ABOVE the 45th: indiana

Now that the girls were all ready, there was the small matter of getting the boys ready.

While Dave and the groomsmen got themselves all gussied up and to the church on time (church here meaning the Huntington Sunken Gardens - imagine a lovelier place to say "I do", go on I dare ya!) there were a few rogue XY chromosomes running amuck among us.

The day before the wedding, as Andrea, Alyssa, Sue, Kamdyn and I ran around Fort Wayne nailing down the final details for the big show, Jared and Dakota were driving back from Chicago. Somewhere between picking up The Dress and getting our nails done, I got text from the Brothers asking if Andrea still wanted them to get plum colored shirts.

"Are they serious?"

(note: these are not things you should EVER ask a bride the day before her wedding)

Alyssa and I got pretty good at fielding phone calls and texts that would have otherwise driven Andrea over the edge.

(let's note also that in the event of a foreboding forecast for the day of the wedding, do not - I repeat, DO NOT - continuously text the bride the night before asking what the plan in should the skies open up and pour buckets onto the ceremony... But more on that later...)

The night of the rehearsal when Jared finally got there, I asked if they had had success in finding shirts.

"As far as Andrea knows - yes."

(Jared... Andrea... If either of you is reading this I apologize for letting that cat out of the bag... It was too funny, I couldn't help myself)

As you can see though, the boys came through and come September 22nd they were decked out in the plumiest of plums.

And looked rather dapper, I must say.

Jared & Alyssa realizing that their big sister is getting married

Sometimes I wonder how irked he gets at me for posting pictures of him.

Bribing a toddler with a lollipop is in fact the best way to get him into a tux.

Is this the cutest label you've ever seen?

"Take a picture so I can see what the shirt looks like.".... "Did you see the face I made?"

Jared's patented "Pants Test" to gauge the structural integrity of his trousers .

One of my favorites photos of all time ever... Uncle Dakota & Aunt Terra sure do love this little boy

Forrest is a stud.

Kamdyn would have been in the water if Uncle Jared wasn't such a party pooper.

Handsome groom.

I should point out that they struck this pose without me telling them to.

The minister.

Pre-ceremony meltdown brought to you by "No, you can't take that branch down the aisle with you."

... He still tried it.

Kamdyn and his Grandpa Zion

Grandma & Grandpa Zion

Pure GQ right there.

Father of the Bride.

Tom & Luke... Well, it was almost a nice photo.

Groomsmen.

Giving Daddy a kiss before Mommy walks down the aisle!

He sees his girl...

Kamdyn and Jackson were totally into the whole thing.

MR. & MRS. ZION!

Kam & Uncle Matt

So this is their cousin Kris... You'll see more of him at the reception... And you will laugh.

She's so pretty it's ridiculous.

Moment of pause.

Let's talk about the weather.

The forecast said 50% chance of rain. Andrea was freaking out.

I reminded her that that was still a 50% chance it wouldn't rain but... Yeah. I knew that wouldn't do a lot of good.

Luckily, God has a sense of humor.

Despite the fact that it was raining - and then HAILING - on the 45 minute drive from Fort Wayne to Huntington (and despite the fact that the wind was bloody freezing), by the time the ceremony rolled around it was pure blue skies.

The day was perfect.