A Texas-style weekend

Last weekend I (Emily) went to Texas with my mom for my cousin Mallory's wedding. She got married in an Embassy Suite Hotel just outside of Dallas, TX. It was a beautiful wedding and I had so much fun visiting with family that I hadn't seen in a long time.

The bride dancing with her dad.

Mom and I with beautiful cakes

We flew in on Thursday evening just in time for a little party at my aunt and uncle's house. I got to visit with the bride and groom for a few minutes but then they were whisked away for their bachelor/bachelorette parties.


Friday morning we spent lounging by the pool (it was a hot, dry 90 degrees by 10:00 AM), then we headed over to the new couple's apartment to see what it looked like. It was a great apartment with beautiful crown molding, big rooms, vaulted ceilings and a huge walk-in closet (it's true what they say about everything being bigger in TX). That afternoon my mom, my aunt Suzie and I had to navigate our way back to the Dallas Airport to pick up another aunt. We discovered that Friday afternoon is not a good to try drive in TX. The 5 lane highways were packed and it took us twice as long to get to the airport as it should have, partly because the highway system is impossible to figure out.


From there we headed to the hotel and then the party began. My mom and her 4 sisters and their friends certainly know how to have a good time! We had a delicious dinner in the hotel's restaurant and made a couple of new friends, including a waiter named Waddell, Uncle Jim (the groom's uncle from Detroit), and a middle-aged couple on their honeymoon. We were a group of 9 chattering, laughing, noisy women, and I guess everybody wanted to be a part of out group :)


The bride, groom and their immediate families were at the rehearsal dinner, so we all met up in the hotel's lounge and hung out until well past midnight.

The ceremony decorations

The next we morning we had access to the conference rooms where the ceremony and reception would be held. It was a beautiful hotel with a grand entrance and lots of colorful, classy artwork. The bride wanted to keep things really simple as far as decorations so it took us very little time to actually get the room set up. We were done by lunch time so most of us headed to the mall across the street (a very BIG mall), to pick up wedding gifts.

The centerpieces

The wedding started at 5:00PM. The ceremony was short and sweet, and then there were drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the foyer while pictures were taken. Then we were tranfered into the reception where there was a full buffet, followed by dancing and dessert. The bride and groom didn't leave until after 10:00! It was a fun night of dancing and great food. Most of the guests were staying at the hotel, so after we cleaned up our stuff (the hotel staff took care of most it!) lots of people continued the party in various hotel rooms. I was exhausted and went to bed around 11:30, but my mom and her sisters stayed up until about 1:30AM!

Sunday afternoon we headed back to my aunt and unlce's house for a bridal shower for their sone Gregg and his fiance Libby. They are getting married in two weeks in Tulsa, OK. They are a perfect match and I'm sad I can't go to their wedding (too expensive to travel out their twice), but I was glad I could go to their bridal shower and congratulate them in person.

TP wedding gowns at the wedding shower

The bride and groom to-be

We flew on Sunday evening and returned to the mild climate of Oregon with great relief. That was my first trip to Texas...and while it is a great place to visit, I could never live there. It really made me appreciate the varied and beautiful landscape we have in Oregon!