The biggest event in our family this fall was the wedding of Jared and Alexandria.  Jared is my youngest nephew, the son of my sister Julia and my brother-in-law Mike.  I wrote about hosting their shower in August and their wedding was just as much fun as the shower.

Jared and Alexandria have been together for eight or nine years now.  The number varies depending on whether you ask Jared or Alexandria.  They went to college at Miami University of Ohio and then moved to Cincinnati together so Alexandria could get her Master’s in Psychology.  The two of them recently moved to Akron so that Jared could attend law school at the University of Akron.  They have a lovely house and a dog, so all the comforts of domestic life.

The wedding has been in the planning stages for a long time.  But Jared and Alexandria wanted to plan it themselves and they are very private people who didn’t want a lot of hoopla.  They chose the Knightsbridge Building, which is part of the Akron Civic Theater, as their venue.  I’m not sure how it is connected, but it is next door to the marquee entrance of the Civic Theater.

The ceremony was upstairs in the building.  We had to climb up a steep flight of stairs to reach it, but everyone made it up and down okay.  There was no elevator to the second floor.  Jared and his brother Devon greeted us and we took some family pictures before the ceremony.  A classical guitar player provided beautiful pre-wedding music.  Alexandria’s uncle performed the ceremony, with Jared and Alexandria reading vows they wrote themselves.  The ceremony was short and sweet, just the way they wanted it.

After the ceremony, everyone headed back down the stairs to the reception area.  The Bridal Party departed for pictures and the rest of us found our tables and enjoyed some appetizers.  After pictures, Alexandria and Jared joined us in the reception area and a buffet dinner was set out.  The reception was catered by City BBQ, which was also the food we got for the shower.  They were going to use Mustard Seed, but Mustard Seed kept raising their prices.  Three weeks ago they shelved the Mustard Seed and went with City BBQ.  Not only was the food delicious – maybe the best wedding reception food I’ve every had – but the City BBQ staff were wonderful.

The wedding and reception were small with about 50 guests, so the Bridal couple had time to talk to all of their guests.  Instead of a DJ, Jared and Alexandria had made a playlist and used that for dancing.  I enjoyed that much more than a loud and obnoxious DJ who has to announce everything.  Alexandria’s sister Lauren and Devon were the only ones who gave a toast or speech.  Everything was intimate and informal and, because of that, we enjoyed it a lot.

We left shortly after the dancing started.  Tom and I took Mom and Dad home and then traveled on ourselves.  We were home about 10 p.m. which was a nice time to get home without being exhausted.

Weddings feel like such a big production these days.  It was nice to see Jared and Alexandria buck the trend and have a wedding that reflected who they are.  The wedding and reception had the traditional elements but in a low-key way that allowed them to enjoy the evening as much as their guests.

Congratulations to the newlyweds!   May they have many happy years together and continue to always be each other’s best friend.