My Son's Wedding

Posted: 02 August 2008 Updated: 08 August 2008: replaced small images with final versions

My thanks to by brother-in-law, Mel Snyder, for sharing his official wedding photos.

This site is a continuation of the celebration associated with my son, Chad, marrying our new daughter-in-law, Candice Dlugosch. They met during my son's tour with the US Army - Europe band, stationed in Heidelberg. You can learn about their engagement here - I think it's safe to say that we all fell in love with Candice from the get-go, so we're very proud and pleased to have her in our family, and to meet and get to know her family, who made us feel quite at home during our relatively short stay in Minnesota.

The marriage was a deeply religious ceremony that took place at Saint Augustine's Catholic Church in St. Cloud Minnesota (a long drive from Norman, mostly up I-35), where Candice grew up. My son was baptized as a Catholic prior to the marriage. Presiding over the wedding was Father Meinrad Dindorf, whom Candice has known all her life.

We began the trip Wednesday morning (the 23rd) about 10 am, right after Vickie got off work - Heather and Michael rode in the Envoy with us, mostly as a cost-saving measure, but it was good to have them along on the road. Rolling into the motel about 11:30 pm, we finally got to bed after midnight.

On Thursday and Friday began various pre-nuptial festivities mixed in with wedding preparations . This gave us a chance to get acquainted with Candice's family, and we rapidly began to feel at home with them. The fun was about to begin ...

We meet Candice and Chad for lunch at Granite City Food and Brewery ...

Broasted chicken picnic with the family, including Candice, Richard (Rick), and Chad

Golfing with Rick, Brendan, and Patrick Dlugosch, as well as Chad - at the local links. Michael and I rode along providing morale support but didn't play ...

Patrick gets serious, playing a tough lie - and wound up making a good shot

Brendan tees off ...

Chad contemplates his next shot, from the edge of a bunker ...

The pedicure/manicure for Candice and the ladies ...

Working on makeup and hair for the ladies ...

Reheasing for the ceremony ...

The post-rehearsal dinner at Anton's ... that sweet young lady giving me the eye is Drew. She's Patrick and Carrie's delightful daughter, who charmed everyone

The bridal attendants, getting ready for the wedding ...

The fathers of the bride and groom, waiting for the ceremony to get underway ...

At last, here comes the bride! With her father ...

The entire marriage party: Carrie, Heather, Rebekah, Candice, Chad, Michael, Brendan, and Patrick

The ceremony over, Chad and Candice Doswell are presented to the attendees ...

Father Meinrad leads the rest of the wedding party out ...

The parents pose with the newlyweds ...

The Dlugosch family, post-nuptials - Rebekah, Rick, Candice, Patrick, and Brendan

My brother-in-law Mel photographing the happy couple after the wedding.

Mel, in the process ...

After the wedding, at Alumnae Hall and O'Connell's, Saint Benedict's College, with family and friends

OU Meteorology Ph.D. student Robin Tanamachi, with her parents, Jean and Steve Tanamachi

The rings ...

Rebekah and Michael offer toasts to Candice and Chad ...

Rick also offers a heartfelt toast ...

Hat once again affixed in its proper place, Vickie and I beam during the dinner following the ceremony ...

Chad and Candice, cutting the wedding cake

The happy couple, leaving the celebrations, on the way to their wedding night ...

Alas, the hour grew late, and the celebrations finally ended, so the bride and groom could retire for the evening at last.

Sunday morning included breakfast with Mel, before he had to catch a plane back to Texas - it was great seeing him again, as always. Following a wonderful brunch that started late Sunday morning at Rick's home with several family members, Vickie, Heather, Michael and I headed home on the first leg of the long journey back to OK. We stopped in Des Moines for the night, after encountering considerable traffic delays. Monday morning, we resumed our long drive and made it back to Norman safe and tired about 6:15 pm.