Kalaya's Flower Girl Debut

Oh my goodness. I have always wanted a girl and Saturday was the epitome of why. (Kalaya, if you eventually come to realize you were born in the wrong body, I appologize for all of the gushy girliness)

Our friends from college, David and Kim got married at a vineyard in Dallas, Oregon this weekend and it was beautiful. Nelson was a groomsman and Kalaya was the flower girl.

Kim asked me if Kalaya could be the flower girl earlier this year and I was SO excited and immediately said yes! It was so fun to shop for the dress and accessories. Then, as the day approached, I began to wonder what I had gotten Kalaya into. She is pretty timid and very shy in front of people she doesn't know, especially large crowds. But, we figured anything would be cute!

The rehearsal dinner was last Thursday and it did NOT go well. We tried to get her to walk down the aisle 3 different times, from me to Nelson. The first time she refused. The second time Nelson held a bribe (cheese stick) out to her and she started to go to him. Then, everyone watching applauded and she freaked out and cried for 20 minutes. The last time she wouldn't even think about it. So, we were pretty nervous for Saturday, especially since the wedding was during nap time and she would have already had to take a bunch of pictures as well.

She got up really early on Saturday, which actually worked out well, because she took an earlier nap. We got to the wedding site and got her all dressed up. Here she is admiring her pretty self in the mirror of the bridal room.


She posed for pictures relunctantly and only when we bribed her with (organic, sugar free) fruit snacks. (yup, I was kind of 'that parent'. Hey, it was better than the ring bearer who got bribed with M&Ms!!) She didn't smile much and wasn't too thrilled, but she did it. Luckily, she was totally in love with the junior bridesmaid, Cassie, and wanted to follow her every where. Cassie even managed to teach her to throw the petals out of the basket, something we NEVER thought we could get her to do, even in practice.

Practicing with Cassie

Sorta willing to pose for a picture....

Then, the big moment. She did great!!! She threw all of the flowers out of the basket and walked to Daddy, with only a guiding hand from Mommy. She was smiling and happy and did MUCH better than we thought she would. It was so sweet!! When I get a copy of the video, I'll definitely post it!!

Getting ready to walk to Daddy...

Elmo crackers for motivation....okay bribe....

Alright, some help from Mommy was necessary

And she definitely wasn't going to walk out on her own!

She was rewarded with an Elmo balloon at the reception. She did SO well. She was great at the reception too, even though were were at the site for over 6 HOURS!!!

Such a fun day!!!

Had to throw this one in: check out the socks the groomsmen wore under their tuxes!!
PS The bride and Kalaya both wore red shoes with their white dresses : )