Candy and Jim's Great Canadian Adventure: Ryan and Cindy Tie the Knot!

Ryan and Cindy were married on January 5, 2013 in a dream wedding that was preceded by parties and events from September to January. Cindy's Bridal Shower was in September given by Lisa and Casey. Unfortunately I was unable to attend (boo-hoo). Both Ryan and Cindy had bachelor and bachelorette parties in November. Ryan's crew flew to Las Vegas to celebrate "Hangover Style." NOT! From what I was told, things were relatively mild (mind you, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!). Cindy's bride's maids flew to Miami to soak up the sun and to engage in some CRAZY Miami night life! December started with a wonderful engagement party given by Frances Byrd (AKA "Nane", Cindy's g-ma). The day before the wedding, Cindy's aunts and friends of the family threw a Bridal Luncheon for Cindy at Ouisie's Table (pronounced weezeey), a wonderful southern restaurant you should definitely try when in Houston. While we lunched, the guys had a golf outing at Tour 18. No clubs were broken, nobody drove a golf cart into a pond, so all in all, a successful outing! The rehearsal dinner was that evening at La Griglia where we were entertained with toasts to the bride and groom. Whew! That was quite a build up to the beautiful wedding on Saturday. They were married at St Paul's Methodist church, and the reception was at the Crystal Ballroom in the old Rice Hotel. What a beautiful venue, and everything came off without a hitch. The band was awesome and everyone stayed and danced late into the night.

We were so lucky to have Jim's sister, Kate, and our niece Amanda from Denver; Jim's aunt and uncle, Ginny and Buster, and cousin, Pam, and her husband, Sean, from Dallas; nieces, Megan and Sam, with their husbands, Ryan and Zach, from Springfield among all our friends from Houston.

I have never seen two people enjoy a wedding as much as Ryan and Cindy. They sang with the band, danced on stage with the band, and were led down the grand staircase by the band at the end of their wedding.

Thank you Rex and Pam Byrd for throwing such an awesome wedding!!!

Ryan and Cindy spent the next ten days in Maui recovering from the wedding excitement. Poor babies! Congratulations, "mis hijos"!

(Disclaimer: most of the wedding shots were taken with Jim's iPhone, so they are not the professional quality you are used to seeing from him. :)