Through Will's Eyes: The McDonald Wedding

Lawson and Emma tied the knot!

Heyooooo everyone! The day has finally come and gone. Lawson got married over the weekend and we had an absolute blast celebrating him and Emma. This blog post needs no introduction so let’s get into it!

Friday: The Night Before

This wedding was one for the books. I have been going to multiple weddings throughout the last year as it is that time in life where a lot of my friends and family are beginning to get married.

We were all looking forward to this wedding for a long time and the weekend had finally come.

It started off with Yelle, Sam, Jamie and I leaving Minneapolis at 8:30am Friday morning. We started the 6 hour trek to Canada and had a great little road trip gang. Riding in a vehicle with Yelle usually means there will be no shortage of conversation and we did not stop talking the whole trip actually. It was a great way to kick off the weekend. We rolled in to Winkler around 3:00pm after a couple stops for gas and lunch and made our way right to Lawson’s farm to drop a few things off he needed. The families were hard at work getting everything in a perfect spot and it really looked amazing.

After that we headed to the hotel to check in and I had to change and get ready for the rehearsal dinner. Batesy and I were asked to be ushers for the ceremony so we were lucky enough to go to rehearsal and enjoy a quiet evening at the farm for dinner. Lawsy and Emma looked so happy and it made for an awesome time.

When dinner was over, Batesy and I headed back into town and met the rest of the group at the bowling alley for some drinks. Not much is open in small town Canada on a Friday night so the bowling alley was our best bet! Lawson’s dad called ahead and asked them to stay early and our lovely waitress Lisa was such an awesome help in making the little reunion a blast. All of The Hockey Guys were back together having fun as well as Lawson’s old Omaha teammates. We had a great night and we were sure to stay until last call of course…

Saturday: Wedding Day

Saturday morning started off with getting some breakfast and walking around Winkler. I played juniors in Winkler so it had been my home for a couple of years already. I took Yelle on a little tour around town and showed him the arena, a few shops, and all “Winks” had to offer.

After a little morning relaxation we went on a 3 mile run around town. The heat mixed with dehydration from the night before was unpleasant for sure but we got it done and it made us feel great for the rest of the day.

At 3:15, Batesy and I headed back out to the farm as we needed to be there before guests arrived at 4 for the ceremony. We got our instructions and welcomed all the people who were attending. It was an awesome and intimate ceremony and a few tears were definitely shed by the guys. Emma was a gorgeous bride and Lawson cleaned up well as we all know! Adam Wiebe (Emma’s brother) was the officiant and he did an incredible job in the ceremony. It was truly a beautiful scene and we were so happy to be there to witness.

After the ceremony we had a nice little cocktail hour and took a bunch of photos while enjoying the time together. At about 6:30 we took our seats and had an incredible dinner. I was blown away actually with how well the chicken tasted. 10/10 wedding meal for sure. When we finished eating it was speech time. Emma’s maid of honor and her sister Abby, blew some “dust” off of her speech paper as she had been waiting 10 years for Lawson to propose to Emma haha. That started lots of laughs over the next little bit as Cole (best man and Lawson’s childhood friend) gave an awesome speech as well. After they went it was the parents turn! Emma’s parents were hilarious before Lawson’s parents had people laughing probably the loudest. I love listening to wedding speeches when they are fun and cheery yet meaningful.

The hardest I cried all night though was after the speeches when a video was played. Lawson spent a few weeks creating this video of all the clips of their relationship since they were in high school together. It was such a Lawson thing to do and he absolutely nailed it. One of the coolest and emotional videos ever for sure.

Once all of the typical reception things were over, the happy couple had their first dance, mother/son dance, father/daughter dance, and then it was time for everyone to dance! “Let’s Get It Started” by The Black Eyed Peas came on and the whole dance floor was full until the night ended.

It was such a happy moment for everyone to be able to celebrate two of the best people in our lives. Lawson’s cousin lit some fireworks, the DJ played tunes, and we all danced the night away.

Being able to see two important people in my life get married to each other was one of the coolest things to ever happen. They had the best day of their lives and I will forever be thankful we got to help celebrate them as they deserved to have a magical day.

The first THG wedding is in the books and hopefully we will have another next summer ;)

Please be sure to wish Lawson and Emma a big congrats on their wedding as I know they will appreciate that.

Thank you all for reading as always and cheers to the newlyweds!

-WB