Raising Flowers and Skids

In our faith, there is another ceremony that is a highlight – it is when the couple is “sealed for time and all eternity”.

Their appointment at the Toronto Ontario Temple was bright and early – a perfect start to the day.

The temple sealing is very simple, and it is not open to the public. In order to enter, one must be an active, practicing person of the LDS faith who agrees to live by certain standards. It was a small gathering in side the temple, but it was beautiful. No pictures are taken inside the temple – you have to take all those inside your heart:)

However, we were able to celebrate with them as they exited the temple!

We took some more family pictures – and of course there are a bunch more of the couple (can’t wait to see them!).

Everyone was hungry so we headed out to have breakfast!

After breakfast, the kids all needed COVID tests to get on their flights – so they headed to the drugstore to get the tests, we checked out of the hotel, and we drove everyone to the airport.

It was a miracle that everyone tested negative!

And that was the end of the celebration!

Zach and Rachael headed off on their honeymoon (cruise to Alaska), and all their friends headed back to Utah, Alberta, and Montreal. My mom and sister and brother and family stayed a bit longer and it was so nice that we got spend a bit more time with them.

Overall, it was a great wedding and we are so grateful for all the friends and family that helped out, and that went to great lengths to be there! Truly a memorable occasion!

Next up – a big family trip to Mexico (the blog is finally getting some action!)….

I normally have an abundance of photos but it was so busy and so many people to talk to that I only got a few snaps here and there. I did get some cute video too – but I am counting on the professionals to have captured it all!

But many photos were taken in my heart… but here are the ones I had on my phone (and Rob’s )

Following the ceremony – which was beautiful – their vows in particular brought me to tears – a mix of funny and loving – we headed back to the tent area where the giant (12 foot!) charcuterie board was – filled with all the meats, cheeses, veggies etc. that everyone helped cut up the day before! Rachael had actually made the 12 foot board – it was amazing! I didn’t get a shot of it filled – I hope someone did though !

Everyone got to snack a bit and socialize while the families took all their photos with the bride and groom. Hoping we got some good family shots!

We then headed to the tent – where the wind had cooled down and they were able to take down the walls again.

They introduced the wedding party:

We had 3 different types of salads for dinner, plus some hummus and pita. The main meal was schwarma poutine – a bit unconventional for a wedding but so Zach and Rachael – and it was a hit. They also had cake and cheesecake for dessert (plus a dessert table and Ice cream that came out later on). Everyone was stuffed! It was all so good!

There were speeches by all 4 sets of parents:) And then from the maid of honour (her cousin Madelyn ) and Josh (best man). Josh’s speech was awesome!! I got a nice recording of it:) Zach and Rachael also spoke. In the middle of speeches the sun was setting and we couldn’t miss the light – so everyone got up and headed down to the lake to watch the sunset.

We headed back to finish the speeches and then the party started!

Zach and Rachael had their first dance to Turning Page. They invited all the couples to join them half way through. The final dance they dance to was Thousand Yeas – so they captured both “their songs”.

The Rachael and her Dad danced (I cant’ remember the name of the song – will have to ask her!) and they mid way asked all the daughters and dads to join them.

Zach and I danced to Yellow (I’ll do a separate post to share the story behind that) and then the Moms and sons joined in halfway through .

The DJ did a great job of getting everyone up and dancing!!

Later in the evening – Rachael’s dad rode in on an Ice cream bicycle and Zach and Rachael fed each other ice cream and threw ice cream bars and fudgisciles out into the crowd. It was super cute! Rachael threw ice cream sandwiches instead of the bouquet! The dessert table came out too with tons of treats for everyone.

Overall it was a beautiful night – everyone had some much fun. A few people told me it was the funnest wedding they had ever been to!

They had a grand send off with sparklers (again I have more video than photos!)

They headed to a hotel neat the Toronto LDS temple as the religious ceremony (the temple sealing) was early the next morning…

Zach and his friends (in addition to Josh) headed out to Rachael’s Mom’s home where the wedding was to be held on the Wednesday. I think they did some Turing and hiking in Hamilton before heading over to start wedding set up. They stayed the night there as more prep was needed on Thursday!

Rob, me, Gabe and Shannon headed out on Tuesday to help out. Gabe and Shannon were both working so were trying to get all their work done at the same time!

I have to say, I was impressed with how much support Zach and Rachael got from their friends! There was a lot of set up, flower arrangements, food prep and decorations and every one chipped in to help!

Here are some snaps of the day:

There were a few bumps along the way with set up – trying to get the community center so we could have real bathrooms was quite a drama (they did rent port a potties but ….), missing napkins, silverware, plates… but it all got sorted. At the end of the day, the boys all headed back to our house and the girls went to their AirBNB for the night.

Josh and Gabe had planned a nice bachelor for Zach and they went out for dinner then played pool, the went to a bar to shoot some darts.

The girls had a fun bachelorette party for Rachael and I stole this off Instagram:

Oh to be young again….