I’ve mentioned before, this is the year of weddings for my family. First, my brother got married in September, my sister will be getting married in December, and then my other sister will be getting married in May.
So yeah, that’s a lot of wedding cake!
Also, I get to be in all the weddings — I was a bridesmaid for Jason, and will be a matron of honor for Katie and a bridesmaid for Kelsey! Here is the whole crew, complete with mom and dad and all the significant others:
Last spring in the midst of having the flu, I randomly got it in my mind that I really wanted to give a speech for Jason’s wedding. Like, I totally thought that it was the best idea ever. In my flu haze, I texted him and he agreed to let me have at it. I’m still not sure if he told Jaclyn…
Anyways, a couple weeks before the wedding I wrote something up and then at the rehearsal dinner I jumped up and read it. My sister suggested I put it on the blog for prosperity sake (or so she could read it again, one or the other), so here it is:
I was 12 years old when Jason was born, so even though he looks like a grown man to you all… to me I can still see the baby who’s diapers I changed. I still see him as a toddler, trying to shake his hips to Achy Breaky Heart and I can hear the crunch of his little plastic diaper as he showed off his smooth dance moves.
Less than 2 years after Jason was born, he was joined by the twins, Katie and Kelsey. To be a young teenager with three toddlers in the house is quite a thing. But I love my siblings fiercely. In fact, I used to call them my kid-lings rather than my siblings because I considered myself a weird version of a second mom.
Almost exactly 10 years ago, Jason was a groomsman at my wedding. At the ceremony the pastor said something that really stuck with me, so I want to share it with Jason and Jaclyn today:
The success of a marriage isn’t just up to the husband and wife. It is also up to everyone who loves you to support you in your marriage. When times are great, we will celebrate with you. When times are difficult, we will be there for you however you need us.
I am so thrilled and honored to be a bridesmaid at Jason and Jaclyn’s wedding. As a grumpy, purple-haired teenager, I knew that family was important but it wasn’t until I (mostly) grew up and had a husband and son of my own that I realized just HOW important it is to have a strong family relationship.
I love Jason, Katie and Kelsey so much and now the Jason has brought Jaclyn into our family, I have another sister to love. Mom and Dad have another daughter and my son Jack has a new Aunt.
So Jaclyn, I would like to formally welcome you to Team Harman.
I wanted to do something special for Jason and Jaclyn’s wedding gift and after much thought I decided to create little cross-stitched wedding portraits for each of my siblings (spoiler alert, Kate and Kelsey will be getting them for their weddings too). I had done my own family portrait last spring (you can see it here) and loved how I could personalize the style of each person.
Here is a photo from their wedding day. I picked one with Jack in it… because he’s pretty adorable. Also, I bribed him with a Lego set for that smile. So I might as well get my money’s worth…
I started by creating the pattern and trying to make it mirror their wedding day look. For Jaclyn, I included the necklace she wore, the neckline of her dress, the sparkles of the bodice and her hazel eyes. For Jason, I kept with the specific coloring of his wedding suit/tie/shoes and his hair and beard shapes. I even included his boutonniere (but decided not to attempt adding Jaclyn’s bouquet).
After hours of planning and stitching, I was so happy with the finished product:
And here it is all framed:
The wedding was super fun and Jack even busted out some truly impressive dance moves. My little baby brother is all grown up and married, and I have a third sister to add to the mix. All in all, it was a pretty fantastic event!