The wedding when Violet became a Wagner! I didn't want too much time to pass before writing about the event. I want to remember all the things that are worth writing down. I had to turn off my Saturday 6:50am alarm that got me up with the girls last week to get Violet to the event center for her wedding. That reminded me it had been a week! The past week of work I had filled in sales appointments for one of our designers that was out and it was a very busy one for me - not normal - as I'm usually in and out of the office, not doing sales appointments.
Thursday morning early - Coco vet appt to get boosters, so we could then take her to boarding at Fast Tracks Friday morning.
The wedding weekend was a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday full 4 day celebration - The Butlers and Barcus families came Thursday and grilled us some chicken and served salads and desserts. More family trickled in and that evening was a wonderful hang out with Sean, April, Adalynn, and Martha when they joined after dinner. That same day a little extra does of chaos was added with a work emergency. One of our employees (an installer) who is diabetic had an insulin pump malfunction and his blood sugar dropped really low and he ended up going delirious and sortof crashed our new install van - by the time he stopped he had passed out and a police had to break the window to get him out. Thankfully he was ok, got immediate medical care from the ambulance and was safely brought to his house, but we had to leave our family gathering and deal with that. I won't go into detail about that but it's worth mentioning. This particular installer was in the wedding party so we hoped he could make it. We are still dealing with the fallout of that- and need to get the van back in working order.
We returned back home and joined the family gathering later in the evening. Everyone was very chill and understanding of the situation.
Friday was a great day. I was able to unload everything I had saved up for the wedding (we're talking a van full of boxes) to the event center and clear out my house. Plates, decorations, marriage license, fake flowers, real flowers, cups, etc, etc, etc. Violet picked up the cake, I got the flowers, the event center was ours to decorate - so we and the Wagner sisters got to work (with Kala and Deb!) and crushed the decorating. It was wonderful to get it all set up and ready. The rehearsal dinner also happened Friday - hosted by the Wagners - and that was a fun (chilly, cold!) event.
I'm going to pause here and upload some pics!
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| she was practicing signing "Violet Wagner" :) |
Ok! That was all Friday - just 55 pics.
Saturday morning - wedding day - June 20, 2026 - we were aiming to be at the event center at 7:45am. Stacey had brought in Chick Fil A lunch - mini chicken sandwiches, yogurt, granola, iced coffee and fruit. Such a blessing. We munched as the make up and hair crew got started on everyone who wanted their hair and make up done.
I have a million pics from that "getting ready experience". I'll try to pick my favorites.
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| Violet had been eating sugar-free for a couple months before the wedding. She waited til wedding day to indulge in a bite of this "wedding" truffle from Main Street sweets! I had set a reminder on my phone to bring it that morning. |
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| Alexis being awesome |
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| Stacey, Violet and me |
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| Amber and me - she was our day of coordinator |
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| Teresa Smith brought lunch for the day - what a gift |
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| Kala got her hair done |
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| Rachel and me! |
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| almost at the finish line -make up done, hair almost done, banana in hand |
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| Violet and her girls |
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| the dress before the big bridesmaids reveal - I've never seen her more beautiful |
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| going to her first look with Dad |
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| gotta brush those teeth before the wedding! |
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| Luca was on point |
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| lots of dancing to party before - all hyped and ready to go |
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| our last pic together before the wedding! Did you know she wore my veil from my wedding? I love that touch. |
Ok, so the rest of the pics are of the wedding ceremony, pictures afterwards, and of the dance.
Dave did a great job. He wore so many hats that day. He got to give his daughter to Drew, officiate the ceremony with a quick stand-in from Tim who said "who gives this woman?" in place of David for the moment, then turn on the fun with the robot suit. I can't believe he pulled it all off.
The ceremony was so sweet - they were both emotional as she walked down the aisle. I shed some tears - my mom sitting next to me gave me a tissue. Stacey gave me one before the ceremony too.
My favorite moment (not on camera) was when they were pronounced husband and wife and they went to sign the marriage license - Violet looked back and with a huge and wave of her diamond ring, she flashed a big smile to her bridesmaids. God granted us a gorgeous (HOT) sunny wedding. I think some fair skinned guests got sunburns. :P Oops. Better than rain!
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| lining up after the grandparents |
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| the view of the crowd! |
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| quick selfie snap with Tim! |
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| Deb sent me this pic of Drew taking me to my seat |
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| Eli looking on point |
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| Drew was ready! |
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| Luca bringing the rings |
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| Georgia decorating with flowers |
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| the rings were tied so tight we had to get someone to clip the strings with nail clippers. :) |
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| here she comes! |
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| signing the license |
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| Yayyyy - they're married! |
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| they're so adorable and happy |
The next hour was full of family photos - then the dance.
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| THIS IS MY FAVORITE PICTURE. They are so beautiful and gorgeous and sooo happy. |
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| Matt Reisetter was the MC of the night - he shared a great correlation from basketball success to making Violet his priority and number one. |
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| I don't know who took this and I look kinda funny but it's a silly one to include here |
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| Dave with his siblings - there is a better pic here but when I select photos to add to the blog they're so tiny I can't pick the best one |
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| Dave with siblings and spouses |
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| Sean, April, Logan, Bailey, Adalynn |
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| cousin pic - Bailey, Logan, Wes, Austin, Adalynn and Renee |
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| Martha with siblings and spouses - Deb, Tim, Roger, Mary, Duane, Laura |
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| Martha with family! |
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| Sten and Josh catching up |
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| Rowena and Martha |
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| the Hardinger 5! |
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| first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Wagner - aww |
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| Dave and Violet |
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| Stacey and Drew |
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| the dance party was lit up ... next comes the surprise |
Dave had a vision to light up the dance party with an LED Robot suit. He just brought the vision to life by researching the type of suit necessary - all on stilts - it was 10/10 FUN. Guests were delighted, everyone was dancing, and Chris the DJ kept the playlist hot with Violet's suggestions.
The last chunk of photos didn't load in order, I tried three times. It turned out so fun. I can't even tell you how fun it was. :)
They left with a toss of more flower petals, and they were off. Everything was smooth, the food was delicious (pasta and alfredo, Drew and Violet's favorite), the entertainment was fun, it was a fun mix of two families coming together, and most importantly, we heard Violet and Drew promise their lives to God and to each other, and I tried to stay present and enjoy every moment. The Wagners provided the charcuterie snacks and cookies, ice cream machines, and milk for dessert. Those were an absolute smash hit.
Only glitch I think was the table assignments board not including some Ws and Zs on the list, which thankfully we caught early and texted the people their table numbers before the wedding.
Violet and Drew have been in Turks and Caicos for their honeymoon for a week now and they've been gracious enough to share lots of cute pics and videos through snapchat - looks like they're having a great time.
On Sunday, any family in town came with us to church and we hosted a big lunch at our house for whoever was around. We did not have a meal plan for this - either we were going to order pizza or who knows what. There turned out to be some extra pans of food from the wedding we took home Saturday night (lots of pasta, meat sauce, salad). Tim and Deb ran to the store to fill in the gaps (alfredo sauce, paper plates), and they helped heat everything up so I didn't have to. It was a really fun time of hanging out and recapping the wedding.
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| Happy Father's Day to all the fathers! Dave and his dad Ted |
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| Josh goofing around with Eli |
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| lunch prep |
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| Calvin won the day by shopping for the fathers - he got all the dads really fun underwear |
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| Tim and Deb were able to take Jay and Emily to the airport because they were on the same flight - details we couldn't have planned but God knew |
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| a text they sent to us -- don't know where they are |
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| Vanessa and Adalynn connected the wedding weekend - love seeing the cousin relationship continue |
A huge highlight was Logan and Bailey staying later on Sunday to help us clean up. They were so cheerful, helpful, and were really in the weeds helping us pick up 5000 little fake flowers that were tossed up in the air when the new Mr. and Mrs. were exiting the wedding.
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| Josh and Calvin have a special bond |
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| Josh sent this to us - apparently Monday morning they spotted the newlyweds at the Cedar Rapids airport! |
My heart is so full. I feel so much love for the new Mr. and Mrs. - how they handled their engagement with intention and purity - and the clashing of families was so wonderful. The wedding was a wonderful event, everyone pitched in to help, and I could not have done it without all of them.
Now there are emotions I didn't expect. Vanessa, Dave and I all curled up in Violet's bed together on Sunday night after everyone left. It felt like a moment to grieve. We all cried some tears. Violet has moved on - and handing her off is an emotional experience. It's all love and a little sadness, knowing the end of an era is over. I didn't know those feelings of sadness were coming...it hit like a brick wall. It is entirely possible to hold joy and grief at the same time. It took a couple days for the tears to subside. I was glad for the opportunity to jump into a different role at the office and distract myself but it has dissipated for the most part - here comes a new Violet, new role as mother-in-law, and and new role with Violet as my married daughter-friend -- it's going to be amazing.
