Mike & Arlene's Wedding

Approximately two months ago, Steve's favorite brother Mike married the lovely Arlene Vazquez. And the entire Dos Dunlaps x 2 gang got to be a part of their very special day.

Delaney was all set to be the flower girl. She had practiced being a flower girl at her Uncle Jeff''s wedding, and I was really hoping things would go smoothly this time around. Nana made her a "very special dress" and I swear I've never seen a more smoochable flower girl. However, Delaney is two, and two year-olds are very unpredictable, am I right? Well, long story short, Delaney did a fabulous job walking down the aisle, but proceeded to cry throughout the duration of the ceremony. I was mortified, my blood-pressure was through the roof, and I was feeling just a tad bit disappointed about the whole ordeal. The bride and groom, on the other hand, chalked Delaney's tears up to normal two year-old behavior and promised me that Delaney did not ruin their big day. Mike and Arlene, I love you. Once the reception got going and people began to dance, Delaney's mood drastically changed. She was an animal on the dance floor. She owned it. All was forgiven and we could not pull her off the floor.

Mr. Jude served as the ring bearer, which can be a bit tricky when you're just 5 months old. He sat in a wagon pulled by Arlene's nephew and look so dapper in his bow-tie and suspenders. Things went a bit south for Jude when the very solid, wooden wagon picked up a surprising amount of speed going down the aisle. We didn't really piece together the fact that the aisle was sloped until I saw my newborn bouncing towards me, looking as though he would fly out of his Bumbo seat at any given moment. I'm not sure if I'm being over dramatic about this retelling or not--he really did look like he was going to fall out and injure himself. Thankfully, somebody reached out and slowed the wagon down, and Jude just continued to happily gnaw on his bow tie.


Side-bar story: The bow tie that Jude sported is a hand-me-down from the groom himself, Mr. Mike Dunlap. Mike wore this bow-tie in his uncle's wedding, and then Jude wore it for his uncle's wedding. Did that story make you cry a little bit? So, so sweet.

All of the kid-drama aside, it was a gorgeous day, a gorgeous ceremony, with a completely gorgeous bride. And Mikey looked pretty good himself. And happy. Boy oh boy did he look happy. We couldn't be happier with Mike's choice in Arlene, and I'm confident that she's happy to be a part of our crazy family.

The other day when I borrowed their wedding CDs to copy a few pictures for myself, I mistakenly erased one of the discs. Yes, you read that correctly, I erased some of their wedding photos. Arlene, I'm so happy to finally have you as a sister. By the way, I think I ruined the physical evidence of your very happy day. Welcome to the family. Suffice it to say, once that happened, I stopped what I was doing and didn't snag any pictures of the ceremony or portraits of the bride and groom. Maybe someday I'll be trusted again with technology and try to post a few more pictures. Or maybe not.

Dos Dunlaps, x2

All photos courtesy of Alders Photography