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We tried really hard to capture the feeling of The Motor City for the kids.  After all, Allison's family has lived in Michigan, like, forever, and Mark is the only Kennedy kid actually born IN Michigan.  They both are Michigan graduates, and the colors for their wedding were maize and blue.  So it seemed only normal to try and fit in some of that Detroit/Michigan spirit into the morning. Getting married in the Detroit temple is a start.  Granted, it's breaking with the Kennedy tradition of getting married in the Washington DC temple, and it doesn't play into the fact that Allison first attended the Philadelphia temple to do baptisms.  And don't get me started on how it's basically a temple sitting in a parking lot on Woodward Ave in Bloomfield Hills.  However, where else should two bleeding-maize-and-blue Michiganders go to get married? Me, being the low maintenance, non-crafty person that I am knew that lunch would have to be somewhere where I wouldn't have

I'm saying it right now:  Tracy Kendall should start a side business of log cutting at weddings, because I have a feeling the tradition is going to quickly become popular in the United States. Let's travel back about 15 years to Germany.  Mark's elementary teacher, Frau Mueller, was getting married, and she had invited us.  First we were invited to the Polterabend, an engagement party traditionally held the night before a wedding.  When we showed up, Mark and I had no idea what was going on.  There was all kinds of fireworks and noise makers and pottery being thrown onto the ground, and drinking.  Goodness, nobody knows how to drink like a German!  We just stood outside and watched :-) The wedding was much more subdued although the music that was chosen for the ceremony was very German pop.  Haven't heard of it, or don't know what it is?  There's a reason for that :-). However, it was rather unusual when the guests processed out of the church before the brid

Gah!  The whole dressing up for the wedding thing is painful for me.  Trying to find something beautiful, comfortable and memorable...but not TOO memorable (I'm looking at you, Prince Andrew's daughters at Kate Middleton's wedding...). Here are a few of the problems I face, and why I wish I could just wear clogs: 1.  Finding a modest formal dress (where I don't need to wear a half tee underneath) is near impossible.  Seriously, search "mother-of-the-bride" dresses, or visit Nordstrom's "Wedding Day" section of apparel and you will see what I mean!  I was so desperate that at one point I found a great dress at Boden that didn't have sleeves, so I bought a second identical dress in order to have a tailor create sleeves from the second dress to add to the first.  I ended up returning both. 2.  Finding a dress that flatters me is even MORE impossible.  When cardigans and pencil skirts are my go-to for church, it's rather hard to think gow

Two words for me to remember for the next ten years (and up until my girls are married and off on their own):  Breanna White. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but John and I ended up paying for the photographer.  And with paying for the photographer came choosing a photographer.  And with the choice came finding one. I never thought it would be as difficult as it turned out to be, but in the end it was worth ALL the effort. I had a couple of requirements:  price (under $5,000--the price that Allison's mom's photographer was charging), ability to travel (considering we would be moving around a lot on the wedding day), and artistic vision.  Besides the traditional photos of family and venue, I wanted some beautiful, creative photos from the day.  Photos which would capture the fun and love of Allison and Mark. Does that seem like too much to ask?  Let me tell you, it almost was. I started with Emma Koide.  She is a girl who grew up with the boys in State C

You know the old adage "We can't choose our family, but we can choose our friends"?  The best choice I ever made was Sarah Moran. I could hardly believe it when just a few days before the wedding, Sarah texted me:  "We received Mark and Allison's invite today. I wasn't planning on coming to the wedding, but I found a great deal on a flight.  Is it too late to book the rooms at the hotel with the group rate?" My mouth hit the floor.  And the tears started.  And I couldn't respond fast enough to her:  "Holy smokes, Sarah, that's AWESOME!" Sarah and Jared, always coming through for us Kennedys.  When people ask who they are, it never feels right saying, "They're friends from Germany," because c'mon, they are so much more than that.  The Morans are what are family should be--they know our kids, they love us and our kids, and they show it.  Yeah, BABY! You know one of the things I most appreciated about Sarah this

Marrying a convert.  That sounds so judgmental and discriminatory, and I don't want it to sound that way.  However, marrying someone who has recently joined the church versus someone who has been raised in the church has a unique set of obstacles. I think the hardest part for me has been that all along the way, everything has felt so sad .  When Allison was baptized back in November 2016, her parents didn't attend her baptism.  Not many people were invited to the baptism itself, and there just wasn't a celebratory feeling like there should be. Then, as the relationship between Allison and Mark progressed, there was always this elephant in the room of "what will happen when they get married?"   And when they were engaged, Mark and Allison began fielding questions from Allison's parents about where and how they would be married.  Mark had always held firm to the fact that he would be married in the temple (long before he met Allison or was even of ma

I want to post about Mark and Allison's wedding, but I seriously have so many thoughts that I've decided to divide and conquer as far as blogging goes.  I'll do a little bit at a time.  Hopefully by the end of all the posts, there will be a good vision as to what the whole experience was.