Rachel Swart was united in marriage to Jonathan McCrary on Friday, July 6, 2012 at Metro Church, Rogers, Arkansas. We are thrilled for our baby girl to have found a godly man that will love and cherish her all the days of her life!!
It was quite a task to try and narrow down pictures for this posting. I would love to have some of the professional pictures here, but it may be a couple of weeks before those are available, so I'm using a variety of other peoples' pictures.
In hindsight, I so wish I would have had a designated photographer among my extended family that would have taken pictures for me. I got so involved in the moment, that my pictures are few and many of them were very blurry (not sure if it's a camera problem or the photographer....probably the latter).
So here I go....trying to recapture the rehearsal and wedding in a "nutshell."
Thursday night, the rehearsal dinner and rehearsal was held at Metro. This is the church that our son, Andy pastors and where Jonathan and Rachel met and are actively involved. This was the guestbook table set up for the wedding. Rachel created a very cute photo book of her and Jonathan and people signed in the areas around the pictures.
Jonathan's parents, Dennis and Brenda McCrary, from Nashville, AR did a fantastic job with the rehearsal dinner!! I loved the mason jar centerpieces. Brenda had asked me to send her pictures of Rachel and our family growing up and she put one of Rachel and our family and one of Jonathan and his family in each jar. It was a fun trip down memory lane.
The food was bountiful and so delicious!! There was a cajun medley of corn on the cob, potatoes, carrots, sausage, onions, etc.
And then barbecue pork loin, ham, homemade potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, pickles, rolls, etc.
Brenda, Jennifer, and Grandma made all of Jonathan's favorite desserts: homegrown sliced peaches and pound cake; lemon ice box dessert and cherry cobbler. Josh and Erika contributed a sliced watermelon to the table. Thank you, McCrary family for the excellent meal!!
We ate first and then it was rehearsal time! Again, I have very few good pics of the evening......however here a few cute ones.
Lainey-Bug practicing her flower girl job:
Loved the runner:
Daddy and his girl......
Andy doing the opening remarks
Practicing the vows
Friday morning prior to wedding,
many family and friends gathered at the reception place in Fayetteville to decorate.
Once the decorating was done, the guys left to play disc golf and eat and the girls went to eat and then to a nice salon in Rogers to get all "pretty." Thanks, Rachel Ann, for that treat!
The following begin pictures of the wedding day at the church.....
Here is Ellie Kate, who was an "honorary" flower girl
And then Laine.. Their matching outfits were just too cute!
DeDe and her girls
Rachel and Jonathan took all their pictures before the wedding. They had their "first look" privately with just the photographer, so I don't have any of those pictures. I cropped one here so I would have just one of the two of them. Rachel was stunning and Jonathan was very handsome!!
Aunt Ray Ray with her flower girls
This was just too sweet not to also include...
And the couple with the girls
Rachel with the Groomsmen (the one that I have of Jonathan with the guys was too blurry to use :-(). Most of my pictures are from the side and they aren't looking at me as they are looking at the real photographer!
The only one I have of Rachel and all her girls....
sorry, Carman, I know your eyes are closed.
sorry, Carman, I know your eyes are closed.
The Bridal Party
Our Family
Jonathan's family (wish Brenda wasn't hidden)
With the parents :-)
With Rachel's grandma, Dorothy Boore
Jonathan and his new brother-in-laws
Momma and her baby girl
Daddy with his Puddin'
Another one that was too cute not to include. Jonathan's sister, Jennifer and Laine smelling the flowers (that were plastic and had no smell--ha)!
My extended family had arrived and we did get a group picture in the worship center. However, my camera battery went dead as Jennifer was trying to take our picture...so I have no pictures of that. :( Looking forward to the photographer's pics.
Here is my niece Shawna and son Noah.....they came all the way from Austin, Texas!
And here is one of my sisters and me
Right before wedding was to start--Rachel is eating a quick bite with Erika
Rachel and Jonathan's sister, Jennifer and soon-to-be sister-in-law, Lindsey
Wanted to include this pic of Rachel and her friend, Megan McEuen, who was our wedding coordinator.....and whose reception pictures I "stole." Thanks again, Meg!!
I did get some cute pictures of Laine doing her "thing." I'm so glad I did, as the photographer was behind her and didn't get the shots I got. We were just sure she wasn't going to walk the aisle as she had just a few minutes prior to the start of the ceremony, accidently stuck her fingers into a box fan that was rotating! Goodness - sure did scare those in the room with her! Thankfully, her momma got her settled down and she did her flower girl job perfectly!! She definitely made us all smile!
Checking out the crowd
She saw her DeDe and gave me a great smile!
At this point, her Daddy is giving me the hand signals to get her off the runway....I think she would have continued giving us a show had I not taken her and given her to her other grandma, Nonnie! On her way across the front, she gave a big "Hi" to her newfound friend and cousin, Lincoln!
WAY TO GO, Lainey-Bug on being a super Flower Girl!!
WAY TO GO, Lainey-Bug on being a super Flower Girl!!
Rachel's brother, Andy, giving a few opening remarks after Rachel and Jeff got to the stage. My pics of Rachel's entry with her Dad were too blurry to use :-(.....
I didn't take anymore pictures during the ceremony.
This one is from someone else's camera.
The picture below is one Rachel posted on Facebook announcing she was now married!! They were in the car on their way to the reception which was held in Fayetteville, AR.
This is an added picture right after the ceremony in one of the church rooms that Lindsey took......
The following pictures are at "The Event Place" for the reception:
Rachel had gotten almost all of her decorating ideas from that site, Pinterest, and it was all so cute & creative. Here is one of the tables.....
They made CD's as wedding favors for each guest...with the music that was played during the wedding as well as some of their favorite songs.
A full meal wasn't served....but they had some cute snack/drink bars.
Coffee Bar with syrups to give it some extra flavor:
There was a Bride's Cupcake Table.....Jonathan's Aunt, Diane Souza made all the delicous cupcakes. Thank you, Diane!!
Several of these pics were taken while we were decorating so that is why the one below doesn't have the cupcakes yet.
Erika and Amy made this cute wall hanging
The Grooms Table had chocolate cupcakes
Lemonade Bar with fruit syrups to add for flavor
This was a very popular table: Popcorn Bar with sprays, salts and candies to add!
Candy Bar
Smores and Cookie Bar
Smores machine to melt the chocolate and marshmellows
Below was a very popular area! Jonathan and his groomsmen set this up. There was a computer inside the booth with a photo program on it. All those who got their picture made had such a fun time here!
There were even props to add to the fun. That is the little printer on the left, so each guest got to take home their pictures, but they were also stored on Jonathan's computer so the kids will be able to see all the crazy poses! Great idea!
Remembrance table.....pictures and names of the Grandparents who have passed away and were not present. Very sweet and thoughtful!
The Bride and Groom's first dance
Laine thought she needed to join them
And again with Papa and Aunt Ray Ray
This girl........she had a blast!
Lincoln (my niece Adrienne's little boy) and Laine had so much fun together all weekend (at the lake and then at the reception). I'm sure they both slept hard that night after so much activity!
Jonathan's wonderful parents: Brenda and Dennis
Mom and my sisters. Thanks so much Bev and Kaye for "manning" the Popcorn Bar and to all 3 of you for helping us clean up afterwards.
A Swart family friend of over 30 years, Carolyn Smith, from Tyler, Texas
Good friends of Jeff and I's: Keith and Wilda Head from Conway, AR holding my nephew, Matt's little girl, Ellis.
My Aunt Freda and cousin, Holly Viets, from Pittsburg, KS
My cousin, Brian Boore and wife Patti, daughter, Paxton and son, Josh from Girard, KS
My sister, Kaye, brother-in-law Rob and grandson, Graham
Silly girls: Sister Bev and cousin, Shawnee, eating their smores!
Shawnee Viets and Josh Lorenz from Pittsburg, KS. Shawnee and Josh are getting married on my birthday, December 29, 2012. Looking forward to their wedding!
Sisters and Cousin
There are so many more pictures I wish I would have gotten of family and friends......but it didn't happen :-(. In fact, most of the above pictures were taken by others and I just borrowed them for this posting.
Now time for the kids to leave.
They had light sticks for their guests to use to send them off:
Jonathan and Rachel flew to Mexico and spent their honeymoon at a resort there. This is a picture they posted on Facebook during their honeymoon!
So excited for them as they start this new chapter of their lives as husband and wife!
Dad and I love you both and are praying God's richest blessings on your lives!!
