16 Never-Before Published Wedding Photos

"Never-before published" makes something sound terribly exciting, doesn't it?  I'm not sure this post can live up to such hype, but in honor of 16 years of marriage to my very own dearly beloved, here are 16 photos from the wedding--photos that mean a lot to me for one reason or another.  :)

(By the way, other wedding photos can be seen in this previous post from 2008.  By the way AGAIN, here are links to previous anniversary posts.  There's some pretty sappy stuff in there.  ;-)  2012... 2011... 2010... 2009...)

~ 1 ~

 ~ my sister Donna helping me get ready before the wedding, while her daughter Sheena looks on

~ 2 ~

~ under the arch (significant because of our time in Jerusalem) during the lighting of the unity candle and taking of communion (and while my future sister-in-law Lori was beautifully singing)

~ 3 ~

~ I do believe Jeff has a mischievous look in his eye  ;-)

~ 4 ~

~ Jeff's sister Kim and her husband Mike

~ 5 ~

~ my brother Doug, his wife Lisa, and their adorable son Nicky

~ 6 ~

~ now this picture--whew--it gets me...this is my maternal grandma...she lived in Pennsylvania at the time (now she lives in heaven), and I was so extremely glad that she agreed to let some relatives bring her down to the wedding...she was a special lady, for sure

~ 7 ~

~ my sister Donna and her daughter Sheena talking to Jeff and I in the receiving line, while a high school friend Mordy talks to my parents

~ 8 ~

~ the five of us were college roommates our last two years of college...these girls are DEAR to my heart!

~ 9 ~

~ another dear group of people that came to our wedding were these friends that we met while we were studying abroad at Jerusalem University College...they were witnesses to the beginning of our romance (which we thought we were hiding pretty well, but from what they tell me now, it was anything but secret!)  ;-)

~ 10 ~

 ~ the Jerusalem University College friends catching up with each other...it had been just over a year since we had all said goodbye and left Israel, and it was fun to have this chance to meet up again  :)

~ 11 ~

~ the older lady on the right was one of my English teachers in high school...her name was Miss Beachy, and she was LEGENDARY (you probably know the type)--strict as could be, but I loved her...here she was chatting with some friends that I still get to see occasionally these days, Brendan and Gail  :)

~ 12 ~

~ the Gardner girls...seeing this just makes me smile :)...I could write a whole post about them (maybe I will someday!), but for now I'll simply say that I started kindergarten with Gail...she's the one in the middle...would you believe she's the oldest in the family (and may be the shortest?)  ;-)...the one on the right is Sally who my regular readers must surely be acquainted with already  :)...these girls are a treasure!!

~ 13 ~

~ getting ready to leave the church...I really enjoyed my wedding, but I'll freely admit that I was SO excited to leave it!!!  ;-)

~ 14 ~

~ we left in a buggy...there's more about that in this post  :)

~ 15 ~

~ our car was parked at the farmhouse of the people who owned the horse and buggy, and none of our friends and family (except my parents) were supposed to know where that was...however, after the wedding, my parents needed to bring some last-minute items to us before we set off for our first night, so they followed the buggy--and my brother David, with a couple of my friends, followed them!...when they saw where we were going, they passed us; and as the horse pulled the buggy SO SLOWLY up the lane, they hopped out and made a mad dash to decorate the car: Oreos on the back window, balloons on the antenna, and--worst of all--Saran Wrap around the whole car, blocking the doors  ;-)...as soon as we got there, Jeff and his pocketknife made quick work of the Saran Wrap, and we got in the car as fast as we could and drove away before they could do anything else to it...but oh my, it makes me laugh now!!  :)

~ 16 ~

~ a year or so after the wedding, we went to visit my brother David in Pennsylvania (he and Lori were married by then); and while we were there, we got dressed up again and went to the campus of Messiah College, my alma mater, and took a few pictures there...the one above is my favorite

Ah, 16 pictures!  A multitude of memories!

An unfathomable amount of gratitude for the blessing of 16 precious years with the one my soul loves!