Trading Names

On Saturday 12th October 2013 my older sister, Charly Mace, shed her birth surname and picked up the new name of Hunt - and with it: a husband. 

I'm a fan of words and am never really sure whether the addage that a picture says a thousand of them is ever true. Yet, where weddings are concerned I feel like a lot is said in the photos. Maybe they don't substitute the beautiful words that are expressed during the day but they bring those precious things back to remembrance. 

For me, it was a great experience to be able to be a bridesmaid for the second time at the wedding of another sister. It was incredible to see Charly's happiness and to know something about what's coming to them through the next year. Lawrence is lucky to have such an incredibly prepared wife as my sister! Honestly, she's been independent for years and is so capable of running her life and still managing to put meals on the table and keep on top of everything. She's already learned the juggling skills that I still find difficult after 14 months of life in the institution.  

Here is some evidence that I didn't just spend the whole day running around taking goofy pictures with my husband: 

This is me bridesmaiding. Note that I am holding flowers AND a dress to place Charly in the perfect spot for photographs to be taken place. (The lady in the blue and white stripes is the photographer). A wedding is genuinely not a relaxing day for anyone. There's a kind of lesson in that because it is a day that creates an enormous amount of happiness and there is no happiness in being idle; my theory being that THAT is the reason the day is so happy! 

The experience of going to the temple to be sealed is one of the moments on the day where everything does slow down a bit. I love this picture of Charly & Lawrence looking at the temple. Their whole focus has been on getting to this place where they can go to God's house and be sealed together. It was a day of achievement!  

Weddings are, of course, about the love that a couple share - but that's not just the love they share for each other. It's about the people who love them. It's about family and friends. I, personally, had a wonderful day because of little moments of interaction with Charly & Lawrence and many other people that I love completely.  

The wedding reminded us all to look up! I'm excited for Charly & Lawrence and the adventure they're starting together - they're going to enjoy the experience of growing closer and closer as they get to be there for all of the important moments in each others' lives.  

On the run up to the wedding I wanted to do all I could to help - realising that I wanted to be there in as many moments of this memorable day of eternal importance in their lives as I could. That feeling was echoed in the whole 'immediate' (Mace) family. It was fun to share that bridesmaid feeling with Becky - it's the first and only time of us being bridesmaids together - at the two previous weddings we took it in turn to be the brides!  

 You can tell from the picture that Lawrence was overawed by the magical powers of the three 'Mace' sisters - though none of us can claim that name any more. We have to rely on our brother, Jonathan, to get married and have sons to keep our particular line of 'Mace' running.

Anybody who knows our family at all knows how different all the siblings are. But we love each other because we do have a lot in common: one of those things is a desire to have a temple marriage. It's been such an inspiration and an uplift to be in the temple with all of my siblings.  

Charly is the kind of person who has always radiated goodness. People love her because she's sweet, kind and ridiculously capable. She's a hard-worker who is always the first to volunteer her time and talents - even when she's busy as a bee! I love her loads, though apparently not as much as Lawrence!

Fortunately for Lawrence... she's less silly than her sisters...  and their husbands. 

 (Mandatory bouquet-microphone shot).

I'll leave you with a few more pictures. But I just want to say how proud I am of the family that I was born into. I know that pride isn't something that we say positively very much because it has the connotation of placing something above everything else. I don't mean to suggest that my family are superior - I know both the strengths and weaknesses of every member - but just that I know them and it makes me so grateful and happy to see the amazing choices that are being made by those I love. And, I have to hand it to them, my brother-in-laws have made some pretty brilliant choices as well!