Living overseas and missing out on family weddings, funerals, births, birthdays and holidays is by far one of the hardest sacrifices for us and it never gets easier. We are truly so thankful that we were able to return and participate in Jonathan's only brother's wedding, thanks to the generosity of his parents in bringing us back. This was a great gift to us to be present for such an event!
Jonathan was asked to officiate the ceremony which was a great honor to have his first wedding officiation be that of his brother. I was asked to make the wedding cake, also a first. Samuel and Luca were ushers and Emma was the ring bearess (is that even a word?) It was our great joy and privilege to have such roles on Ben and Bridgett's special day.
The rehearsal dinner was held at the Kleis' home so our hands were busy days prior in helping to prepare for a fabulous dinner party. It was a beautiful evening with rain holding off for both an outdoor dinner and the wedding the following day. My dad shipped flowers from California of which I was able to arrange. (Oh, how the smell of those flowers made me miss home.)
Emma painted a canvas for decoration and to gift to her uncle and almost aunt.
Tim and Lora did a wonderful job creating a relaxed environment to fellowship over amazing food--grilled salmon and Santa Maria Tri-tip, which was first introduced to them at our California wedding rehearsal dinner! Tim gave a speech of blessing that made me cry and feel proud to be a part of this special family. After 15 years of being their only daughter-in-law, I am happy to finally be making room for a Kleis sister too. It is noteworthy to say that when Jonathan and I were married, Ben was Samuel's age.
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| "B" is for Bailey (B+B's dog) |
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| Whoa! No worries, Munga is there to save the meat. |
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| S'mores |
After the rehearsal dinner concluded, it was time for me to cake decorate. I made the cakes on Friday and then filled and frosted on Saturday night. I was surprised how quickly it all came together even with having to burn the midnight oil to get it done. I had not originally planned for a textured cake but when I found out that I had to assemble the cake on site I figured texture is much more forgiving than a smooth finish. Ivy was also the original plan but we could not find sufficient ivy to work with. Thanks again to my Dad, there were extra sunflowers to use to top the cake. Tim made a beautiful cake stand out of a tree stump and then burned Ben and Bridgett's initials, wedding date and verses on the front. The cake was definitely a family collaboration and I was so relieved it all came together.
The couple requested a
white chocolate cake (which I found after 3 test cakes), some sort of hazelnut filling (not Nutella) and a buttercream frosting. I found an
Italian hazelnut cream recipe that was absolutely divine! Italians know how to do creams that are not overly sweet, highlighting the natural flavor combinations. I brought the hazelnuts from Italy to make my own hazelnut butter along with the gelatin sheets for an authentic cream.
The only other sibling wedding that we were able to attend as an entire family was my brother's wedding that was held one week prior to us flying over to Italy for the very first time ten years ago. Samuel was just two and Emma was seven months and obviously have no recollection of the day. Needless to say, the kids were so excited about this wedding. Emma decided months in advance what color dress she wanted and the boys were all for wearing ties for the first time. Luca really wanted the full get-up of a 3-piece suit but with an outdoor wedding venue we convinced him he would just be way too hot.
Ben and Bridgett were married on June 21, which also happened to be summer solstice and Father's Day. The couple requested a "simple but perfect" ceremony. Jonathan delivered in my opinion, but added a deeply rich charge that had many asking for the transcript afterwards. His opening sentence was: "The marriage we are gathered to celebrate today is both tremendously important and relatively insignificant." One of my favorite lines was "
Marriage is indeed
glorious, but it is a reflected glory. It does not shine with a radiance of its
own like the sun; rather its beauty is like that of the moon that displays the
brilliance of something greater than itself."
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| Wedding Party |
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| Bride's Family (Yes, Bridgett has 6 brothers) |
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| Happy Father's Day! |
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| Groom's Family |
It was a beautiful ceremony and fun reception. We did later note that our kids were the only ones in attendance, but they are used to that and made their own fun and conversation with family and friends.
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| Working up a sweat with his dance moves |
We were all exhausted after the weekend and pretty much needed the following week to recover, but it was SO worth the trip!!
Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kleis!
