Venue #2, Wedding #1

Get ready, kiddies. We got a lot of photos here, mostly of people. Miriam and Will went all British on us and had a double-decker wedding. The first part occurred at the Mansion House in Royal Tunbridge Wells. It's a pretty Georgian building with the usual large, airy rooms of that period.

So Miriam and will married legally in the way so many Yur-peans do: with a representative of the state and a series of Important Documents to sign. Here they are, afterwards, sitting as man and wife for the first time:

Many members of both families came for the ceremony. Miriam's great-aunt Matie, for example, traveled from Kentucky to be there. She stayed in the Hot Ladies Plus Iain and Charles suite at the B&B, serving as a chaperone and voice of wisdom for us all. She also generously shared her mirror when we were all running around trying to brush our hair and slather on eye makeup. Love her.

Younger members of the family attended, as well. Here are two of Miriam's neices and her new nephew signing the decorative certificate of marriage. Kudos to Zack, who solemnized the marriage and who, when asked by Oscar if he could sign as a witness, came up with this solution.

Will's other nephew was a ball of insane, explosive firecracker-ness. Here he is, cuddling with his dad. Don't be fooled. This child is destined to become a skydiving, acrobatic, sword-swallowing professional assassin. No lie.

Friends in attendance included one of Miriam's oldest girlfriends, Michelle. Soon to be a bride herself, Michelle brought a little touch of Texas to the party by wearing awesome cowboy boots. Can I just take this opportunity, since we're on the subject, to point out that an outstanding pair of boots need not be made of lizard, hand-embroidered with dragons, or otherwise tacky? Simple can be excellent, as you see here. Also, how cute is that haircut??

Miriam's sisters are kind of a problem. You're thinking, "Oh, Caroline is so lovely." and then in comes Rebecca, looking even prettier. But wait, who's that in the blue dress? Prettier still, and with fabulous shoes! It's frustrating. I like families where you know who's the smart one, who's the pretty one, and who's the one likely to put an M-80 down the toilet. Simpler that way.

Anyway, here is Rebecca and her husband, Dave. He's a peach - definitely a keeper. They're newlyweds.

There's that girl in blue! The bride was remarkably calm before the ceremony. Those are her great-grandmother's lace gloves, by the way. Something old, brought all the way from Kentucky by Matie. And the sweet peas in her bouquet came from a local garden. Also in the bouquet was Sweet William, an especially apt choice for this particular wedding. The mothers of bride and groom arranged the flowers themselves.


Here's the bride and her cousin Diane. Loved her, primarily because she's a bit sardonic.

You'd never know, looking at the Mother of the Bride, that there were any nerves this weekend. Even though the logistics of the two weddings, multiple parties, tourism events, extended families, friends, band, lunch dinner and breakfast would have broken a lesser will, Miriam's Mommy powered through like a champ.

She had help, of course, from Miriam's Daddy. More on that later. NO, just wait. All I'll say now is that you really shouldn't dance when I have my camera handy. I've said too much. Just hold your horses.

Whatever they say about England's weather, the last few weeks have been glorious. For Miriam's first Big Day, the sun shone brightly on everyone, including Will's father Edward. Though I don't have pictures of it, Edward would go on from this moment to provide perhaps the funniest Father-of-the-Groom toast I've ever heard. And that was after making everyone choke on laughter at the rehearsal dinner.

Will's mother gave no speeches, but her touch shaped the wedding profoundly. She and Miriam's Mommy picked the flowers for the bouquets and vases, she made the wedding bands by hand (she's a silversmith), and she provided a pleasant touch of no-nonsense calm to everything. She even brought a gorgeous spray of rare lilies down from Edinburgh for the reception.

After the civil ceremony, we all repaired to the Pantiles (an area of shops in Tunbridge Wells) for lunch. The kids table (shown below) included the groom, who wants you to see his new ring.

And, of course, the lovely bride. She needed a pint, don't you think? Luckily, in England one is spoiled for choice when it comes to yummy fizzy drinks with just enough alcohol to help you take that deep, deep breath you've been holding for the last 9 months.

Next stop? More wedding. Wedding, wedding, nothing but wedding. Stay tuned...