The Wedding - Part Three

Part three of the wedding story in photos! We are celebrating Kirsten and Tim's first anniversary this week.  If you missed Part One or Part Two you can find them here.  Part three is the Reception! The ceremony and reception were both at Swan Harbor Farm and they were absolutely wonderful. It was the perfect setting for Kirsten and Tim - casual yet classy.  

 Their first dance.  They danced to the song by Ed Sheeran "Perfect".  It was a brand new song then, and now I hear it ALL the time, but every time I do it takes me right back to this moment and I stop and listen to every word of the song.  It was so fitting for them.

 The father of the bride speech.  Oh wow this was one for the books.  My hubby is a man of very few words, but when they finally come out - they are PROFOUND! A year later, I still have friends and family commenting on how moving his speech was.  He made us laugh, he made us cry, he made every life moment leading up to this point all come together in the most beautiful way.  He actually gave me permission to share it here - and I'm so glad that we will have it forever on the blog that has become more of a family scrapbook! 

Hello, my name is Richard and I am the father of this beautiful bride.  Heather and I want to thank you for joining us to celebrate the marriage of Kirsten and Tim.  Many of you traveled a long way for this, and your presence here makes this day extra special for Tim and Kirsten.  I’m especially thankful that our Florida family survived Irma-geddon and were able to make it here to celebrate #FinallyFaulkners with us.

Those of you who know me know that I am not an emotional or sentimental man.  I’m usually reserved and rather stoic, and I’m fine with that, although Heather gives me grief about it on a regular basis.  But tonight, I’m struggling to hold back the tears.  Not because I’m sad or upset that Kirsten is now married, or that I don’t like Tim or whatever.  On the contrary.  I’ve never seen two people who were as meant to be together as Tim and Kir.  They met on their first day of college and it was pretty much love at first sight.  Even though I advised her to keep her options open after Tim called me that first week to ask if he could date my daughter (as if saying no would have done any good), for Kirsten, Tim was the only option she wanted.  And Tim knew exactly what he wanted too. You’ve got to respect how Tim quickly zoned in on Kirsten out of probably 300+ other girls in that Freshman class, had the confidence to go after what he wanted and got her. Tim, if you could turn that into a “how to” book, you’d have a best-seller!  I’ve seen their love grow over the last 4 years.  I’ve seen how they complement each other in every facet of their lives.  And I’ve seen how kind, respectful and loving Tim treats my daughter.  Now, Kirsten has this innate ability to go from zero to 100 on the emotional speedometer in about 2 seconds flat, and that’s not always a pleasant experience for those of us in the line of fire.  But, Tim is like the Kirsten-whisperer.  He knows just what to say and do to calm her back down, and that is something even her mother and I never mastered.  They bring out the best in each other and while neither of them are perfect, they are both perfectly made for each other.......

Now, I’m emotional tonight because this is my little girl that I just gave to another man.  I’m no longer the most important man in her life, although truthfully that probably happened about 4 years ago.  When you all look at her tonight, you see this beautiful bride.  When I look at her, I still see the 2 year old Kirsten who came into the bathroom every morning while I was getting ready for work so she could hang out with her daddy.  The 5 year old Kirsten running around a soccer field in a pack of other girls, including her maid-of-honor Madison.  The 10 year old Kirsten on horseback at a horse show collecting ribbons.  The 16 year old Kirsten who caused my blood pressure to spike every time I tried to teach her to drive a stick shift (but we survived and she can drive one).  And all the thousands of other memories of this intelligent, tenacious, opinionated, driven, head-strong girl that has grown into a woman that I couldn’t be more proud of.  I also see Heather.  Not just in her appearance, though they do look like they could be sisters as much as mother and daughter.  But in all her good qualities, which were either inherited from her mother, or poured into her by Heather daily as she was growing up.....

I’m also emotional as I look up here at the man seated next to my daughter.  This is the man that Heather and I have prayed for since Kirsten was born.  This is also finally a male addition to my family that doesn’t have four legs.  Someone who I can talk business & politics with and someone who actually likes football (throwing it and watching it), even if he prefers the NFL to college and his team is the Detroit Lions.  But hey, at least he’s not a Florida Gators fan!  Plus, I’ll have him saying Roll Tide in no time.  ( tell him about game tickets here)  I’ll admit that in the beginning I wasn’t too keen on him trying to take my daughter from me.  I even practiced my most intimidating “dad’s against daughters dating” routine on him, which I learned from my dad - who really was intimidating back in the day. But Tim hung in there and kept being himself until I came to terms with the inevitable.  Then I saw a great guy that made my daughter happy and put her needs before his own.  David and Dorothy - thank you for raising your son to be the man who is perfect for my daughter in every way.

Tim, I’ve given you someone very special tonight and with her goes a piece of my heart.  I also have something else to give you.  When Kirsten was 13, she decided she would only ever give her heart to one man, and I was to protect her heart until that happened.  To commemorate that, we bought her a necklace with a charm shaped like a heart lock and a key to that lock.  I’ve held onto that key until this day.  And now I’m turning it over to you.  You are the protector of her heart now.  That’s a big job, but I know you are the man for the job and you won’t let me or Kirsten down.  

Now, to you both I will say this: your marriage isn’t always going to be sunshine and roses.  But when the storms of life come, remember your primary anchor is God, the one who calms the storm.  Your secondary anchor is each other.  Both are important, but don’t get the order mixed up.  And laugh often.  It’s hard to stay angry at someone that you are laughing with.  When you are angry, forgive much. Put each other’s needs above your own and give up the right to be first.  May you always treat each other with love, compassion and kindness.

I ask you all to raise your glasses.  Tim and Kirsten, may the love in your hearts and the sparkle you have in your eye for each other never fade. And may the Lord richly bless your new family.

To Kirsten and Tim! Cheers!

 Tim's father is a pastor and said a beautiful prayer.

At this time - the bride and groom were whisked away for some beautiful sunset pictures - I will be sharing those tomorrow!

 Then it was time for the maid of honor speeches.  Madison read from her childhood diary where she had written one night during a sleepover with Kirsten. They have shared so many beautiful moments together.

 Her sister Hannah was the second maid of honor and also gave a perfect speech honoring her sister and her relationship with Tim. Hannah is just like her Daddy when it comes to words - you don't hear them often but when you do, you are going to remember them!

 Tim's brother giving the Best Man speech.

 The Daddy Daughter dance - this one gave me ALL. THE. FEELS. They danced to "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw.

 I could just picture all the Christmas Eve dances with daddy (which has happened every Christmas since she was five months old!), all the living room dance parties, all the times she stood on her Daddy's feet while dancing.....

 Then the real fun got started! We danced the night away under a beautiful late summer/early autumn sky. The weather was perfect and the sky was clear and filled with stars.

 Their friends from college...

 and friends who are like cousins.

 Gaga (my mom) got her boogie on! 

 I snagged the camera from our fabulous photographer duo and caught a couple shots of them too! 

(Notice the change of shoes!!!) :)

The wedding was absolutely magical in every way. It was an absolute dream and could not have been more perfect.  

Happy First Anniversary to Tim and Kirsten.  May your marriage be as passionate as your very first year, yet grow and strengthen into a familiar and comfortable love that you can only find in each other.  May you weather the storms (and hurricanes!) and come out the other side stronger than before.  Keep Christ first, each other second and everything else will find it's proper place. We love you and are so looking forward to continuing to see your love for each other grow into something more beautiful as each year goes by. 

You can read part ONE of the story here and part TWO of the story here. Part three and part four are HERE!!