Abby And Luke's Wedding

       Here's a photo taken in October,1998 of my first group of piano students after their first recital.

    The little one in right-hand corner is Abby, a second-grader at the time,

...her sister Sarah, a third-grader, sitting on the other side.

     I wonder how amazed we all would have been if we could have looked into a crystal ball back then and seen that a little over 20 years later we'd be at another event together,
...the joyful event of Abby's marriage to her childhood sweetheart Luke,

...her sister Sarah again by her side,

...this time as her maid of honor.

      Luke and Abby were married on Saturday, December 29, 2018 in Bexley, Ohio at St. Catharine of Siena Church,

...a wonderful old building which I'm guessing from its art deco-style architecture was likely built sometime in the 1930's,

...as was also evidenced by the details of its beautiful interior,

...the more beautiful for being decked out for the Christmas season,

...and for Abby and Luke's wedding.

  The brother and mother of the bride.

   The bridesmaids.

 
The groom and his groomsmen.

                           The attendants,

...and the flower girls.

   The bride and her father.

     The wedding ceremony was lovely and heart-touching.

       At one point the priest instructed Luke and Abby that from now on they belonged to each other,

...but it was clear by the beautiful light in their eyes that they already knew this,

...as did we all.

     The reception was held at the Creekside Conference & Events Center in  Gahanna,

...a stunning venue,

....with a great picture-window view of downtown Gahanna.

    In the vestibule was a table set with cards on which the guests could write their good wishes and words of advice to the newlyweds.

    Servers brought around trays of yummy hors d'oeuvres,

...pesto-stuffed mushrooms,

...and lamb topped with fig and tomato,

...while the guests socialized,

..sampled more appetizers from the cheese and fruit table,

 ...and let me randomly snap their pictures.
    Sisters of the bride,

Vince and Kathleen (see post from 10/23/2016)

   As the sun set the view from the picture window became more magical,

...until the magic moment when we entered the dining room,

(which offered pretty  views of Creekside Plaza below),

...the guests were seated,

...and the wedding party arrived.

    Greg and Birdie, parents of the bride.

Lisa and Mike, parents of the groom.

     The father of the bride welcomed us and offered a blessing before the meal, then we ate.

   Dinner was a lovely buffet.

    After dinner there were heart-felt speeches given by the best man and maid of honor,

...after which Luke and Abby cut the wedding cake.

     Then they danced their first dance together,

...followed by Abby with her  dad,

...and Luke with his mom,

..after which we all joined in the dancing,

... and/or visiting.

      The cake was out of this world, a sort of sponge cake with a fruit and whipped cream filling,

...and later in the evening the left-overs were brought out,

...along with trays of yummy pastries.

     It was a beautiful evening.

     After the reception was over Abby, Luke, and their friends moved to Signatures, a tavern across across the street from Creekside, to continue the celebration.

    May their celebration of this day never end.