The word "selfie" is a somewhat new edition to our language, and designates a photo one takes of themSELF, usually with their "mobile electronic device". However, because my son married a beautiful lady named Stacy SELF, pictured here with her daughter Kaylee SELF, I am calling ALL of the photos in this article "selfies", because ALL of the photos relate to the wedding of Kaylee SELF to Dean Johnson!
I am always thankful for happy occasions where I get to spend time with my son, pictured with me in this photo.
Before the ceremony, there was one section of the wedding venue that was just for the females, as preparations were made to get the bride looking gorgeous for her big day. Kaylee was glowing, as we had our picture taken together, shortly before the festivities began.
I call this the "Pink Ladies" photo! My cousin Debbie was my guest to the wedding, and she wore the solid color pink dress. Kaylee's grandmother Jan wore the floral pink dress, and I wore the pink jacket. Although we did not plan this color palette in advance, it made for nice photos!
Our rooms at Callahan's Lodge in Ashland, Oregon, (
www.callahanslodge.com ) had balconies that overlooked the patio and lawn, which gave us a "bird's eye" view of the guests, as they started arriving,
At the guest sign-in table, there was a military flag, medals, and photo tribute to Kaylee's late father, TSgt Shawn W. Self, USAF. This photo shows Shawn's sister, April (along with her daughter), signing the guest book. And this was no ordinary guest book! It was a custom-designed, coffeetable sized book, full of photos of the bride and groom, along with large blank spaces for the guest to write a comment or memory for the couple to read later. This was also the location of baskets of fans for the guests to pick up, to keep themselves cool during the evening, as well as tell the names of the bridal party.
One side told the names of the Wedding Party , and the other side told the order of service, along with a personal note from Kaylee and Dean welcoming the guests to their special occasion.
The couple had sent out a "Save the Date" announcement months ago, that resembled a NY Yankees baseball game ticket. This was a clue for the uninitiated, that Dean is a HUGE New York Yankees fan! The baseball theme continued with a tree full of baseball souvenir ornaments that also told the seating location of the guests for the post-wedding feast. Likewise, there was a glass cylinder of baseballs beside the photo of Dean and Kaylee wearing NY Yankees baseball jerseys. The groom is an NBC News broadcaster in Wyoming (
www.kcwy13.com ), but I don't think he would turn down a job to be the sports broadcaster for the NY Yankees! ( Considering the bride is completing her training this year to be a Licensed Respiratory Therapist, she will have no trouble finding employment in about any city with a hospital!)
There were SO MANY memorable details about the wedding, that it is impossible to list them all, but since the groom is a graduate of the university that boasts the "Oregon Ducks", along with their famous green and yellow colors, it is not surprising that Oregon-logo socks were on the groomsmen. Also, the groomsmen had ties on that included the embroidered initials of the bride and groom, along with their wedding date. In addition, the groom gave each of the groomsmen, custom made cufflinks, that were fashioned from actual baseballs from New York Yankees games!
Everyone at the wedding turned their bodies, so they could see the bride as she made the long journey from inside the lodge, across the patio, down the stone steps, across the lawn, through the topiary-lined aisles between the dozens of guests, and ultimately into the arms of her husband-to-be!
My son was very honored to be the one who walked her down the aisle!
When they arrived at the gazebo, they were joined by Kaylee's mom, plus Dean's mom and her husband, for the traditional question "Who gives this woman to be wed to this man?"
The next part of the ceremony was especially meaningful to me, because the bride chose a passage from "The Love Chapter", to be read by one of her bridesmaids, from a Bible I had given her for high school graduation: "Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." I Corinthians 13:4-7
It was also especially meaningful that Pastor Ray performed the wedding ceremony for Kaylee and Dean, because Pastor Ray was also the one who performed the wedding ceremony for my son and Kaylee's mom several years ago.
I was giving thanks to God that there was no rain on this outdoor celebration! There were some large forest fires in some of the adjacent counties, that made their presence known by a gentle sprinkling of ashes on the all-white tablecloths. Considering the venue was in a town named "ASHland", it all seemed very appropriate! The cloth napkins were kept free of ashes, however, because they were each covered with a clear glass, monogrammed coaster, that the guest could take home with them as a souvenir! (Thank you for such a nice gift that will be a reminder of this fun day!)
The official wedding photographer was a friend of Kaylee and Dean's named Justin, and I had strict orders to stay out of his way! ( All of the wedding party was aware of my reputation as a "photoholic"!)
After the wedding ceremony and photo sessions, we all enjoyed a delicious buffet. I especially liked their menu choices, because there were giant bowls of green vegetable salads!
A fun activity the couple planned to get the most out of the dance floor, involved forming a "tunnel of love", made up of the groomsmen and bridesmaids joining their hands high in the air, forming a covered passageway, for the bride and groom to run through, as they stepped onto the dance floor. Not surprisingly, the Oregon fight song, could be heard echoing through the Ashland mountains as they skipped, trotted, ran, sprinted, and waltzed onto the portable dance floor!
The first dance of the bride and groom after the ceremony is always a highlight, and this was no exception. They moved together flawlessly!
The bride and groom enjoyed sharing a bite of the GORGEOUS wedding cake, that was topped with their initials. They are smiling, as was EVERYONE who attended this heart-warming celebration of such a great couple! As they start their lives together as husband and wife, I am praying they will have "MILES OF SMILES"!!
Matthew 22 in the New Testament contains the "Parable of the Wedding Feast", and this story has new meaning for me, since I had the enjoyable experience of attending the wedding festivities of Kaylee Self and Dean Johnson recently. At the time Jesus spoke the parable, a wedding feast could go on for days with much food and merriment. Such was also the case for this early August wedding weekend at Callahan's Lodge ( www.callahanslodge.com ) near Ashland, Oregon.
Guests started gathering at the lodge on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful summer day, and the large, manicured lawn of Callahan's Lodge was partially set up for the wedding, to give the bridal party an idea of where they would be walking and standing on the actual day of the wedding. A covered gazebo at the east end of the lawn served as the backdrop for the ceremonies.
This photo shows a bridesmaid and groomsman practicing their stroll down the aisle, while us family members practiced looking pretty for the camera!
Pastor Ray had given the groom and groomsmen instructions on where to stand and how to behave, but they nonetheless did some taunting and bickering among themselves, to help get them through the awkward wait for the bride. However, at least they all got the memo to wear shorts for the rehearsal!
My son also got the memo about wearing shorts for the rehearsal, as he practiced escorting the bride-to-be down the center aisle.
The maid of honor stood "on call" to be of whatever assistance that would be needed, as the bride would be wearing a wedding dress with a lovely long train on the following day. Pastor Ray briefly explained to the couple what he would be talking about to them on the next day, and the order of the wedding nuptials. 
During the rehearsal, a helicopter (painted the traditional Oregon colors of green and yellow) kept buzzing the lawn where we were gathered. This gave us an opportunity to see what movie stars feel like when their weddings are photographed by the paparazzi! Since the groom works in television news broadcasting, he is probably used to having helicopters flying overhead when he is doing an "on location" report!
After the rehearsals were complete, the groom's family hosted a pizza and salad buffet on the outdoor patio beside the lawn. Once again, I was thanking God for the nice weather and for being served my favorite meal!
Kaylee and Dean seemed to be enjoying the camaraderie as well!
After we ate, Kaylee and Dean invited the bridesmaids and groomsmen up to the deck so they could be presented with their "swag" gifts from the bride and groom to help them remember this special day. Each bridesmaid received a custom-made purse, filled with makeup, jewelry, wallet/phone cases, and more!
Although the groomsmen did not get purses, their gift bags DID have custom-made cuff links from actual NY Yankees baseballs, monogrammed ties, green and yellow Oregon socks, and more! The wedding party was all smiles after this fun gift-opening ceremony!
As darkness settled over Callahan's Lodge, the twinkle lights that lined all the balconies and lawn glowed---almost as much as the bride and groom glowed in the anticipation of their wedding the next day!
To help pass the night away, the guys set up their ring toss game (in green and yellow colors, of course). Some of them had apparently become experts during their college days at this familiar "tail gate party" activity! This photo also shows some of the Wyoming television news crew that had come down to Oregon for the wedding. 
Kaylee and the gals were using this custom-made scoreboard to track which team was winning the ring toss. And of course, it was painted green and yellow!
The feasting did not stop when we got to our rooms in the lodge. Kaylee and Dean (and their helpers!) had prepared a lovely gift basket for our rooms that continued the baseball theme. I especially liked the water bottles with the couple's photo on them, as well as their wedding date and inititals. They had also written out a greeting to us, along with the verse from I Corinthians 13:4-7. It says, in part, that "Love is kind", and it was certainly very kind of them to give me snacks for my room!
Callahan's Lodge has a section on their website devoted to backpackers who are hiking through the Ashland area on the Pacific Crest Trail. One couple there had started on the trail in Mexico, and were headed northward to Canada---that's alot of walking, all while carrying your "house" on your back! For a fee, backpackers can have resupply packages mailed to Callahan's, to be picked up when the hiker reaches that location. Also, for a fee, they can use shower facilities, laundry facilities, and permission to lay out their sleeping bags on the lawn. I was still on "Central Time Zone" instead of Pacific Time, so I awoke early enough to see them still dozing cozily in their sleeping bags, and took this photo from my second story balcony. However, the backpackers were long gone by the time most of the hotel guests woke up.
Saturday morning found us once again outside dining al fresco, as we ordered delicious treats from the Callahan breakfast menu. 
The bride-to-be gave us a "shout out" from her third story balcony, letting us know that she and her bridesmaids had survived an all-girls, "grins and giggles" slumber party in their room the previous evening!
The 
While the previous photos have shown people who came by plane, by motorized vehicle, by helicopter, or on foot as backpackers, this photo shows that some people come to Callahan's on horseback! It's not often you see a horse in the same photo as an Interstate 5 highway sign! No matter HOW we arrived at this big event for Kaylee and Dean, we all had "MILES OF SMILES"!! Tricia
