This is the third act of the Texas Red Barn Wedding. It is the desire of this author to finish the story of his visit to the oldest city in Texas to attend the marriage of his grand-daughter Olivia.

If you have not read the first two episodes of this ongoing saga, I encourage you to do so before reading this entry (you will see them listed at the lower right hand side of this page. All you have to do is click and go). The reason for this is that it will prepare you for this article.

Ushers began seating the members of the families, alternating from those kin to the bride and those kin to the groom. After the guests were seated, it wasn’t long before they were craning around to see the bridesmaid being ushered in to take her place to the side of  the officiating platform. The crowd tended to relax, knowing that the wedding was in action and soon to arrive.

After some time, all those participating in the ceremony with the bride and groom stood in their places awaiting the bride to arrive. The beautiful little flower girl lead the way, gently swishing flower petals in the path of the bride with an uncanny confidence and self awareness.

Soon the anticipated sounds of  Wagner’s Bridal March began to tone. All turned toward the back to see the bride with her father. Like a well rehearsed dance, the two approached the front where father and daughter stood arm in arm as the preacher asked “who gives this woman.”  With a slight pause and gravity, the father gave his daughter away. He then helped her upon the platform to face the groom. After this, he turned and joined his wife on the front row to become part of the audience.

With patience, Olivia and Cody stood staring into each others eyes as the preacher performing the ceremony meticulously tied binding knots in the expectations of their future, weaving a blanket of certainty enough to last a lifetime. Soon the bride and groom read their promises to each other, and the rings were exchanged. The question was asked of each, and the response of “I do” was promised. Finally, as the expecting audience anticipated, “you may kiss the bride,” was spoken. The wedding was over. The two were one flesh. Now, it was party time!

For the next time or so the participants and relatives posed for the wedding pictures. I do not have the ones the professional took after the wedding, but here are a few I snapped. We did nothing but take pictures for about an hour, then the food and drinks were prepared and the reception began.

I took a few more dozen pictures, and accidentally found myself near the drinks. Here, I took a brief time off from my shutter snapping to enjoy the revery.

When the wedding cake first arrive before the wedding, it stood (somewhat leaning) on a platform undecorated. in jest, I called it the leaning tower of pizza because it reminded me of that great architectural feat.

When it comes to food and drink and a little revery, the father and mother of the bride excelled. There were guests of all ages attending, and there was not a thing forgotten to the benefit of them. All had been planned and performed well,and the more I imbibed, the more I agreed.

At one point, Shane (Sib#1) flew his drone over the wedding, taking motion pictures of the ceremony. It may be hard to see, but as I was on the veranda off the children’s second floor den, I realized the drone was above me, I tried snapping a picture of it. If you look real hard at the tree leaves, you will see a small red light which is the camera of the drone.

Finally the food was served, and the wedding party settled to more serious matters; such as, eating. After the food diminished, it began a slight drizzle of rain. The guests worked their way to the great room of the house. Here, we had champagne or sparkling grape and toasted the bride and groom. It was a good time for those who wished to publicly make a toast to do so, and they did from one of the top stairs of the staircase. It wasn’t long until the  drizzle subsided, and the guests worked their way to the tent for music, frivolity, drink, and dance. The father of the bride welcomed his daughter for the first few dances.

After the father and daughter dance exhausted, others joined in and began dancing.

And the beat goes on! Shake it loose…make it happen!

After a while it was time to turn off the music for a short time, and send the bride and groom off with Chinese lanterns.