Our details were planned – we were going to get married at our own local church and we decided that the reception for our 200+ guests would take place at a little nearby jazz club called Cafe 267. First we attended several weeks of marraige consouling through our church and were able to adapt our pastor’s standard ceremony to fit our own distinct personalities and desires.
Speaking of ceremony – it was probably the most special part of our wedding day. Not because it is the moment when “the two became one” but because it was when Jeremy’s classical and mature style merged with my whimsical and passionate style. Opening our ceremony was a welcome speech from Jeremy’s father, Pastor Dad. Basically it was a warning that the coming ceremony was going to be just like the boyfriend and I – a little bit different 🙂
After he welcomed all of our guests, it seemed only appropriate to have a couple of our bridesmaids lead the people who were there to celebrate our ceremony in a couple of songs proclaiming the beauty of love and praising our Creator for allowing us to find one another! Afterall – God was really very generous to Jeremy…dontcha think? heehee. That’s a joke baby 🙂
Then the ceremony officially began. We decided a long time before that the ceremony would be extra emotion-evoking to both Bride and Groom if we had music throughout the entire thing. Sortof like a soundtrack. And we were right. Afterall – Braveheart had music throughout their wedding ceremony – and you can’t tell me that William Wallace didn’t look especially in love when you heard those bagpipes 🙂
All of our music players who rocked out a variety of instruments including drums, guitar, piano, and flutes, were special friends of the family and volunteered their talents for our big day.
Then Pastor Doug (who did our marraige counseling and preaches to us each Sunday) entered the church. We decided that he, as a representative of our God, would also walk the aisle symbolic of how our faith goes before us…preparing our way into this journey called marraige.
Then as the music changed, with an emphasis on the drums, Jeremy and his group of merry men marched down the aisle. The old people got a little startled at the sound of the music but we felt that my very masculine boytoy shouldn’t have to walk down to a girly tune. In the end, it was really quite manly – and a few of the groomsmen loved the idea so much that they incorporated it into their own weddings since.
Following the men, we employed the services of little kids that we are totally smitten with. These “celebration children” came skipping down the aisles (we had three) saying “THE BRIDE IS COMING!” and ringing their bells and waving thier ribbon wands. There was originally ten kids that we asked, but several of them got scared or sick so these brave four were our ‘little wedding fairies’ that got all the folks ‘awwing’.
Soon the tune changed from the magical twinkling fairy music to a more romantic feel to introduce the women of the bridal party. The girls in my crew all carried small fishbowls with clear stones and a singular votive candle. The glow in the dark room really added to the ambience of the entrance – and as they walked down the aisles, the room became more illuminated. I like to think of these gals as the ones who bring light into my life 🙂
But the girls weren’t the only ones who were lighting up the room – the entire stage and center aisle was sparkling with candles.
And as the bell rang five, the traditional Canon in D was playing, and my father escorted me down the aisle. I felt truly like a princess (and part weepy mess) as I clung to my dad’s arm and to my grandmother’s family bible.
I did want to mention that our good friend Kent did a few readings during the ceremony. They were mostly scripture but with music (of course) in the background.
And our Maid of Honor – my sister Lori and Best Man – Torrey, were there to hold our hand. Not literally.
Then came my favorite part of the ceremony…our ring exchange. We decided that it would be too hard for a five year old to hold still during our entire fifteen minute ceremony (c’mon…they have a difficult time with a two minute time-out) so my nephew Braden stood in the wings until his own special entry time came. As he carried a little wooden box that held our rings, he was the center of attention as he brought them to the stage and offered them to both Jeremy & I. (He did absolutely amazing too!)
Then Jeremy and I were able to give our golden gifts to one another. But as we slipped them on that all-important finger, we recited a memorized ‘ring ceremony’ that looking back was the boldest, riskiest, and most meaningful part of our day.
It went like this: (oh and I choked through the first line and we went back and forth with each line of our sentiments)
I give you this ring as a token of my heart and my love.
I give you this ring as a token of my devotion and my commitment.
The ring has no beginning and no ending, an emblem of my enduring faithfulness.
I give you this ring as a symbol of love,
a symbol of faith,
a symbol of all that we have promised,
and all that we shall share.
I give you this ring in God’s name as a sign of my faith in our strength together with the Lord and our Savior
a visible and constant reminder of my promise to be with you for as long as we both shall live.
A promise to protect
A promise to defend.
With this ring, I commit my heart to you. it is my gift to you. freely given
humbly accepted – an eternal symbol made of precious gold – it symbolizes that your love is a precious element in my life.
May it remind you always that you are surrounded by my enduring love.
The ring is perfectly balanced – reminding us that we can remain in balanced lives only in the Lord.
An eternal symbol of this joyous day and I will wear it gladly
I marry you with this ring, and join my life to yours
As I place it on your finger, I give you all that I am and ever hope to be – I choose you to be my wife this day and forevermore.
I am honored to call you my husband
and you my bride.
Right after the ceremony, we slipped away for a private moment in the church library…only we discovered later that it wasn’t as private as we thought. Good thing we didn’t do anything too obscene in church 🙂
So that’s it – a total recap of all the little special ins-and-outs of our ceremony. Looking back – I still can’t believe we made it through the ring ceremony without a single falter or prompt from our pastor. How funny would it have been if all of a sudden we drew a blank and yelled “LINE!” And with all that adrenilene, it was a very real possibility to have a complete mental fart. Did you dare to memorize anything for your own wedding day? Maybe it was the vows? Or maybe you just had a certain part of your ceremony that stood out? What was it? I need you to spill those ceremonial beans 🙂
Oh man, this almost brought me to tears!!! What a beautiful wedding. I’m sure it was even more beautiful than you described. I love how you made it fit the two of you. That’s how it should be. I absolutely love the candle idea and the kids announcing you were about to make your entrance. Too precious. Thanks for sharing!!!
Your blog looks wonderful that reminded me of my wedding ceremony. Enjoyed it very much.
BEAUTIFUL! I especially love the children going down the isle and that beautiful photo of you in the church library.
I love how special you created the ceremony! And your vows were beautiful, right along with your dress!
Awww what a cute story!
I honestly thought I was going to puke right before I walked down the aisle. I even had to run into the bathroom while the bridesmaid and groomsman were walking down. I guess I was just so nervous to be in front of everyone, and I have a nervous stomach to begin with. I don’t like being the center of attention, and I was so afraid of puking in the church in front of everyone and having to live with it forever. But then I hooked arms with my dad, and he smiled and said some sort of joke that I don’t remember(he’s a really funny guy), and I immediately felt ok. I was perfectly calm and super happy (like warm feeling all over happy) for the rest of the ceremony. And do you want to know something else really cool? My dad – a tough and stoic midwestern hunter type guy who never shows emotion… he got teary eyed when he was walking me down the aisle! I’d never seen my dad cry before, not even when he lost his mother. It was a really touching moment. He said he wasn’t sad, just really really proud. 😀
I love EVERYTHING about your wedding! It was so beautiful and I loved this series. It was told like a story (a guess that’s what you was going for!). Now let’s get to the honey moon! Where did you go? Oh wait, I think I forgot about the reception!
That’s absolutely beautiful. Where did you find the ring ceremony? Did you write it yourself?
I love that you personalized your ceremony so much! It makes is so memorable for you guys and your guests. 🙂
Looks like you had a beautiful wedding! I love all the personal touches – family involvement, lights, and children. 🙂 And what a gorgeous dress!
Our wedding was full of those big OOPS moments you see on AFV. I was sent down the stairs too early, only to round the corner and smack into my MoH, who then proceeded to trip up the alter steps twice AND lose a shoe. Candlelighters couldn’t get candles to light, so adults had to be called in. My uncle sang for us, and his voice cracked at a crucial moment of the song, which got my dh and I to giggling. By the time we were officially wed, our pastor couldn’t even look at us without giggling too. Camera man fell down the stairs while filming, and our flower girl was wearing a hoop skirt under her dress, and when she ran to sit down the hoop popped up over her head. 🙂 Memorable, fun, and almost 17 years ago.
Katie, I feel like I was there! You look stunning!!!!!
I totally love the ring ceremony script. Thanks for posting it. I might just have to snag some of those lines for my wedding in August! And the idea to carry your grandmother’s bible, absolutely LOVE! (although my mom is a florist, so that won’t go) but I may just embroider a special bible verse and tie it around my bouquet stem…Thanks for sharing so many intimate details of your wedding. I’ve enjoyed it this week!
My husband gave a testimony before our processional. And we sang a duet for our unity candle song. We were supposed to blow out our individual candles during the interlude, but I forgot! He reminded me at the end of the song!
Love your blog and have enjoyed your wedding story!
Wow, I choked up just reading your ring vows! I don’t know how you got through those without crying buckets. I also had a bell ringer, it was one of my favorite parts! Right after the Bridesmaids walked out, they paused Canon in D and Max went running down the aisle yelling, “The bride is coming! The bride is coming!” eveybody loved it, and it helped me be less nervous for my own walk down the aisle.
Your day sounds pretty much amazing. It is great to see that you took the extra time to incorporate little special moments. Thanks for sharing. p.s. I am going to be really sad when wedding week is over.
http://www.cdycattle.blogspot.com
OMG I looooove the last picture! That better be framed somewhere in your house!
loving the wedding recap!
quick question. actually coming from my bf. haha. i was telling him about the Bible bouquet and he was like “BUT DID SHE TOSS IT?!” lol.
but no seriously… we want to know. (:
absolutely beautiful!! Love all your special touches! Praise God for the unions He has put together! God Bless!!!
Whoa! So impressed that you guys memorized the entire ring ceremony! We wrote our own vows, and were supposed to memorize them… one of the lines went, “I promise to be patient…” and I completely forgot it and had to be prompted by our pastor, at which point, I said, “oh. I struggle with that.” and the congregation cracked up. (It was our first wedding anniversary on October 4th, so I’ve been blogging about my wedding this week, too: http://www.homeinthecountry.wordpress.com)
Oh Katie, awesome post! Thank you for sharing such a personal and special day with strangers around the states! Couple of comments: LOVE your reference to Braveheart because -I am not kidding- we walked out together to one of the awesome bagpipe songs in Braveheart. Yes! I always wanted the traditional Ode to Joy, then just LOVED the soundtrack (ok, and the movie) and I’ve never regretted having that song in our wedding! I loved all the songs we/I (Josh was in Army Basic Training our whole engagement) chose! (Of course he approved them all.) Second, the funniest thing that happened during our ceremony was that one of the groomsmen fainted! Yes, you read that right. And it was just before I started my vows, and I knew Josh’s back was to them and he wouldn’t know why I busted up laughing right when I was supposed to be saying my vows. So I managed to keep a lid on it, terrified that if anyone in the audience lost it, I would too. But everything turned out fine (groomsman included!). Oh, and my dad married us – totally awesome (yes, he’s ordained). Such a perfect, special day!!!!
Something that stood out at our ceremony…our pastor (whom we’d just met a week prior to the wedding since it was a destination wedding) called me Ma-lin-der the whole time. My name is Melinda. I will forever be called by my family and friends…Malinder…
We had a soundtrack too! We had a flamenco guitarist playing in the beginning, and then piano music playing throughout the ceremony. I think it added so much to the “mood” of our wedding. Everyone commented on how beautiful it was. 🙂
Your Dress is so pretty! I loved that you didn’t use flowers! So different and moving.
My favorite part of our wedding was also the ceremony. We had a very simlar style as yours. Counseling weeks before with our dear Pastor (PJ) – which i still fall back on when I’m screwing up. We had to have our wedding at a different churh because ours wasn’t big enough for everyone. When I think back to how it went down I can remember that the AC was broken, the flower girl refused to come down the aisle (her big sis had to carry her down, but it made for some entertainment) and the hymn was a mess. However it was a really awesome mess. There was a beautiful stained glass window behind us. My ring bearer carried down a little black bear with the rings tied to his hands. And my friend Mike had the most beautiful arangement for the girls to walk down the aisle. It was a medley of Canon D and As the Deer.
Thanks Katie for letting us in on your special day! It looks like it was amazing! My wedding was a simple southern wedding but my favorite moments was at the end and before my husband and I walked back down the aisle we looked out and realized everyone we loved was in one room and with divorced parents that never happens! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Katie! I’m loving your blog! Thank John & Sherry for the link!
How did you talk your friends into playing a whole soundtrack for your wedding? I love that, I think it would be so magical 🙂
Oh, I noticed a few posts back you mentioned being homeschooled, I was too! Rock on!
So beautiful! Congratulations to you both. I love that last photo! Well, I like them all, but the last one is perfect!
XO*Tricia
Congrats on your anniversary! The only problem we had at our wedding was me shaking…UNCONTROLABLY! I was shaking so bad that I was afraid of falling as I walked down the staircase that I was supposed to make my entrance from. But I made it to the bottom of the stairs & we’ve been together 10 years now.
absolutely beautiful. It looked perfect!
I love that your vows were personal and meaningful. I read my husband an exerpt from The Little Prince (the English translation!) and he read me the poem Love by Roy Croft.
I also think the idea of the children skampering down the aisle with bells is adorable!
Kelly
http://tearinguphouses.blogspot.com
My niece, who was my flower girl, fell into the little stream near where we were to have the ceremony. My sister (her mom) was freaked out and had to take her all the way back home to change. No worries, she had another blue dress. Fun times.
how beautiful!
I love it when people put just as much – if not MORE – thought into their ceremony as their reception. It’s the whole reason for party! Kudos to you!
Great recap! I love that last picture. It is beautiful!!!
Hey Katie! I thought I remember you posting a video of your ceremony and the boys going down the aisle. Please forgive me if I’m totally confusing this with someone else. I could of sworn it was your wedding though!
I just have to say that your wedding was beautiful! I was looking back at some of your posts and I have to answer the question you had about little moments. My husband (of 1 year!) refuses to kiss me when I’m wearing anything on my lips (lipgloss especially!). I got my makeup done and had lipstick and lipgloss over it. When it came time to kiss he did, then pulled away paused then wiped his mouth off. Everyone cracked up! It was hilarious! He told me later he was afraid I would get mad if he did that but he couldn’t stand it on his lips. A little memory I will always hold in my heart about my wedding day.
I got chills just reading about this! It made me nervous as if I were the one getting married…
Thank you for sharing 🙂
– s
Hi Katie,
I’m planning my wedding in Nov 4th and I was wondering if it’s ok if I print our your ring exchange vows and frame it to place on the welcome/escort name table?
Of course, I’d give you credit 😉
I know you wrote them and they are very personal, so I thought I’d ask first.
Thanks!
-kim