For the first time ever I am going to dedicate an entire post to the Cocktail Hour.  Something happened here that deserves it own post.  We all know that a Wedding Ceremony is not just about 2 people coming together as one, it is also about the joining and blending of 2 families.  It about each side looking at their new daughter-in-law, or their new son-in-law, and saying We accept you, and we will love you.

That sentiment was more important today than ever before.  As Johnny told us during his toast, he had lost both his mother & his father, and then his brother.  He has very little blood family left on this Earth.  There was not a single dry eye on that patio when he thanked his new father-in-law for being there for him and for loving him as a Son.

A photograph of Alexis’s mother on her wedding day – don’t they look exactly alike?!

Johnny and his “Brothers”  Instead of having a traditional wedding party, Johnny had too many people who he felt were his Brothers, people who had been there for him over the years.  He asked every one of his “brothers” to wear a black shirt to the wedding.  He provided the hot pink ties, and we got this shot of Johnny and 41 of his brothers!

After the group shot, everyone gathered on the Upper Deck for a few toasts.

This man stood before over 200 guests, and with tears in his eyes, expressed his gratitude for Johnny being in his life, and an undying love for his 2 daughters he raised after his wife passed away when they were babies.

Johnny thanks everyone for coming, and says as he looks out over the few hundred gathered, that they are all his Family.  That each person who is sharing this day with them has been there for him during the difficult times, when he lost his mother, when he lost his father, when he lost his brother.  He says that this is just a family gathering, and how grateful he is for their love and support.

And especially the love and supprt of his beautiful wife Alexis…

Right as everyone was headed in for the reception, I met this beautiful little girl running around and just being adorable!  She was doing a lot fo the same motions my little son is doing, so I start asking about how old she is, and it turns out that she was born the same day as my little Zen!  I asked her what hospital she was at, and it was mine!  It finally come out that were were in adjoining rooms at the hospital with brand new little babies that were born on the same day and we never met!  So I took a bunch of pictures of this little girl, watching her made me miss my boy suddenly, but taking pictures of her for a minute reminded me that I would see him in a few hours!  Isn’t it strange, how someone so small and so new to the world can have such a strong hold of your heart?

We will see you tomorrow morning for Part III of Alexis & Johnny’s Wedding Day!

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 8:00 am and is filed under Weddings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.