The Wedding Uplifted by Community

By Carol Woolum Roberts

Last Saturday our family celebrated the wedding of our youngest daughter Cosette, who married Taylor Barnes.

It was a beautiful celebration, full of love and tears and laughter.

I keep telling people, I felt like the wedding went off without a hitch…and if there was a hitch…someone took care of it without my knowledge.

But this was definitely a group effort….our community surrounded our family and pitched in.  People offered help in so many different ways.  I want to try and tell you about this wedding that was uplifted by our community.

Our church family, Mountain View Community Church, was where the wedding was held. We were able to use decorations already at the church, or provided by a close friend. I was delivering the cake Saturday around noon, and there was Pastor Dave, vacuuming to make sure everything looked nice. When he found out there was a bathroom issue as well, he jumped right on it and fixed it.

The Kellogg School District made an incredible decision when they decided to turn the old Kellogg Middle School building into the Kellogg Community Center. Cosette and Taylor chose this as their venue for the dinner and dancing reception.  We could not have been treated better as we got help transforming my old junior high cafeteria into a lovely place for dinner and dancing.

Another friend told me not to buy lights.  She had plenty. So we borrowed lights from Juli and they worked perfectly in the transformation of the cafeteria.

Debby, who has a wedding venue, asked if I wanted to borrow sheer curtains and chafing dishes for the reception, which I did.

Recently our photographer friend Indy had given us some cloth backdrops she used that she didn’t want anymore, and that became the backdrop to the entryway as you came into the building.

My daughter Zoe used her skills and created a beautiful photo backdrop in the nursery at our church to take photos before the wedding. She, with help from bridesmaid Sidnee, created a sign.  Taylor’s seven year old daughter Saphire also made a sign for the reception.

My daughter Molly hosted the bridal party at her apartment the night before the wedding, so the bride and groom would not see one another.

My brother Bill performed a beautiful ceremony, and he and Debbie helped with the rehearsal dinner. Food for the rehearsal dinner was provided by Garren, at Guaranteed BBQ. Garren is a cousin.

My sister Christy created beautiful flowers for the celebration, including the bridal party bouquets, boutonnieres, and some flowers in vases.

Paul’s three brothers and sister sang a beautiful rendition of “I Can’t Help Falling In Love” while the wedding party came down the aisle.

My friend Stephanie housed some family members. Another said we could use her place as well, even though it wasn’t needed.

Out of town family pitched in Friday through Sunday, helping set up and take down both the church and the Community Center. We are so thankful to Grandma Pat, Kent, Robin, Kevin, Linda, Karlie, Daniel, Laurie, David and Michele.

I put out the call for friends and family to make salads for the reception.  Everyone asked was more than happy to contribute.

Matt provided sound support at both receptions.

Local cake baker Kristina Sverdsten created a beautiful and delicious wedding cake.

Our friend Carl, who also has a wedding venue, let us borrow a cupcake stand and easel.

We borrowed a big black curtain from our local theater.

My friend Nikki and her husband Rob volunteered to take care setting up the hot food (chicken dinner from our local Yokes grocery store) at the Community Center.

My friend Tammi, who runs the school district’s preschool in a classroom by the reception area, offered us to use her room for water, and heaters, and scissors and whatever else we may need.

Our dear friend Simon, who is the technology director for the school district, was a help in so many ways.

I thought it would be fun to have a QR code for guests to use to upload photos they took into an album.  Jason, who does a lot of work in this area, took my request to create a QR Code and photo folder, and created a way for guests to upload photos, then had those photos playing as a slide show at the reception as the photos were being uploaded in real time.  How cool is that???

Local hair stylist Taylor Fisher styled the bridal party hair on Saturday morning. Even one of the groomsmen cut the hair of the other groomsman the afternoon of the ceremony down in our basement!

Our friend Tracy came to help my sister with the flowers, and to take care of dogs as needed throughout the day.

I apologize if you are reading this and you, too, helped contribute to this celebration.  I am sure I forgot to mention someone. But know that you, too, are appreciated as well.

A wedding is not something you can pull off alone, and I am glad we did not have to do it all ourselves. The theme from beginning to end was the love our family was surrounded with from family and friends who came together in a myriad of ways to help us celebrate the marriage of Cosette and Taylor Barnes.

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I encourage you today to tell someone in your “community” how much you appreciate them! 

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