Married May 31, 2008
The Proposal Bill and the Babes (Julie, Gloria, Vanessa)
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(Click on picture to open new page)
The Wedding
Julie and I met at Whirl & Twirl, at a monthly West Coast Swing dance put on by Mark Traynor, on the third Saturday of February 2005. Whirl & Twirl is owned by a square-dance club, but they rent it out on weekends to other groups. When we started talking about where to hold our wedding and reception, we wanted a place to have a little ceremony, a little dinner, and lots of dancing. It didn't take us long to settle on Whirl & Twirl for our special event.
The wedding list included family and just a few close friends, as we wanted to keep it small, but since we had the building for a few hours, we invited our dance friends to help us celebrate our special day. We had about 80 people total show up.
Bride's maids were Gloria and Vanessa Connor, Julie's daughters and my new step-daughters. Best Man was my long-time friend Richard Lambert.
Surprise Wedding Party Member - Okay, so maybe it wasn't a surprise to some of you, but Micki was an important part of the wedding, at least to us. For months, we had an image of our little Princess strutting down the isle, to the delight of the audience. Julie made her a dress out of extra material that matched the bridesmaids' dresses. The little ham didn't let us down. She was even mentioned twice in the program, under "Flower bearer" as McKenzie Connor, and under Groom's attendants as LD Connor (short for "Little Dog", a common name for her). Program.jpg. It was only fitting that she was on my side, since she is "Man's Best Friend". Page 36 of "You May Be A Redneck..." says that you might be a redneck if you have a dog in your wedding. I don't think they were talking about Micki, though.
The Photos - The photos page shows some of the many photos taken by our good friend Les Draper. If you like his work, you can see more of it at LesDraper.com. We highly recommend him as a photographer for your special event. You can also see our engagement photos on his web page as well.
Wedding Video - This is a summary video of what the wedding was all about. We hope you enjoy it. (click one of the following to play video)
Big (14 Meg) loads slowly but better quality
Small (7 Meg) quicker download, poorly quality
Wedding Photos (click to open page) - This is a summary of the more than 600 photos taken by Les. If you like anything there and would like a print, email me at billg (at) holycows.net and I will send you the large version of it, which you can have printed at Wal-Greens or some place like that. You can also see the pictures in a move by clicking here.
Wedding Goofs (click to open page) - Every set of photos has the goofy shots. We aren't ashamed to show ours. You can also see the pictures in a movie by clicking here.
Other People's Wedding Goofs (click to open page) - Someone sent this cute video to me just after the wedding, and I liked it enough to share with you.
Update: Some non-Internet Explorer users (Firefox, Mac) cannot access the pictures from the links above. Somehow an extra "html/" is getting inserted into the address. If you remove one of them, you should be able to get to the slideshows. Alternatively, you can see ALL of the pictures and/or download very high resolution copies of any of the photos that you wish to print from this site http://www.lesdraper.com/BILL_JULIE_WEDDING/content/index.html, thanks to Les Draper. You will have to find the picture that you want, click on it to get the full-sized picture, then right-click to download it.
Wedding Cartoons (click to open page) - The wedding programs had cartoons on the back page. There were a total of 16 cartoons or pictures, with the idea that it might cause some laughter while the wedding guests were awaiting. Julie wouldn't allow me to do a tight 10 minute set of mother-in-law jokes, so we compromised on this. Click on the link for the complete set of cartoons
The Honeymoon
We decided to stay in Florida, and have a relaxing vacation instead of running around like our hair was on fire. We stayed a quaint Bed & Breakfast in Tarpon Springs for the first two night. Since it was the low season, we were the only ones there. We shopped at the Sponge Docks and found some great buys, traveled north to Weeki Wachee, and south to Clearwater Beach. While at Weeki Wachee, they wouldn't let me swim with the Mermaids, but Julie did get an opportunity to wrestle a gator. I was amused by the statue at the gates. They weren't Mermaids, but looked more like stripper with bad boob jobs (not that I know what THAT looks like).
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After a quick stop in Tampa at the Aquarium and lunch with some friends, we traveled down to Sanibel Island, and stayed in a quiet little motel on the east end of the island, near the lighthouse. Again, as it was the low season, only one other couple was there the first night, and we had the place to ourselves the second night. Great eating, wonderful little jazz club, lots of shopping, and LOTS of ....... relaxing.
Thanks -
Of course, we have to thank the families, whom without their support, this whole event would have been impossible. Joyce, where is the potato salad?
Where would I have been without a best man such as Richard Lambert? He's part father, part big brother to me. When I grow up, I hope that he's just like me.
Our thanks go out to Ed Sullivan for drafting the beautiful graphic for our wedding, and for securing the large banner, for helping keep things running smoothly, and for being such a good friend.
Many unnamed friends that helped throughout the wedding, and were so supportive (They kept Julie from running away).
We can't say enough about Les Draper. He worked with us to get the photos that we wanted, without being a typical photographer. and his pictures are true works of art. He's a great guy on top of it all.
And for our good friend Kevin McDeed, who married us, and spun records for us, all I can say is "I'm glad that I found her before you did."
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