Last weekend, my family and I went to Wilmington, NC for a family wedding. Our cousin, Brenda has a daughter, Denise who had a destination wedding there, so we all went together. Lauren flew up from New Orleans and I rode with Renee and Bruce to Wilmington for the 2 night stay. Mark stayed home with Daisy. We found out before we left that Saturday, the day of the wedding, was 100% chance of rain. That was unfortunate, but the happy couple didn’t let it dampen their party! It was a very nice wedding and I thought you all might like to see pictures. Brenda is our cousin on our mom’s side of the family and mom and her dad were brother and sister. It’s hard to believe they are both gone now. We have had Thanksgiving at Brenda’s house for many years when her parents were alive and after and all those Thanksgiving pics you’ve seen me post with all of our family in front of a stone fireplace is at Brenda’s house.

We checked in our hotel, the Hotel Ballast, right on the Cape Fear river and saw a battleship across the way. I looked it up and it’s the Battleship North Carolina, a museum ship since 1962. We didn’t get a chance to see much in Wilmington, especially with the rainy weather on Saturday.

Friday afternoon was decent and the rain had not started yet, so Lauren and I took a walk from the hotel around town and it’s a really cute town.

Selfies along the way. It was nice getting to spend time with Lauren, we roomed together and had a good time.

Historic downtown Wilmington on Cape Fear river.

There were a few shops we checked out, like the spice shop and we both brought home some spices. We didn’t do much shopping though, just walked.

Pelican statue along the river walk.

That night, after the welcome party, we stoped in at a Italian ice/ice cream shop called Jeremiah’s Italian ice and got this sweet treat and it was delicious. I looked them up and found out there’s one not that far from us here in Acworth, so I’ll be visiting there too. This was a strawberry flavored one and it was SO good, with ice cream and cookie crumbles.

View from our hotel window. We woke up to rain on Saturday and took our umbrellas and walked down to a bagel shop for breakfast and got breakfast bagels, which were delicious. With rain all day, we opted to just stay indoors in our room and just relax.

The wedding was at 6 pm that evening and it was a formal affair, so I got out one of my dresses that I wore to my step daughter’s wedding 6 years ago and it was fun to get dressed up again. Lauren and I before we left the room.

Me and Lauren. We both felt great in our dresses, Lauren looks so pretty! I haven’t shared this, but Lauren left her big law firm over the summer and went out on her on. She’s doing great and I know she’s going to continue to be so successful as a lawyer with her own business now. I don’t get to see my family as much as I used to, since mom and dad are gone. They don’t come back here as much. I have to go down there more these days and I’ll plan a trip after my hip surgery is done, probably in early spring next year. Bruce’s mom, Doris, has moved to assisted living now too (she’s 96!) and they came home this time to clean out her house and get it ready to sell.

Bruce and Renee looking very spiffy! I didn’t get my own pictures of Brenda and the rest of the family members, but it was great to be with them all. I did borrow a couple from her.

I’m borrowing this picture from her Facebook page, Brenda and her cousin, Victoria, who helped her a lot on the wedding. Victoria is a cousin on the other side of Brenda’s family, her mom’s side, but we’ve known her forever too.

This is Brenda and her family the night before the wedding.

(L to R: Brenda, Neal, Denise & TJ (bride & groom), Brenda’s brother, Dennis & his daughter, Layna, brothers Reese & Mason)

Wedding time! The bride’s 2 brothers, Reese and Mason, were the flower boys and they were a hoot. We were all laughing when they came down the aisle with their sunglasses on, tossing rose petals along the way. We weren’t expecting that one!

The bride with her dad. All the bridemaids wore formal black dresses and that was a nice look. I loved Denise’s dress too.

The happy couple exchanging vows.

The kiss.

Mr. and Mrs. Butcher. Denise and TJ.

The huge chandelier in the pavilion. The wedding ceremony was out here and luckily they had plastic to wrap all the sides with to keep out the rain.

Our sit down dinner was downstairs and so pretty.

I had a delicious tenderloin with potatoes.

The dessert table was wonderful!

The happy couple, TJ and Denise. I wish them many years of happiness and love and it was great to be at their wedding! They now live in the Raleigh, NC area.

Related

Don't Miss a Post, join my list!