It takes a church...

Yesterday my little brother married one of my best friends and in his speech he quoted 'it takes a village to raise a child, and a community to help build a marriage'...well I'd like to add to that and say that it also takes a church to run a wedding.

PJ & Hannah's wedding was one of the most special days I have ever been a part of, watching two of my favourite people finally get to publicly commit themselves to each other and begin their married life together was just incredible. Hannah is the sweetest and kindest person I know, and PJ is the most loyal and protective brother I could've ever hoped for, and to witness their love for each other and the way they are building their marriage around God is such a privilege.

But...running a wedding is hard work, especially when you want to ensure that PJ & Hannah get to enjoy it, and there is no way we could've done it without our extended church family. Because church is not a building it is a community and a family (and I have no idea how anyone does a wedding without them!):

It's Eliza, Alex, Duncan, Hannah, Meg, Molly, Katie, Andy, Will and Catherine who served the guests with grace and professionalism.

It's Mike and Ronnie who undertook the enormous task of heading up the 'behind the scenes' teams and poured themselves into working and ensuring everything was done well, all with humour and spark.

It's the Ross', Nashs, Hancocks, McLeishs, Moons, Sandifords, Challis', Saxbys, Scotneys (and any others I've forgotten!) who made delicious salads and puddings to cater for hundreds.

It's Jean who generously made the cake, Mum who did the flowers, Nan who made the bunting, Rachel who lent bunting, Janice who lent decorations (and headed up tea & coffee), Grace who decorated the cake, Burfitts and Sandifords and Brombleys who set up the church on Friday..all details that added up to a huge amount.

All of whom I think were thanked on the day by PJ & Hannah :) and all of whom I am thankful for too

...but there are a few unsung heroes that I am especially thankful for, without whom I wouldn't have survived:

It's Emily, Callum, Jenny, Jon (and several others whose names I can't remember) who stayed very late with me to help clear the church afterwards and graciously followed my tired directing without question.

It's Challis', Nashs, Saxbys and other Christchurch people who left the party without question to help us clear out the reception room when we realised we were short-handed, they got stuck in without complaining or expecting anything in return.

It's Millers who travelled across the Atlantic to enjoy a party and still chose to come and help tidy up.

It's Scotneys who willingly helped set up on Friday night, pack down on Saturday, AND provided us with two of the cutest ushers I've ever seen (and who just stopped by to share photos with us!)

It's Duncan who did all things without me asking and made me cry with laughter by trying to transport a wedding cake home at 1.30am.

It's Josh who carried a million sofas and chairs across the church site always giving me a smile and making me laugh.

It's Rich who didn't rest until every job was done and who even found time to chat through my life plans and offer wisdom.

And then there are those who didn't even know they were helping...

It's a vicar who said it was the most special wedding she'd ever been to.

It's the girl I had never met before telling me that I looked beautiful and was doing a good job.

It's Angie, Kathryn and Ruth who intentionally caught up on my life and offered encouragement, making me feel valued and affirmed in my decisions.

It's Jake who saw me trying to move a table this morning at GodZone, recognised that I was exhausted and told me to stop because he would do it.

It's Josh, Elliot, Joe and Sarah who ensured that I spent a good amount of time on the dance floor and got to enjoy the wedding too.

It's Issac, Joseph and Shelby who were not only adorable little ushers and flower girl, but also kept me smiling and surrounded by love so that I didn't have much chance to feel single at my little brother's wedding...a concept that I'm sure they don't even understand which makes it even sweeter.

Today I will crash out, exhausted physically and emotionally, and very thankful that I have tomorrow off work to recover!

But yesterday, Saturday 14th September 2013, will always be in my memory as a day that saw two amazing people get married, and a day that saw a church family come together to graciously and lovingly make it all happen smoothly.

As far as I'm concerned it was the best day of my life...so far! And it's made even more special knowing that whenever my day comes, most of those same people will come together again to make my day incredible too...because that's what family does.