Aric and Missy's Wedding

The promised Vanderzee Wedding post…

As we said in the previous post, C.J. was an usher in our good friend Aric Vanderzee's wedding last Friday. The Vanderzee’s (Aric’s family) have been long time friends (essentially family—the kids call each other cousins) with Keri's family, so it was really special to be there and a part of everything for Keri too.

The rehearsal for Aric and Missy’s wedding was last Wednesday night with the dinner afterwards. Aric and Missy didn’t have a wedding planner which was a welcome change. Maybe it’s just our experiences, but all the wrong people seem to be wedding planners sometimes. A few of C.J.'s friends from high school were also involved in the wedding, so it was great to see them all again. C.J. also re-met Nathan Kooi, a friend that he went to elementary school with back in Lynden, WA. Nathan happens to be a friend of Aric’s from college, and his wife was in the wedding, so it was fun to see him at the rehearsal too.

Practicing the ring exchange

The California boys

Thursday was the bachelor party for Aric. All the guys met in the morning at Aric's condo and headed out for a canoe trip. We canoed for a few hours on the Grand River. It was a lot of fun—few remained dry—lucky for Bryan and Tyler they had cell phone on board. We grabbed lunch on the way back to Aric's condo, relaxed for a few hours, and played some PS3. Later in the afternoon, we went to some baseball fields and played homerun derby. C.J. surprised all (most of the guys actually played baseball) with an impressive 2nd place to Aric's wonder-athlete brother Tyler. The evening consisted of Papa John's, poker, and more PS3 (how's that alliteration, Werk?). All the guys stayed over at Aric's that night, but we allowed him a decent night of sleep before the big day.

Gotta keep those eyes open, Aric

The big winner

One last night with the guys

C.J. spent Friday morning and afternoon getting ready with all the guys for the wedding. C.J. and Donny (the other usher) got the wedding started on time (our main job per the mother of the bride) and took care of a lot of other last minute jobs like rolling out the runner during the ceremony. If anyone’s done that before you know how big of a pain those things can be, but we prevailed. The ceremony and reception were a great time—California Love, baby!

All the guys before the wedding

Decorating the car

The new couple

The whole wedding party before the reception

Us with Keri's siblings

We like to dance

It was tough for C.J. to say goodbye to all his friends, but he really enjoyed hanging out with them so much while they were in town. We loved seeing all of the Vanderzees again, and we're so happy for you, Missy and Aric! Welcome to the married ranks, and we're looking forward to Office Thursdays!