Flower Power by Kinley Marie

Hi! You might remember me. I'm Kinley, and I'd like to introduce you to my cousin, Hannah. She is one month younger than me, which makes her 20 months old. I have been practicing counting, so I know that makes me 21 months old.

Hannah and I have a new skill to add to our resumes. We are now experienced flower girls. Our Uncle Drew and Aunt Kate got married last weekend. Drew is the younger brother to both our daddies.

Photo by Rose Wheat Photography, Manhattan, KS. See more of the professional photos at Emma's Facebook page.

Last Christmas, Drew and Kate asked Hannah and me to be their flower girls. We were only about a year old at the time, so we didn't have much information to go on. But since then, I've done some research. My Mommy bought me a book called Pinkalicious Flower Girl. It's important to do your homework for these things.

Last Friday, we went to a thing called a "rehearsal." Hannah and I decided that flower girls should wear flowers to get into the right frame of mind. So we did.

My Mommy said there was nothing to be afraid of. Everyone wanted us to do our best.

GG Harrison (that stands for Great Grandma, you know) thought we could do it. So did Grandma Christy.

Our job was to ride in a pretty green wagon. Now both Hannah and I have a great deal of experience riding in wagons, so I'm not sure why we had to practice that. A nice lady named Kari Lynne was supposed to pull us into a grove of trees where Drew & Kate were getting married.

 

Mommy and Hannah's Mommy, Aunt Jillian, seemed really nervous about us staying in the wagon. I wonder why?

Even though we were supposed to ride in the wagon, Hannah and I thought we would be excellent wagon pullers. We had to take turns. I heard a lot about "sharing" this weekend. So we took turns pushing and pulling the wagon. Then, if Kari Lynne didn't feel up to it, one of us could take over as wagon puller.

There is a lot of waiting around during a wedding rehearsal, we found out. So Hannah's Grandma, who also happens to be named Kim, helped us sing, "If You're Happy and You Know It." It seemed appropriate for a wedding. If the wedding singers developed a cold or allergy, we were ready and willing to perform. We could have even added dance moves to our wedding serenade. We wanted to be good helpers, ready for anything.

At the rehearsal dinner, Kate & Drew gave us a book, One Little Flower Girl. Wasn't Kate lucky? She was getting TWO flower girls. I had Grandma read it to me before bedtime and twice the next morning, just to make sure I was ready for my big debut.

Then, it was was Saturday. Drew & Kate were getting married! Hannah and I were so excited!

It was time to put on my fancy new dress and my shiny silver shoes. I love dressing up!

We looked a little bit like Kate, don't you think? But she was even more beautiful than we were.

Rose Wheat Photography, Manhattan, KS

We weren't the only ones in pretty dresses. Grandma Christy looked very pretty, too.

 

I had to help Hannah with her hair bow. Weren't they the perfect accessory? We got that from Kate, too.

 In all my research, I learned that some flower girls scatter petals when they walk down the aisle.

We had a pretty flower on our wagon, but they didn't give us any petals to sprinkle. So I just might have made my own. Shhhhh!

Since my dolly couldn't come to the ceremony with me, I decided to show her all the pretty stuff ahead of time.

Before we went down the aisle, we got some last-minute advice from my Daddy. He was in the wedding, too, but his job was as groomsman. I don't think he read a book about it, but he did a good job anyway.

I do have an itsy, bitsy confession to make. Maybe, just maybe, the professional photographer had a hard time getting photos of Hannah and me with the bride and groom. If I was cooperating, Hannah wasn't. If she was on her best behavior, I must confess that I wasn't.

I guess it's a good thing that the Grandmas and the Mommies were snap, snap, snapping away all day. Sorry, Aunt Kate.

I don't know whether Emma, the photographer, got photos of Hannah and me as we came down the aisle during the wedding. Hannah's Grandma waited with us at the back, and we sang songs and read books until it was time for our big debut.

My Grandma didn't get any photos of us in the green wagon when we were all dressed up. Her job was to wait where the ceremony was going to be.

 

When Kari Lynne brought us there, my Grandma came and took the wagon. We waited patiently for Aunt Kate to come down the aisle to Uncle Drew and then we exited - stage right. Shhhh! We had to be very quiet. Our big moment was over, and now it was Aunt Kate and Uncle Drew's turn to be in the spotlight.

After the ceremony, Hannah helped freshen up my lipstick so I'd be ready to party.

Finally, it was time for the dance. We were ready to boogie on down.

Hannah and I took a little break from the dancing to cool off outside (and maybe we plucked off a few more flowers. Sorry to the owners at The Barn at Schwinn Produce Farm. They may have just a few less blooms this week on their mums.)

All good things must come to an end, so the Grandmas and Grandpas put us in our jammies and we had to leave the party.

But, if you're looking for two flower girls for your upcoming nuptials, Hannah and I are available.We think we can get a recommendation from the bride and groom (until Aunt Kate remembers our behavior during the professional photo shoot).

But, in our defense, we did make it down the aisle in the wagon. (Please remember that when you're writing the recommendation, you guys!)

Until next time,
Kinley Marie, Professional Flower Girl