Our Friends' Atlanta Wedding

Matt and I flew to Atlanta on Thursday. Our flight landed about 15 minutes after our friends Phil and Ashley's flight from California. We met up with them at the rental car place in perfect timing. They had just finished the inspection of the Volvo stationwagon when we pulled up in the rental car shuttle bus. We drove straight to our hotel and checked in.

Meanwhile our friend/bride-to-be Rachel called us and spur of the moment invited the four of us to join her groom-to-be Mark, her, and her parents for a BBQ dinner at her parents home. That sounded great to all of us, so that is what we did! We arrived at their home shortly after 7 p.m. EST and enjoyed a delicious meal and fun fellowship/conversation for several hours.

Friday morning we enjoyed a lazy start to the day. Late that morning we met up with Phil and Ashley and groom Mark. We decided the guys should go pick up their tuxes from the local mall. Ashley and I went along and browsed through some stores while the guys tried on their tuxes and got squared away. From the mall we headed toward downtown Atlanta and found a great hole-in-the-wall place for lunch called "Twisted Tacos." When we drove by the place we saw lots of people out on the outside patio eating so we figured the food would be good. And it didn't disappoint! After lunch Mark headed back to the hotel since he had "groom" responsibilities to attend to. Phil, Ashley, Matt and I headed to the nearby botanical garden to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon.

Phil and Matt


Me (Mindy) and Ashley w/ downtown Atlanta behind us


Me and Matt (Yes, I'm starting to show at 12 weeks!)

Rehearsal at the church started at 5:30 p.m. It went very smoothly. It was such a big, beautiful church. I took a few photos of the rehearsal since cameras were not allowed during the actual wedding ceremony the next day.

The bridal party - all in their "spots"

Left of Rachel are her sisters - co-matrons of honor

Right of Mark are his co-best men - Aaron and Matt

Mark & the co-best men waiting for Rachel's walk down the LONG aisle

Beautiful Rachel escorted by her Dad

Although blurry, I'm glad I caught this sweet moment

Rehearsal dinner followed at nearby Chastain Horse Park. It was a terrific evening filled with great food and touching toasts.

Groomsman/friend Rick and co-best man Aaron

Me and Matt at rehearsal dinner

Groom Mark giving his thank you speech

Bride Rachel giving her thank you speech

Groomsman/friend Greg and wife Dara Saturday at the wedding reception

Matt and me at the wedding reception Saturday evening

The newly married couple cutting their cake

Matt, me, and Phil ringing bells as the couple departed the reception

The happy couple in the back of Rachel's Dad's Impala convertible

(In the front seat - Rachel's dad is driving and her Mom getting in the front passenger seat)

A parting shot of the front of the church sanctuary where Mark and Rachel were married.

Sunday morning our flight departed back home. It was SO NICE that our flight was incredibly smooth and that it landed 45 minutes early (how often does THAT happen!) which meant we arrived home to reunite with Jay at the time our flight was supposed to have landed at the airport. Hooray!

We were so glad we were able to attend Mark and Rachel's wedding. It was a blessing to be a part of it, too. We look forward to continuing to spend quality time with them - now as married couples! :) And we are so grateful for Nana and PopPop who sacrificed lots of travel, time, and energy to care for Jay here at home while we were away. What a blessing!!!!