Briggs Jing Wedding Photos

Jenny and I enjoyed a lovely wedding ceremony on Saturday, November 26, 2005, at 10:30 in the morning, in Xiamen, China. Lots of special friends and family were in attendance, and many more were too far away to attend. Please enjoy the photos!

Many people helped put the wedding together, and our thanks goes out to them. From the wedding preparations to preparing our new house to hosting our families, many friends and family were a huge help. Thank the Lord!

The floral entrance at the Asia Gulf Hotel was an exciting welcome.

Red roses ready for the ceremony.

Ben & Ben Hopwood before the ceremony.

Anran with the flower girl, Lea Parette, who looked amazing -- thanks to her mom!

Lea was popular for pictures, here with Liz.

Lea carried flowers, and Jason Townsley carried the Scriptures.

Ben with Huiliang, the Longyan orphanage director, and her husband Wentao.

Ben with some pretty Parette girls, Kalli, Jessa, and Amy.

Some of the local ladies dressed to impress: Soonmee, Amy, Jennifer, and Kitty.

Memaw and Chase both came! Looking good after a long flight!

Some Briggs posing for a photo before the ceremony: Uncle Michael, Chase, Memaw, Ben & Robbie.

More Briggs: Bonner, Anne, Memaw, Ben & Avery.

Ben, Robbie, & Uncle Michael.

Picturesque Lea in full attire.

Two cuties, Lea and Rebecca.

Memaw and Chase greeting Mr. Jing on the wedding morning. They had met just the day before when the Jings arrived from their home in the Nanjing area further north.

Lea and Xiao Jie. She and her mom, Xiao Ling Ayi, were very helpful in taking care of us during the busy time of wedding preparations.

Cute Cummins girls.

Getting seated for the ceremony...

The Briggs are seated for the start -- both attentive and a little nervous that their oldest son is getting married.

Kirk Parette and Nina Liu were the "Masters of Ceremony", which is normal for a Chinese wedding. In the United States, the pastor would direct the flow of events, but in China, the MCs direct the flow, including announcing the bride & groom and ushering in the pastor.

The flower girl and Bible bearer starting their way down the aisle.

Lea was very conscientious about setting out the flowers very slowly, and as such, they took at least five minutes to come down the aisle!

Jenny came down the aisle on her father's arm! I was indeed excited that she hadn't disappeared!

She did super and looked great!

The first song was "Perfect Love". The Briggs chorus is singing here.

The program had both English & Chinese translations of the songs. Jenny's mom and Kathy Laymon are shown singing here.

The second song was "Lift High the Cross", with Uncle Michael and Aunt Jan singing. They flew over from Oklahoma!

Jenny's good friend Wu Damin said the opening prayer, with Kirk translating.

The Briggs praying.

Kirk and Nina then read the Scriptures, 1 Peter 3:1-7 and Ephesians 5:21-33.

There were about 150 people there. Here are some Parette girls, Mike Yih, Jared & Allison Utterback, and others.

On stage and underway.

Pastor Rick and Translator Yanfei were ready for their turn on stage.

Pastor Rick gave the sermon message. He spoke of Sacrificial, Aggressive, and Unconditional Love for our spouse. Not easy, but a very good goal!

Ben giving his oath to Jenny: to serve her forever.

Exchanging rings. This is the real deal!

Rick and his wife Kathy came down from Beijing to officiate the wedding.

The last song was Amazing Grace.

Xiao Ling Ayi taking video during Rick's closing prayer.

Mr. & Mrs. Jenny & Ben Briggs.

Kirk gave the final prayer, with Yanfei translating.

Mr. & Mrs. Jing.

In Chinese weddings, the groom shares, so Ben told three stories: making friends in college, moving to China, and finding a wife.

Dear Kathy, and Jenny's brother Zhihui.

Giving flowers of appreciation to the Jings.

Also part of Chinese weddings is the father of the groom sharing a message. Robbie gave a moving speach on his perspective of my three stories. Watch the DVD to see what he said.

Robbie & Nancy during his speech.

Hearing Robbie's speech.

Photo time! Briggs & Laymons.

The whole family!

The Jings, including the 5-year-old Liao-Liao.

It was a treat for Barrett to make the long trip! His photos turned out better than the professionals'.

The new couple with friends Nina & Xiao Ling Ayi.

With the Parette family.

Bill & Kitty on the way to the buffet lunch!

Young Joshua Parette was quick to find the dessert.

Meanwhile, Lea was catching rays by the pool.

The kids enjoyed playing around the pool.

The buffet next to the pool and the beach made for beautiful scenery. And the weather couldn't have been more ideal. It was probably 65 degrees-F (19 C) in late November, which is unseasonably perfect!

The Wong girls found the pool too.

This was the first outdoor wedding buffet the hotel had done. The hotel just opened for business in April, and this deck had only been finished for about two weeks. It worked great for our reception!

Jenny's mom and Liao-Liao enjoyed the buffet with their chopsticks.

Memaw went over and sat with the Jings during lunch and told some funny stories via a translator.

A poolside photo with Jenny's dear friend Dr. Kaiyang and his wife.

The Briggs girls poolside.

Danni was the hotel representative who helped us organize the wedding.

Lined up to get some lunch. David Lambert with the spectacles.

Ben & Jenny with Forrest and family. He's the foreman at the leather factory.

Ben & Jenny with colleagues from the Barrington leather factory: CeCe, Tianshuimei, Tina, April, and Grace.

More colleagues. Practically the entire factory of 45 workers was in attendance. Xiao Lian, CeCe, Tianshuimei, April, Xiao Zhang, Way-Way, Queenie, Lily, and Xiao Lei.