As I write the title for this post, I chuckle a bit. I don't think anything in the Kennedy canon has ever taken just one day, and Hannah's wedding was not different.
Once Hannah and Trevor were engaged, finding a date that worked was a bit tricky. I had my surgery scheduled for the first week of June, Rebecca was expecting a baby in August, we have a million birthdays in September and October, and Glo's baby was due in October. The newly engaged couple didn't really want to wait until November and run into holidays, so July it was.
Hot July.
Super hot July.
And when I sat down on the hotel bed with Trevor and Hannah just days after they were engaged, I asked Trevor what was the hill that he would die on for this wedding. In other words, what was most important to him to have his way when planning it.
That he get married in Utah.
For forever and a day, Hannah has insisted that she will not get married in the summer, and she most certainly will not get married in Utah. And beyond that, she would never get married in any temple in Utah valley.
Ah, how the gods laugh at us mortals.
We set the date for July 10, 2025. Being a Thursday, we had some flexibility with the temple schedule, so we started looking around. In fact, after getting off that hotel bed, I explored exactly where in Utah they could get married that wouldn't be in the valley. The next day, we made an appointment to go up to Brigham City to check out the temple there.
It was so beautiful, but Trevor was tight-lipped. I guessed that he wasn't being completely honest. That night, he told Hannah that he wanted to get married in the Bountiful temple. It was there that his family was last together before his grandfathers died and before his siblings went inactive.
I ask you, how could we fight that argument?
Bountiful it was. And to our surprise, there wasn't a single wedding on the schedule for that day so we had our pick of times. 2:00.
That night (again in the hotel), I got back on the computer and started looking for venues. John had reached out to Melanie and gotten a list of places where she had looked for Abby's reception, but in all honesty, nothing felt right. Pretty much anywhere in Utah valley is just a blank space that we would need to fill.
Looking back, I think the Lord felt some sympathy for us and how we were feeling about planning a wedding in Utah, and I stumbled across a place in Bountiful called Eldredge Manor. It was a venue that was all-inclusive which I was starting to appreciate more and more as I thought about planning everything from Michigan. The prices weren't bad at all, and the pictures looked very different from anything else. I reached out about availability, and the date was available!
The next morning, Hannah and I were flying back to Michigan, so after going to church, I insisted that we drive by Eldredge on the way to the airport.
It was a revelation.
Trees, and a brook, and a bridge, and a gazebo, and a historic house built by the founder of Geneva Steel for his wife. As Hannah said, "It feels like Michigan." We were sold.
One very painful issue: President Cameron had promised to seal Hannah whenever and wherever she got married. A major obstacle: Sealers are not allowed to seal anyone aside from their immediate family in temples other than the ones in which they are called. God bless President Cameron. He sent (as he put it) "the letter of all letters" to the first presidency, asking for an exception, but they refused.
Over the next four months, Glo and I poured our heart and soul into planning the wedding...and John poured his bank account into it ;-) Looking back, there were other details that I could have thought of to make the day even more beautiful, but planning it from the other side of the country, I think we did okay.
And that bank account? John is more generous than I can even express. Flying everyone across country was no inexpensive task, and yet we weren't going to exclude anyone from attending simply because of flight costs. I worked my magic with Delta SkyMiles points, ecredits, and certificates, and got most of us out there for a fraction of the price. I also found a house only ten minutes from Bountiful that could hold all of us...and was a party house to boot!
Some self-love: Dr. Sherbert had just removed my second drain days before, and I was definitely not 100%. I don't even think I was 50%. But man, like everything, I made it work.
Wednesday was a bit of whirlwind, but everything always feels better when you start the morning off in the temple. We took flowers to the bakery, picked up some last minute things, filled the favor boxes and got our hair done.
That evening, Trevor's parents threw a party at one of those "blank spaces". The decorations were beautiful, the food was meh at best, but seeing so many friends was a blessing. In fact, Glo invited some of her school friends, and in loyal fashion, Ruth and Emily showed up for her again (they had been the ones to help her with her bridal photos years before):
The next morning was wedding morning. Kenzie was back to do our hair. Johannah was super emotional about it all, but she couldn't hold back the waterworks when Mark presented her with sandwiches from Campos, our favorite cheesesteak eatery in Philly. God bless Mark remembering that Hannah had always wanted to get married in the Philly temple, followed by cheesesteaks at Campos. He had ordered them in to arrive the day before, but they tasted like they had just come off the grill. We sat around the table as a family one last time, eating and laughing and celebrating our last Kennedy kid to get married. It was very sweet.
As Hannah was waiting for Trevor in the temple lobby, her hostess came up and introduced herself. She found out that Hannah is a temple worker in the Detroit Temple when we mentioned that we are from Michigan. She then leaned in and asked, "If I may, why aren't you getting married in Detroit?"
Cue more water works.
And at that moment, Trevor walked in and Hannah threw herself into his arms, covering up the fact that she had tears running down her face.
I wish there had been more time for Hannah to recurl her hair and really take in the moment, but she was whisked off to do the abbreviated veil ceremony with Trevor, and I headed to the waiting room. Wow. Our friends had SHOWN up. I really couldn't believe how many were there. In fact, I was very thankful for Mark, and his sneaky selfies every time he takes my phone, because these showed up later:
We were then all escorted to the sealing room. It was difficult to hide our disappointment in not knowing the sealer, and there was definitely a lost feeling in not having the people we love from the temple being there, but in the end, all that matters is that two people who love each other are sealed for time and all eternity. It was surreal to believe that our Hannie had finally found her Prince Charming.
We then braced ourselves for the picture-taking outside. But gosh, what a tender mercy that the temperature was sitting around 80 degrees. I tried to keep things going so we could stay on schedule, but when I tried to do that with Trevor's family, they were extremely rude.
The pictures turned out really beautifully, and I can't deny that the photographers in Utah valley sure know how to get the best pictures around the temple grounds! There were far more taken than what I'm posting here, but these are the ones that mean the most to me:
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| I sure love these people <3 |
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| The Mechams |
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| The women who came to support Hannie |
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| Friends of the Kennedys <3 |
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| The Kendalls |
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| Our Christmas card! |
We then hoofed it over to Eldredge manor. I was so happy when we walked in and saw the table scapes all set and ready. We just had to hang some canvases around and set up the place cards for seating.
People were arriving, and I was thankful that we had chosen to have an Italian soda bar and fresh fruit for everyone, because even though it was cooler than expected and there was shade, it was still hot.
The photographer basically stripped down Hannah and Trevor for the "flat-lays" ;-)
The flat lays were done, Trevor and Hannah put their shoes and boots back on, and it was time to cut the log! Having done this three times before, it's always fun to see who volunteers to come up, and this time it was the Evans that brought a smile to my face. Brother Kendall told us that the log was "pithy" and not the best choice, but we made do!
And then it was time to eat!
Man, I can still taste that food. It was seriously so delicious. Beef, chicken or pork, but it didn't matter. You really couldn't go wrong with any of it. And I was so thankful that Eldredge provided a vegan meal for Sister Evans, free of charge.
John came through again and gave a very touching toast to the newlyweds, especially considering it was his favorite Kennedy child getting married ;-) He told the story of Hannah selling watermelons and Trevor re-building his Jeep.
We were surprised when some of Trevor's family began leaving before the cake had been cut, but I guess they are used to the Utah valley drop-in receptions. The cake was a bit of a bust--dessert came with our dinner, and the cake was gluten free, so they cut it, but not many people actually ate it. But hey, it was a BEAUTIFUL-looking cake!
We had a couple of seconds before the dances started, and I'm so thankful I had one last chance to talk to my girl.
The dances were so sweet, especially the one between Hannah and John. Sister Mecham said that she wouldn't watch any of it, because she'd seen too many photos of herself ugly crying during those kinds of dances ;-)
Trevor isn't much of a dancer, so much to Hannah's disappointment, she ended up changing into her getaway dress while the dancing songs were happening. But you know what? The Kennedys showed up and took full advantage of even a few songs. We had sparklers for a send off, and Hannah hopped into Trevor's truck, and off they went.
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