A Jensen Wedding Day

Maddie and Brian are finally married!  After a very long Saturday, the wedding happened, problem-free (as far as I could see!), in the gorgeous sunshine, with laughter and tears to spare!

Terrible phone photo, but good kissing!

Saturday morning my sister Ali and I woke up bright and early to grab a quick coffee (and chai!) and some bridesmaids en route to Maddie's mom's house for some primping and getting ready.  It was so great to see Maddie reunited with her best friends, who had travelled near and far to be with her on this day.

Ali, Maddie, Emily, Sam (photo credit: Ali of Happerly Ever After)

Sometimes I really feel for these girls.  Emily lives in Tennessee, my sister Ali lives in Florida, and Sam is in Toronto.  Until now, Maddie has lived in London, but at least she will be closer to one of the four amigos as she starts her new life also in Toronto.  Seeing the four girls together again, and the silliness that ensues, makes me realize that they just aren't all together often enough.  So being able to spend the day with them all getting ready for this wedding was a very special thing for me to experience.

I was blessed to be asked by Maddie to do her hair for the wedding, as well as a few of the bridesmaids.  Being able to share this time along with an old friend Melissa, (she was on makeup duty!) was another blessing.  Even though I don't have official education (YouTube tutorial student!) and limited salon experience (one month volunteering), I really enjoyed being able to execute the hair desires of these girls.  (Horn toot!  I think that I did a good job, because instagrams of the girls are filled with compliments on their hair! End horn toot!)  It was a very relaxing morning, and the girls all looked so beautiful.

The bride getting ready, looking flawless even pre-makeup!

My sister, the total ham.

Waterfall braid on Ali.

Braided crown on Emily.

Waterfall braid on Sam.

Fishtail braided twist on Maddie.

Ali, Emily, Sam (photo credit: Ali of Happerly Ever After)

A few of the bridesmaids in the setting sun.

When Maddie put on her dress, there were definite squeals and a few tears.  The dress fit like a glove, and she looked so elegantly radiant.

Fuzzy iPhone shot of the bride to be!  (Sorry, it was the only camera I had on me!)

After getting the girls all ready, I was able to squeeze in a quick visit with my favourite people, the Evans family.  Joel and Heather Evans (plus their two littles, Jane (3 years) and Harvey (10.5 months) are my and Josh's niece and nephew by love, not by blood).  Joel and Josh have been best bros since they were 5, and Heather and I for the last 7 years.  They are the one thing that I hate about where I live.  It's just too far away from them.

After a short visit, I raced back to my parents house to put the finishing touches on the wedding cake and sped off to the ceremony to set up.  Josh and I made it just in time.  Unfortunately I only have cell phone pictures, since Josh was using our camera to film the ceremony.

The finished cake, made entirely by me! (Contact me at Sweet Goodness Me if you are in need of a cake!)

After the ceremony there were some refreshments on the patio, and soon we were being ushered into the barn for the reception.

The barn!

Emotional and funny speeches were read, but they seemed to be a bit too long for the boys at our table.  Nath, my bro-in-law, and Mason, Emily's husband, are both American, with American cell phones, which they weren't able to use to preoccupy themselves with, meaning that they have no internet without wifi in Canada.  My dad must have been feeling for them during the speeches, because he leaned over to our table and whispered sweet nothings of the internet password he had set up on his phone's data plan for the two guys.  They were totally stoked and quickly began Instagramming photos of their wives.  Sadness returned when they had to go back to no internet, sitting nice, and paying attention like the rest of us.
 ***note: The speeches were not super boring, sorry Maddie and Brian!  It's just a boy thing. You understand.

Stoked on having an Internet connection.

Nath is definitely a talent behind the camera.  My sister is also a babe. (photo credit: Nath Happer)

After the speeches came the first dance, and then the cake cutting!  It was a sad realization that the life of my cake and all my hard work was about to come to an end.  Even though it was a major struggle to make, I ended up loving that little cake, which I was really proud of, and was sad to see it go!

Goodbye little cake.  You lived a pretty sweet life.  Haha.. oh puns.

Unfortunately Josh and I had to split before the party really started.  We had a five hour drive ahead of us that night to get to the cottage for my grandpa's 80th birthday the next day.

I hope that Maddie and Brian really had the chance to enjoy their wedding, and that their honeymoon in St. Lucia is just as sweet as they are!  Thanks for allowing me to be a part of your wedding day you two!

And here's a little amigo silliness to leave you with.  Wish I could have stayed for the dancin'!

Love these beautiful girls. (photo credit: probably Nath)