Run With The Fishes

Donna Mae is not at all my brother’s type. He has always gone for petite, blonde bombshells who weren’t exactly the brightest on the block. She is the exact opposite (with the exception of the bombshell part). Donna Mae is a tall, dark-haired Hawaiian beauty who is also very intelligent and super funny. She is perfect for Stephen. She is a great stabilizer in his life and you can still tell by looking at him how happy he is just to be near her.

They were married at a bed & breakfast in Oklahoma. It was a great backdrop for the whole weekend. Almost everyone was right there to visit and get everything set up. The guys could drink their beer and no one had to worry about driving anywhere to get home.

As soon as we got there, I made some last minute adjustments on mom’s dress. Did I mention I made it? Because I did and it didn’t look half bad. I also made my dress, which turned out quite nicely. The dresses that took the cake though were made by Donna Mae (who finished her own the morning of the ceremony because she did everyone else’s in the months before first instead of her own). Zoey looked like a little lady

and Allison looked like a big girl.

Even without the perfect veil, Donna Mae’s dress was amazing. The pictures don’t really do the side panels she added in justice. The look on my brother’s face as she was walking up the aisle, however, does.

The ceremony was just about flawless. Who wants a perfect one, where the preacher can read and everyone says each line perfectly anyway? You need some little quirks to make the day even more memorable. Allison spent just about the whole ceremony saying, “Where is the music? Why isn’t the music playing. This is a marriage. It needs music!”

Donna Mae and Stephen had 2 different colors of sand that they poured into one bottle. Nathan’s spot was right by these glass bottles and everyone was sure he would bump into them and knock them over at some point during the ceremony. He didn’t though and all was well.

There was much food (a whole roasted pig), a custom cake topper (which was awesome) -Stephen & Donna Mae in their BDUs (I think that’s what they’re called) holding mini versions of their planes with the dogs at their feet. There was lots of bell ringing and kisses, and tons of dancing. Along with the traditional hula dance* by Donna Mae, Nathan and Caleb showed off their fancy breakdancing moves.

When it was time for group pictures, Allison let us know that she was done taking pictures, “They have enough!”. No matter how hard the photographer tried, I’m not sure that he got a single “official” picture** of her.

I’m so glad my brother married his best friend.

*Donna Mae takes great pride in being Hawaiian, which I think is very cool. It makes me a little sad that I have no strong heritage or long-held traditions that I can pass along to my kids.