THE MARRIAGE OF SHANNON WILSON AND LUKE SEAWARD

The date was July 16, 2010. It started out as a dank and dismal day. Raining and pouring all day long. We were in the Adirondack’s at 4th Lake. The Northwood’s Inn in Inlet, NY to be exact. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about the weather even though I had asked for it to be Sunny and 78 degrees with a slight breeze, days in advance.
This picture shows you the spot where the bridal procession was to begin. Just so you can see that R A I N.
The wedding was planned for 5 p.m. , outside, and underneath a pergola overlooking 4th Lake.
Shannon’s Aunt Karen and her cousins worked diligently at putting the floral arrangements together that were to adorn the pergola. Luke, Dave, Brent and I helped them put decorations up in the pouring rain. I kept looking at the water that was filling up the aisle where they would need to walk in a few hours. Yikes ! Would it ever subside ?
About an hour before the wedding, the sun came out and dried away all of the puddles. It was gorgeous, sunny with a breeze, and about 78 degrees. (have faith Lee)
From here I have to tell you that this is the best wedding that I have ever attended. There was one surprise after another. Shannon's parents were tops in providing a spectacular day for our children. Shannon and Luke made the day fun and exciting with all of the things that they provided and incorporated into the day.
And here is how it went. Pictorially and in words.
The very first surprise was the bagpiper. A wonderful Celtic tradition. Here are Shannon and her dad. The flower girls were adorable. This is cute. The night before at the rehearsal, this little one marched up between Luke and MikeThe wedding
Luke’s friend, Chris Merkley, played guitar,sang and played harmonica during the cocktail hour. Mostly, Blues. He is extremely talented.

Todd our oldest son, was his brother’s best man. Here he is toasting, or I should say roasting the newly weds. The theme of Todd’s roast was that Luke always does it B I G . No matter what he has chosen in life thus far it has been in a big way.



Including winning the heart of this lovely girl.
These were the cutest and tastiest favors that I have ever seen. Strawberries covered in chocolate that were made hours before the wedding by Shannon’s cousin, Brittany Bean. Luke and Shannon had their bridal dance choreographed. For several weeks they went for dance lessons with Bess Koval, a ball room dance coach from Cortland. She even drove to Inlet prior to the wedding to give the kids one last lesson. The dance was much different than I had imagined. You would have had to seen it to be in as awe as we all were. There were many teary eyes as we watched the 2 perform this most touching and moving dance. I wish I had a video for you to see. No picture can show this one.

Now the next surprise was fun and could be done by all. Luke and Shannon hired a person to come in with a photo booth to take pictures of the guests. The guests could dress up in weird stuff and pose and then the pictures were given to the bride and groom and the guests also had a set of the pictures to keep.
And here are the parents of the bride
and Groom Shannon’s grandparents
Many guests came from far and wide to celebrate the Union.







It was so much fun. Then as an added treat, Luke hired a professional fireworks company to come in and display fireworks.
How cool is that ?
However, as you know, it ain’t over til the fat lady sings. Thankfully, they didn’t catch me singing at karaoke . They did however, catch a picture of Elwood Blues (aka Todd Seaward ) and some of the Blues Brothers singers.
This was a story book wedding from start to finish. Sunset on the lake presenting the new Mr. and Mrs. Luke Seaward.
The wedding of Shannon Marie Wilson to Luke Savage Seaward. Uniting in marriage the children of Michael and Janie Wilson and David and Lee Seaward. The 16 day of July 2010, 5 p.m. at the Northwoods Inn, Old Forge, NY.
Pictures of the event.



Todd Seaward with Grandma Seaward, Jessica and Christina Seaward

Other family and guest photos all thanks to Leigh Kinneally, Todd's girlfriend.

NICE PIC OF LEIGH MARIE AND JESSICA RANDALL(above)

The new Mr. and Mrs. Francis Randall (above)
Groomsmen:Brent Randall and Shane Wilson (Shannon's Brother) above

Mr. & Mrs. Luke Seaward (above)
David Seaward, proud father of groom escorting his mother, Luke's Grandmother (above)
Laura Ford - Brent Randall's girlfriend and new Mama of Dylan Randall
Justin and Sarah Block, cousins of the groom (above)
Mike Wilson, Shannon's Dad
The wedding party toast.
Lee Seaward, mother of the groom and Brent Randall (above)
Meghann & Mike Johnson, friends of the newly weds
YOWZA ! Sarah, Lee and Leigh (above)
Mostly Seaward's (above)

Fran Randall, Chris Merkley, & Brent Randall (above)

AND.................
The next two shots are of the proud Mother and Father of the Bride,

Janie Wilson and Mike Wilson.

Janie Wilson (above)
Mike Wilson (above)

THE END !!!!

THANKS FOR BEING A PART OF OUR LIVES AND SHARING IN OUR HAPPINESS.

CHILLIN IN ST. LUCIA

Dave and I finally got a chance to have a time out and relax. This is the first time in many, many years that we have actually taken a trip that didn't revolve around BUSINESS.

Yes, we had 1o days on the Island of St. Lucia in the South Eastern Caribbean. The resort was located between the Atlantic Ocean and The Caribbean Sea. So, you had water views from both sides. We were lucky to be on the Caribbean side. We had a spectacular view from the balcony of our room that changed constantly. These are just a few shots that we took from there. Several mornings we ate breakfast on our balcony.

While we were there we took a water trip by catamaran to see some of the sites on the island. On this day we were headed to Soufriere to see the volcano, mineral baths and botanical garden.

We went to Diamond Botanical Gardens and saw the water fall located there. This is the waterfall that was filmed in the movie, "Romancing the Stone".

The gardens were beautiful. We were disappointed that we did not see parrots or many undomesticated animals on our trip. One dead snake that we were told was very poisonous.On this trip we also saw the Pitons, these two mountains in the background, that are landmarks of St. Lucia. One of the highlights of our trip was zip lining through the Rain Forest. The zip lining itself wasn't too bad once you got the hang of it. (no pun intended for those of you who have done this and know what I mean) Getting to each zip line was another story. It is very warm and humid in the rain forest and there was a lot of climbing and hiking to each line. Some of the lines were 1500 feet in length, but they never told us how high up we were. Here I am zipping along.

There were two rope bridges that we had to cross. It was scary and a bit strenuous. It was a good thing that there were a few people ahead of us, as there were times that I had to catch my breath after the climbs and hikes. The harnesses that you wear are not too flattering or I would show you the shot Dave took of me on the rope bridge. One of the kids that put the harnesses and safety stuff on us asked me if this (zip lining) was on my "Bucket List".

We took a couple trips into Castries to visit the central market. This was like our farmer's market and flea markets. Dave was looking for locally made herbal remedies. At the market we found all kinds of yummy spices. The women selling the spices, as well as some of the women that were buying from the vendors were very helpful and gave us information on how the many spices could be used medicinally. Here are some ladies that were trying to tell Dave how to use the local spices for making Spiced Rum.They were so sweet. They kept telling him over and over, until he finally got it. They also told him that the spices would be VERY GOOD for him. The lady in orange was the vendor and the other two ladies were shoppers.

The market was a fun place. We really liked the part of it that was like the farmer's market. Dave saw a young fellow with a liter water bottle that he was having filled with coconut water. There was also an older gentleman that got some coconut water and drank it straight from the coconut. Thinking this was pretty cool, Dave bought a coconut for a dollar fifty Eastern Caribbean (about sixty cents US) and the lady selling them cut one open for him with here machete.

She spoke only Creole, so another lady there told her what Dave wanted. Here he is drinking his coconut water. He also had her cut the coconut in two and he ate the jelly inside.

As luck would have it, all of our spices made it home from St. Lucia.

We took a ton of pictures while we were there. Well about 1000. We got a kick out of taking shots of flowers and statues and just cool looking things. This is an archway in the resort that kept changing with the light. It was rainy and then sunny.
The trees and the flowers were amazing. Look at these.

Another thing that Dave enjoyed picturing were the sunsets. Always awesome.

Each day we got going fairly early. We walked on the beach, climbed the mountains, and always made sure we got out early enough to grab a good spot on the beach. The water was great and the sun felt even better. It was in the eighties every day and the trade winds made it perfect. Here is Dave on the beach. Yes, he is looking for stones, coral and shells. No he didn't completely detour away from business.

The beach was kept clean and each morning you would see the guys out picking up and raking the sand. Here is a wheel barrow with a great saying.
We truly had fun and we did relax. Being in the water and on the beach was a high point for me. Dave said the best thing he did was get a massage. He waited til the next to the last day to do it. He was pretty mellow afterword and he said he thought he had died and gone to heaven.

And there we were, Just Chillin in St. Lucia

and as the Island People would say:

No Problem ! No Pressure !