Good morning, readers! Hope you enjoyed watching Tori Bates and Bobby Smith tie the knot
last night on Bringing Up Bates. I (Ellie) had a great time at the wedding, and although it was a tight space filled with lots of guests, I took as many photos as I could.
As we approached the church, we were directed by several signs positioned along the road.
When we pulled into the parking lot across the street from the church, several boys, some of the Duggars, pointed us toward the open spaces. The road between the parking lot and the church was busy, but the church had an underground tunnel connecting the two. It wasn't an especially large or fancy church, so we were surprised to see the tunnel.
Additional signs led us to the sanctuary.
The decorations were just beautiful. We took a seat off to the side--house left--so I could take a few photos without disrupting the ceremony. We sat near dress designer Renee Miller's fiance and enjoyed catching up with him while we waited for the wedding to start. Shortly before the ceremony began, we were joined by the entire Duggar family, minus Jinger and Jeremy.
The ceremony was lovely! The parents and grandparents were seated to "The Christmas song," the bridal party entered to "Silver Bells," and Tori and Gil made their entrance to "A Thousand Years." The recessional was "Carol of the Bells."
We got a great view of the sneaky little brothers who spent most of the wedding sitting in the empty balcony and then came down to shoot off confetti cannons during the kiss.
The reception took place downstairs, in the fellowship hall. It didn't look like a large space when we walked in, but it ended up being the perfect size.
We enjoyed meeting several new friends, who also happened to be blog readers.
The meal was a baked potato bar.
The lemon-blueberry cake made by Kelly's sister Kay was out-of-this-world-delicious...and beautifully decorated, too.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Smith soon arrived, and the festivities began. They cute the cake, and Tori tossed the bouquet. We laughed when Gil begged his kids to stay away, and then we laughed again when Josie caught the bouquet.
Tori and Bobby greeted all the guests in a receiving line, and then it was time for the sendoff.
Myself (Ellie) with the bride and groom
Family and friends lined the hallway between the reception room and the front door and waved wands--made with wooden dowels, purple and silver ribbon, and bells--while Tori and Bobby exited the church.
If you enjoy this blog, be sure to visit Ellie's other blogs (
NashvilleWife.com and
DuggarFamilyBlog.com).
