Our Wedding!

November 6th, 2004

Today, the past four months of preparation culminated at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Kim and I were married at our church, Christian Life, by our close friend, Ray McDaniel. Although there was some drama before the appointed hour, all went well once things got started and everyone said it was just beautiful.

The bridesmaids were Dawn Emerick (Matron of Honor), Wendy Johnson (Kim’s sister), Melanie Smith (Kim’s childhood friend) and my good friend, Tanya McDaniel. The groomsmen were my father, Charlie Wright (Best Man), Nathan Wright (brother), Stephen Hickman (my oldest friend) and my college roommates, Tom Brantley and Aaron Crawford.

There was drama before the ceremony when a traffic jam kept Kim, two bridesmaids and the photographer away from the church. Added to this was the fact that Kim left her engagement ring back at the house and one of my groomsmen had the wrong color tie!

Thanks to Bill and Bryan Hickman for making an 11th hour dash to the house, Kim got her ring just as the ceremony was starting. Aaron played the flute for us as people began to be seated. The ceremony itself seem to go by extremely quickly for both Kim and me, we wished we could have slowed down time just a little bit to savor the moment.

The wedding ceremony was conducted by the newly ordained Reverend Ray McDaniel. Ray is a very dear friend of ours and it was an honor to have him preside. Christian Life Church Senior Pastor Danny DuVall contributed to the ceremony by giving the prayer.

After pictures, it was off to the Vestavia Civic Center for the reception where we had a chance to see everybody. Then walking out under plastic lightsabers and a shower of rose petals, we were gone on our way to the honeymoon.

We’d like to thank everyone that helped contribute to our wedding: My parents, Pam Gilstrap, Saunders Richey, Mary Braswell Hickman, Mary Margaret Hickman, David Hunsinger, Lee Lampkin, Ricky Harmon, Paul Podraza, and Russ Gann.

Be sure to check the Pictures section of defdave.com for plenty of images from the Big Day.