get her.  She didn't make it too long in the ceremony so he took her back to play in the nursery (I don't blame her, there were lots of fun toys!).

At the Reception, Thomas did great keeping tabs on Ellie so I could run around and assist where needed.  Ellie made some friends with the kids who were there and loved playing on the playground that was at the Reception Site.  She did great at the table during dinner and was getting tired so Thomas took her home before the dancing began.  She did such a great job and I got many compliments on her performance and behavior throughout the night which makes a Mama's heart proud.

Has your little one been in a wedding before?

♥ Ashley

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