We thought of Bob Saturday afternoon as we dressed for his youngest daughter’s wedding. Bob Boggan was our friend and co-worker at The Panolian. He passed away last September. We miss him.

At Pope Baptist Church, where we’d attended Bob’s funeral, we were privileged to be among the guests at the wedding of Brittany Boggan and Corey Moore of Fulton.

The ceremony was thoughtfully planned with a nod to Bob’s taste in music. I whispered to Rupert that this was probably the first time pianist Amy Stone Florence had played Beatles tunes at a wedding.

When the mothers were being seated she played “Yesterday.” For the attendants’ processional, “Something.”

And an inspired selection, as the radiant bride stepped into the aisle, was “Here Comes the Sun.” Brittany was escorted by her grandfather A.D. Gatewood.

At one point before the ceremony, Brittany’s sisters Erica and Jessica lit a candle in Bob’s memory. Erica brushed against a clump of greenery lining the altar. The piece fell on the floor. Very quickly, Erica’s husband, in a very Bob-like gesture, jumped up and replaced the ferns to the spot from which they’d fallen. We all clapped.

At the start of the wedding, pastor Gary Berry recalled his conversation with Bob in the hospital a few days before he died.

“Brother, that ol’ boy asked me if he could marry Brittany,” Berry said, repeating Bob’s words. Then he reminded  “that ol’ boy” that Bob had said he’d better take good care of her.

At Bob’s funeral Corey had joined Brittany for a duet of “Holy Ground.” The couple included the same song in their wedding ceremony, with Jodi McCrimon as the soloist.

I may be giving the impression that this was a sad event. It was not. There was joy in that place. A sweet tenderness, with smiles through tears.

Almost upstaging the bride was her mother, Teresa. I’ve never seen a more beautiful mother-of-the-bride. She wore a dark green formal gown with sparkling beading. Her hair was swept into what I call a French twist and she wore a jeweled clip in it.

It brought to mind Bob’s frequent references to all the women in his life, including his granddaughter Grace who was a charming flower girl for her aunt. If you knew Bob you knew that his greatest purpose in life was taking good care of his girls. (Last summer Bob finally had another male join the family when his grandson Jackson was born.)

After the vows and rings were exchanged, Corey kissed Bob’s baby girl. As they walked up the aisle together, Amy played “All You Need Is Love.”