Sneak Peeks . . .

I should have known better – each time I “tease” what I’m going to post the next day, something better comes up.  As it did last night . . .

This is my cousin Jodee Ball with her teenage daughter Ally.  Jodee is a person of many talents – mother of three, schoolteacher, and more and more these days she is gaining a reputation as an amazing photographer.  And when she was her daughter’s age, she had a very special relationship with my son – her mom watched Ryan a couple of days a week when he was little and Jodee would race home from school to play with him.  So it was only fitting that in a wedding full of special touches from family and friends, Jodee would be the photographer.  And if you happen to be a local, allow me a shameless plug for JP Ball Photography . . .

A few days after she does a photo shoot, Jodee puts a few “sneak peeks” out on her company Facebook page – and yesterday was the day for the sneak peeks from Ryan and Emily’s wedding.  So here we go . . .

This was the “act like you’re all carrying on a conversation while Ryan and Emily kiss” shot just after the wedding.  Every time I look at this, I have three thoughts . . . 1) I am very proud of my son and his wife . . . 2) I am so pleased that they included me in the wedding party . . . 3) Who is the old man in that picture?

 

Ryan loves “Transformers” – from the cartoons when he was a kid to the movies today.  So Emily got him Transformers cufflinks to add a touch of individuality to his tuxedo.  They look exactly like the metal decals I got for his Jeep for his birthday two years ago.

 

Awwwwww . . . Jodee took several shots of Ryan and Emily outside the church, and I got behind her and shot the one on the right.  Can’t wait to see the rest of the pics – I love “what he saw . . . what she saw” types of pictures so I hope to get the exact same shot from her camera so I can put them together on an album page.

Personalized M&Ms in a bowl at the reception.  Jodee got the color better than I did (they are lavender and silver) when I shot a few of them on my counter at home (that’s why she’s a pro and I use a cell phone).  I saw these at M&M World in Orlando back in February – I stopped there on my way to pick up Ryan at the airport when he flew down to hit the theme parks with me after the Clearwater show.  They aren’t cheap – but a Groupon coupon came via e-mail a couple of months later and Emily’s mom and I both took advantage of it.

The bridal bouquet (which I am quite proud to say Emily and I made together), and their rings on top.  Again, Ryan is a huge Lord of the Rings fan, so his wedding ring is a replica of the One Ring.  When he saw it, the first words out of his mouth were “My Precious” . . .

And the wedding cake.  This one needs to be explained -- hopefully I will get it right. In the early days of their relationship, Ryan and Emily were watching a show called "River Monsters" and the main character was fishing for something called an "Alligator Gar". Ryan turned to Emily and told her he was fishing for "Emma Gar" -- and he has called her that ever since. So the toppers on their wedding cake were Ryan fishing for Emma Gar with a wedding ring as bait.  Red Velvet – yummmmmmmmmm . . .

No more teases that I may or may not follow through on.  I’ll do something tomorrow and something will probably happen today that will change my mind.  And yes, I’m almost done – a couple more days of this and we’ll go back to the usual routine.