Michelle Posey Photo Blog: The Golden Hour

With so much great stuff happening lately, I’ve been falling a little behind on sharing photos. So, I’ve got some great stuff from the past few months coming up this week, starting with Abby and Tim’s wedding near Mountain View, Arkansas.

This wedding really deserves to be shared! Every detail was so well thought out, and the setting was both beautiful and unique. If making a statement about yourself and what you value and love is the mark of a wedding’s success, then this wedding was definitely a resounding success!

I have to say a big thanks to Abby’s mom, Debra, for all her careful planning, as well as the use of some wonderful antiques and her carefully tended garden!

Not to mention (again) that Abby’s dress beats anything I have ever seen in the way of a wedding dress!

Abby's models her amazing dress from The Bridal Cottage in North Little Rock.

This gorgeous cameo added a finishing touch to Abby's ultra-romantic look.

Abby's wedding was held in an old schoolhouse -- the kind of schoolhouse where they used to hold church services as well -- so these old style fans served fun and entirely appropriate programs for the wedding.

The beautiful embroidered detail of Abby's corset back dress is reflected in the lace embroidery of a doily on the entryway table, where I photographed the rings.

The two little girls who were helping hand out programs wore fairy wings and beautiful cream colored dresses to match the bride.

Left, the inside of the schoolhouse is decorated for the wedding. Right, the weathered front doors make an interesting background for some of Tim and Abby's wedding photos.

Left, dressy toasting glasses; right, the "pineapple trees."

I usually have so many photos of different things that I hesitate to share two photos of the same thing, but this bouquet was so sweet and beautiful I feel it deserves a "double exposure."

Last, but certainly not least in my book, the wedding reception carried out that wonderful old Southern tradition of serving fresh raw tomatoes, sliced -- and in such an elegant way!

I am a couple of days late posting these, because this weekend was so full of fun that I did not get any extra time.

I talked about the parade in an earlier post. It’s geared toward kids, with no motorized vehicles (unless you count a couple of battery-powered kid-sized cars.

Each years parade honors those who serve. Past years have honored the military and police, for example. This year’s parade honored teachers. Thus, my father in law, a veteran of 41 years teaching math at Pittsburg State University in southeast Kansas, was asked to carry one of the flags (the OLD one).

Here is one of my little ones proudly wearing his Uncle Sam hat.

One of my favorites in the parade.

My nephew, Jordan, riding on his foot-powered bike. He was fast!

Left, my son Charlie pulls his brother Nate in the parade. Right, our friends Jeff and Lisa's daughter, Cassie, holds her cousin Liz in their wagon.

Neighborhood residents sit in their front yard to watch the parade.

Every year, my inlaws’ next-door neighbor in Pittsburg, Kansas, holds a Fourth of July Parade.

As a former journalist and veteran of numerous parades, I am here to tell you that this is, for certain, the Country’s Best Fourth of July Parade.

So, this year, I am turning my journalistic eye on the events (having been prevented from doing so the last few years by the necessity of toting at least one child throughout the parade.)

Why is it the country’s best? Think about parades. Who likes them? Kids! Who wants to be in them? Kids! This parade is open to any neighborhood kids who want to participate, anyone who has a connection with the neighborhood, and even their friends. It has a history of going on 30 years, and as I understand hasn’t changed in many respects other than the size of the parade. These days, kids of the original parade participants march, or are sometimes carried by, their parents. Afterwards, we all get together for lemonade and cookies, and to sing “Happy Birthday” to America.

It’s something kids can understand, it’s never above their level, and it isn’t controlled too much by adults. Janeil (my inlaws’ neighbor) provides milk and cookies and starts the parade with a little speech. She leads the singing of “Happy Birthday America.” Then the kids roll out on their bicycles, tricycles, scooters, wagons, strollers or parents’ shoulders. Everyone is dressed in Fourth of July Parade gear. Part of the excitement of the day is decorating your wheels, so there are streamers, pinwheels, and crepe paper festooning the bikes and strollers. The parade route is manageable enough for the very young, yet long enough that middle school children feel like they’ve been somewhere.

It is, truly, parade perfection.

You don’t have to be a beauty queen, play an instrument, twirl a baton, build a float, do karate or ballet, or pay a fee. You only have to be a person who is really grateful to be living in America, and still a little bit proud of our country, which, despite everything, is still persistently and collectively trying to do its best.

Sound fun? It’s today. So hopefully by tomorrow I will have some photos to show you.

Living a little distance from Morrilton and Petit Jean Mountain, I had actually never visited the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute before. With preschool boys along, we usually get stuck at another Rockefeller enterprise, The Museum of Automobiles.

To my mind the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute is the more amazing of the two. There is more going on there than I could ever describe, so if you’re interested visit the website. Let me just say, though, that apparently their culinary arts institute is top notch, because that is some of the most amazing food I have ever tasted.

And, two more, one from the chapel and one from the reception.

There are so many more that I love, and I love this couple! Wishing them many years of happiness and creating good in the world — as if they need it. I know they are perfectly capable of creating that for themselves!

Rachel and Cleve’s wedding at Camp Mitchell, on the top of Petit Jean Mountain, is one of my favorite weddings that I have ever photographed.

This is an amazing couple to start with. They are brilliantly creative, and they have an immense desire to help others. Rachel’s dad has worked for Heifer International, which is one of their connections to Arkansas.

For their wedding, they chose to create a light footprint, environmentally speaking. Flowers were local and in season: either from the gardens of friends and family members, or wildflowers. Rachel’s dress was part re-creation of a family heirloom, part handmade. Their outdoor wedding was held in the chapel at Camp Mitchell, and their reception was at the boathouse of the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain. Wines were from Arkansas and Texas (their home state) and food choices were local and organic, including lamb raised by Rachel’s dad.

After dinner, the cake cutting and toasts, the guests got down to some serious contra dancing. And here’s the fun thing: one of the last photo stories I did before leaving the Democrat-Gazette was on the Arkansas Country Dance Society. Suddenly I began to realize why there were so many familiar-looking faces in the group.

I can’t tell you how much I loved this wedding day. It has been hard to choose which photos will go on the blog, because I love so many of them.

Since I’m concerned that if this post gets too long, it will never load for many of you, I’ll be waiting until tomorrow for “Part II: The Reception.”