Stories of the Swiderski Sisters (and their parents): Max and Moe's Wedding

My younger brother, Max, found a beautiful woman (Moe) to settle down with :) They got married on a rainy, cold, beautiful October day.

Claire served as their flower girl, she was ecstatic!

We arrived on Friday afternoon, for the rehearsal. The ceremony and reception were at an adorable old farm in central WI. It wasn't raining on Friday, so we got to spend time time exploring the grounds.

We also collected leaves for Claire's flower girl basket so she could practice during the rehearsal.

Check out the live-action leaf collecting.

Then inside for decorating and rehearsing.

They didn't have the heaters in the barn yet, so it was a bit chilly. Ggma stayed warm with blankets :)

The rehearsal.

They had hundreds of lights strung throughout the barn, very romantic!

And the flower girl! It was a bit confusing for Claire, because after she dropped the leaves, I picked them up (so she could practice more). Consequently, she thought she had to pick up every leaf/flower she dropped! In addition, after doing her flower-girl run, she went over to the barn door and deposited whatever leaves were left in her basket on the ground. We crossed our fingers she wouldn't do this on her way up the aisle :)

The rehearsal dinner.

Presents! Max and Moe picked out adorable Tom's for Claire (that matched the wedding party shoes), and a gold/flower headband. Claire absolutely adored these!

Happy as a clam.

Ggma have Max her father's wedding ring (his name was Maximillion!). Here, she presented Max with the ring.

Mommy and Claire - all gussied up.

The ceremony.
This was supposed to be outside, but got moved in due to rain. Still, it was a very romantic setting.

Here Max is waiting for his bride.

This was Claire's big moment! She did quite well :) We placed Ryan at the "L" turn in the aisle to keep her moving in the right direction. The video gets a bit choppy when Claire stalled (and I jumped in to keep her moving). The end is my favorite part, she gives uncle Max a kiss :)

What you won't see on this video is the first reading. Max and Moe asked me to read (I was honored). When I got up to go read, I told Claire to stay with Kalin. This was followed by a shrill "nooooooo!!!!". Plan B, stay with Papa Mark - you love him! No one heard the first half of my reading, as someone was voicing her "objections". I finally just motioned for Claire to come join me while I read, then all was good. My uncle Wayne said I should have just stared over. Oh well!

Dinner and dancing!
Claire really enjoyed the dancing! Before the wedding weekend, when you asked her who she was going to dance with, she replied "everyone!". You'll also have to ask her about her "spin and dip" trick with daddy.

Looking sharp uncle Mitchy!

Uncle Mitchy and Kalin :)

This one I stole from Moe's website :) (This is Cliare and Papa Mark).

More dancing during dinner.
Ggpa Tom gave a speech during dinner about how it was appropriate that Claire voiced her 'objections' during Max's wedding because about 28 years ago, during his wedding to my Gma Marlene, the groom himself voiced "objections' to their wedding :)