I am covered in cat hair and I don’t know what to do about it. There. I said it. So when you see me out in public, especially at weddings when I’m wearing all black, and I have yellow/blonde cat hair all over me, just realize that I am aware that I have cat hair all over me and I have tried to get it off of me, all to no avail. I appreciate everyone’s understanding in this matter.

Cat hair and all, last weekend I was up in Franklin, Kentucky on a road trip. We had a great wedding up in the country, and it was mighty fine, indeed. Bride Leslie and Groom Billy were married Saturday, June 13, in a very nice ceremony at the Franklin Church of Christ in Franklin, Kentucky, followed by TWO receptions, one of which was held at the Shaker Tavern Bed and Breakfast in South Union, Kentucky.

Some of you may recall that last year we had a wedding in Franklin, Kentucky, and Lynette and I got very lost the Friday before the wedding as we were trying to find the groom’s home and the church before the rehearsal. That was a horrible nightmare that neither of us wanted to relive again in a million years, so Lynette told me to be ready three hours before Leslie and Billy’s rehearsal was scheduled to start so that we would have plenty of time to drive to Kentucky from my house (located about 20 miles from the Kentucky border) and find the church and reception sight. I told Lynette, “We don’t need to leave so early”.

After many attempts, I was finally able to convince Lynette that the drive to Kentucky from my house was not so long, and we decided to leave ONLY two hours before the rehearsal was to start. So off we left from my house north of Nashville at 6:15 pm for the long drive to Kentucky, and to the rehearsal which was scheduled to start at 8:00 pm.

Thirty minutes later, Lynette and I found ourselves in Kentucky, parked in front of the church.

Sigh…..

“I told you we didn’t need to leave so early”, I said.

So with an hour and a half to kill, we decided to drive to the reception venue so that Dawn and I, who would be working the reception, would be sure to find it Saturday night. Well, we breezed right to it.

Lucky for us, though, is that Lynette drives about 50 miles an hour tops, and the reception venue was several miles from the church on a winding, country road, so taking all of that into consideration, we barely made it back to the church from the reception venue in time for the 8:00 rehearsal. And of course wedding rehearsals NEVER start on time…..

ANYWAY. At the rehearsal we were happy to see old friends Leslie Harris Fisher and her mother, Brenda Harris. Leslie and Brenda were going to be helping out with Leslie and Billy’s wedding! Lynette and I know Leslie and Brenda from a wedding we did in Franklin, Kentucky in 2008. Brenda is the mother of one of our 2008 grooms, Justin, and Leslie is his sister. They were wonderful to work with at Justin and Lesslye’s wedding in 2008, and they were wonderful to work with at Leslie and Billy’s wedding in 2009! It’s always so much fun seeing old friends we’ve made from our weddings!

If you have already noticed that there is a LOT of “Leslie’s” in this story, well, yes, we noticed it too!

Getting back to the wedding of Leslie and Billy…..me and Lynette and Dawn and Amy of Team McNeal drove up on Saturday in two different cars, since Lynette and Amy (or as I call her, “Too-Pretty-To-Be-Working-A-Wedding-Amy”) were not going to be staying for the second reception and would be coming home before me and Dawn. We all converged at my house, and Lynette and Amy drove up in one car, and Dawn and I drove up in another. Lynette and Amy started the drive about 10 minutes before Dawn and I left, but lo and behold! Who did Dawn and I nearly run over at the interstate exit ramp? None other than our Lynette and Amy! Of course Lynette insisted that she drove 70 miles an hour on the way to Kentucky, but Dawn and I weren’t born yesterday! WE drove about 70 miles an hour, left 10 minutes behind Lynette, yet were able to catch and almost pass her on the way to the church????? NO WAY !

But getting back to the wedding of Leslie and Billy…..As planned the night before at the rehearsal, we arrived at the church where we would be meeting our bride Leslie, photos would be taken, and our day would begin. Since we arrived at the church about 30 minutes earlier than we had planned, (typical Lynette!) it didn’t really concern me that there was no one else there. So I got out and of the car and started taking establishing shots of the church, while Lynette and Team McNeal waited in the car. And waited. And waited.

Lynette became a bit concerned that we had waited a fairly good amount of time and still no one was at the church, so she called our friend Leslie Fisher to see where everyone was. OH MY! There had been a change of plans! Turns out that our Bride Leslie wasn’t going to be getting ready at the church after all and Lynette and Amy needed to go to the house where she was getting dressed, and Dawn and I needed to go to the home of Groom Billy where he was getting dressed.  Luckily for Lynette and Amy, Bride Leslie was getting dressed at a house practically next door to the church. But Dawn and I had to get directions to the house where Billy was dressing. Our friend Leslie gave is the directions to Billy’s house and it didn’t sound very hard to find at all. I was confident there would be no problems finding it.

Pretty soon, Dawn and I are driving up and down the main road, following the directions to a “T” yet not finding the name of the street we were looking for. Visions of 2008’s “Lost in Franklin” nightmare flashed before my eyes…..

Wake me up PLEASE! But soon, Dawn is smart enough to contact our friend Leslie Fisher again, get more directions, and this time we had no problem finding Groom Billy’s house.

But getting back to the wedding of Leslie and Billy…..As soon as we found Billy’s house, Dawn and I ran in with camera’s ready knowing that Billy was probably dressed and ready to go. Luckily, he wasn’t! Yay! Actually, we found Billy and his groomsmen and family all sitting out around a large table, talking, laughing and having a great time. As soon as they saw me and Dawn and our cameras, everyone stopped talking and just sort of looked at each other.

Okay, granted, its not every day that people have TWO video cameras aimed at you and recording every single thing you do. And granted, there is generally only ONE camera, (me) with the groom, and maybe two cameras was very scary, but due to the day’s schedule and logistics, Dawn was helping me with the guys. But the clock was ticking, the day was running, and the groom and his groomsmen had to loosen up fast! So I told the guys to PLEEEESE pretend that Dawn and I weren’t there and to just go on with their day like usual. And you know what? They did! :--) Before I knew it, everyone was talking and laughing around the table again and Groom Billy was playing a trumbone! I couldn’t have asked for better…..

We love our brides at McNeal Video, but I heart my grooms!

But getting back to the wedding of Leslie and Billy…..Soon it was time to drive over to the church in time for Billy and Bride Leslie to see each other and for photos to be taken before the wedding. Leslie and Billy had chosen to see each other before the wedding……But time was so short that they barely had enough time to both get to the church, take some individual photos and get in place to walk down the aisle. So Leslie and Billy never got to see each other before the wedding. So as the ceremony begins, I made sure that I had a good shot of Billy as he saw Leslie walking down the aisle. I think he was very happy to see her!

Leslie looked sooooo pretty! Her dress had been custom-made in San Francisco and she looked lovely in it.

The wedding itself was very special in that Billy’s brother performed the ceremony, and his father sang during the ceremony. Also, both Leslie and Billy’s parents each wrote individual letters to the happy couple which were read during the ceremony and made everything very personal and touching.

Leslie and Billy got a case of the giggles at one point during the ceremony after Leslie whispered something to Billy about her pearls, but only Lynette heard it since she was monitoring the audio going straight into her camera. She, of course, told me later what Leslie and Billy were laughing about during the ceremony .....And I guess if anyone else wants to know what was said they will just have to wait to see the video! But it was funny! :--)

But getting back to the wedding of Leslie and Billy……After being pronounced Husband and Wife, Leslie and Billy made their way to the first of TWO receptions. The first reception was held at the church for everyone who attended the ceremony.

A SECOND reception was held after the first reception for a smaller group of family and friends, at the Shaker Tavern Bed and Breakfast. Lynette and Amy stayed for the first reception, while Dawn and I made our way over to the second reception.

Since I wasn’t personally at the first reception, I can only report what was told to me by Lynette. But evidently a LOT of people were there! And also Lynette said that Leslie and Billy released butterflies from cages before they left, and guests were also given butterflies to release as they made their exit. Oh, and I think there were bubbles too!

While all of this was happening, Dawn and I were at the Shaker Tavern waiting for their arrival.

I loved the Shaker Tavern! It was built in 1869 and was a beautiful old building. I LOVE old buildings. A tent was set up beside the main building and had pretty tables all decorated for the party. Pre-reception hor’dourves were sitting out for the guests.

Thanks to our friend Brenda Harris, Dawn and I were treated to a plate of cheese and crackers and fruit before Leslie and Billy arrived, and we had a very good time relaxing and sitting in the rocking chairs on the front porch. How nice! And this was especially appreciated by me because it was very hot and humid and Cheryl does NOT do well in the heat! I was fading fast while Dawn was still fresh as a daisy. Apparently Dawn does well in the heat……

But getting back to the wedding of Leslie and Billy……Soon they arrived at their second reception and everyone was happy to see them. The guests were treated to a home cooked style buffet dinner which was yummy. (YUM).

But I HAVE to mention one thing about the cake…..! Of course I have to talk about the cake! Or I should say, TWO cakes! Since Leslie and Billy had two receptions, they had two wedding cakes! WOW! And more about that later…..

After dinner, Leslie and Billy danced their first dance and cut the cake, then the dance floor was opened. Leslie and Billy had Shane O’Dazier at their reception. If you have never heard of him, he is a new and upcoming act in the Nashville area and he’s really great! I hadn’t heard of him since I don’t listen to country music, but I visted his website before the wedding, and I enjoyed his site so much that I borrowed one of his videos about his goats for my own Facebook page!

But getting back to the wedding of Leslie and Billy….. Everyone had a great time at the reception and too soon it was time for Leslie and Billy to call it a day. Since they had already made a big exit at their first reception, there wasn’t a second big exit and Dawn and I actually left before Leslie and Billy. But before leaving, Billy surprised Leslie by telling her where they would be going on their honeymoon……Maui! How great is that!

But getting back to the cakes……As Dawn and I were packing up our gear and getting ready to leave, I noticed that I had lost my white-balancing card. Since I knew Lynette would have to replace it, and I hated for her to have to do that, Dawn and I decided to make a last effort to find the card. Dawn walked through the Shaker Tavern once more while I walked through the outside tent area. Neither one of us found the lost white-balancing card, but both of us found the cake! Or rather CAKES! I grabbed two pieces of strawberry cake for me and Dawn to eat on the drive home, and when I made it back to the car, I saw that Dawn had grabbed two pieces of chocolate cake for the drive home as well! We both had a good laugh, traded cakes, and drove home for the night. What a nice way to end the evening, eating TWO pieces of wedding cake!

A big thanks to Leslie and Billy for letting us spend this special day with them, capturing everything on video. Best wishes to you both as you start your new happy lives together…..in Maui!

And since the sun is coming up, it’s time for this girl……to get ready for her day job!