An Arizona Wedding

Alan and I boarded an airplane last Friday morning, August 9th, and flew to Arizona in order to attend the evening wedding of Jared and Catherine. They have been dating for 1.5 years and decided to get married right away so they can get going on her immigration papers.

The night before, on August 8th, Jared proposed to her at a park near his home. Thankfully, a co-worker helped him out and made the spot very beautiful and special.

Catherine loved the proposal and the ring. Jared was amazed at the wonderful setting his co-worker supplied for the two of them. Leave it to a woman to make things beautiful and special. Jared was lucky to have her help.

When Alan and I arrived in Arizona, we rented a car and then went to Kyle & Jared's house to pick Catherine up so she could get a manicure before the wedding. Once we arrived at the spa, I decided to get a manicure as well. We were at different tables where we couldn't see each other. Imagine my surprise to see that we both chose to have French tip nails. 

It was fun to be able to spend the morning with Catherine before the wedding ceremony. Alan felt like a fish out of water when we were getting our nails done. He had never been to a spa like that before. 

After resting up and changing into more appropriate wedding attire, we headed to the Mesa Courthouse.

With their Marriage Certificate in hand, Jared and Catherine showed up at the Courthouse.

It is fun to see them so in love and ready to make a lifetime commitment to each other.

After checking in, they signed the marriage certificate and Alan and I signed as well since we were the witnesses.

Thankfully, Kyle, Milo, and Clara arrived at the courthouse in time to be able to join the wedding party. Milo and Clara had never witnessed a wedding ceremony before so that was special for them.

The marriage took place inside one of the courtrooms. The Judge who performed the ceremony was very friendly and welcoming. It turned out that he knew Spanish because he served a mission in Spain so he could talk to them in Spanish. However, the ceremony was in English.

I liked what he had to say even though it was short and sweet. Since we got it all on video, I can quote him here to share the message he had for Jared and Catherine. He said "marriage is an institution where you get as much out of it as you are willing to put into it and today Jared and Catherine come here willing to put all that they have into making it a success. Jared, do you take Catherine to be your wife and promise to love her, honor her, comfort her, cherish her, respect her and remain faithful to her as long as you both shall live?" He said "yes, I do." The Judge continues with "Catherine, do you take Jared to be your husband, do you promise to love him, honor him, comfort him, cherish him, respect him, and remain faithful to him as long as you both shall live? She said "yes, I do." 

Jared and Catherine were then each allowed some time to say something to each other. It was a very emotional moment as they spoke of their love for each other. Catherine spoke in Spanish, so I couldn't understand much of what she said, but they both looked lovingly into each others eyes and spoke from the heart. It was a very beautiful and moving moment.

After that, the Judge pronounced them husband and wife and we all cheered as they hugged each other and celebrated the beauty of this new union.

Here is a picture of our group just outside the courthouse.

I'm so happy to be able to welcome a new daughter-in-law into our family, and soon a new grandchild.

To celebrate their marriage, we all went out to dinner. We had a reservation at Rodizio Grill, an amazing Brazilian restaurant with several different kinds of meat served straight off the spit. So delicious and a fun way to celebrate the happy union of Jared and Catherine.

Jared is 43 years old. I think Catherine is about 38 years old. I mentioned to them in a card that I had waited a long time for Jared to get married and now I knew the reason why. It's because he had to wait so long in order to meet Catherine. They seemed to hit it off right from the start. Although their dating and courtship was hampered by distance, they stuck together and saw each other as much as they could. Having a baby on the way made it necessary to speed up the marriage, but we are happy that they are happy and that they have chosen to become husband and wife and have created their own little family. I certainly wish them well as they journey through this life together. Love is a very beautiful thing.