A Navy Wedding

As a midshipman at the Naval Academy, you cannot get married while still in school. this makes for a busy day at the Naval Academy Chapel the day after graduation! Usually multiple weddings lined up, every hour, on the hour! This year, it included Chase's wedding.

The chapel was beautiful and it was much larger on the inside than it looked from the outside - a really long aisle to walk down! It very much reminded me of some of the older Catholic churches I've been in, with the massive pipe organ at the front that served as part of the decor, as well as beautiful stained glass windows and detailed woodwork and trim throughout. Of course, there was also a touch of the Navy throughout.

The guys looked handsome in their whites and the bride (Nicole) was, of course, beautiful. Chase's brother, Grant, was the best man - he graduated from the Academy last year, so as a commissioned officer, he was at the altar by Chase in his whites, as well. It was a simple color scheme, with the bridesmaids in black and red roses for the bouquets. The ceremony itself was very quick and simple (after all, they had a time schedule to keep with the other weddings!). But the short time definitely wasn't short on the tradition and elegance that comes with a Navy wedding.

After the ceremony, the reception was held at The Governor Calvert House, one of the historic inns just off campus by the State Capital Building. It was a very cool venue to have a reception in - absolutely beautiful! All the tradition that goes with any wedding happened here, included many tears shed during the toast by the girls and guys alike. Both brothers cried, which was heart warming to see two men in uniform crying, hugging each other. I think just about everyone teared up upon seeing that. One fun thing that was different for this wedding was the cutting of the cake... they used a sword!! It was neat. Of course, the staff cut the rest of the cake with a regular knife... but it was a novelty I've never seen before. Everyone let loose on the dance floor most of the night, which it was fun to see all the guys in uniform do the YMCA and Electric Slide.

All in all, it was an wonderful time and I don't think anyone would disagree! I know Eric and I had a great time and I also loved meeting all of Eric's extended family in this way - a very social, fun, family event. He has some great family and I hope we can reconnect with more of them as time goes on. Some of them aren't even that far away, just up I-65 in the Chicago area!