September 20, 2008

Let me preface this post by saying that I had the hardest time writing it! I had no idea what to include, or what not to include, and how many pictures to put in...but as much as I tried to keep it short, it just seemed rather impossible. So, I apologize now for the length of the post. You can skim if you want! :)
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There are many stories I could tell you about my wedding day. But for the purpose of this post, I want to focus only on the positive and beautiful day that was, and the fact that B and I committed ourselves to each other. I'll be sure to share all the other details at a later date... :)

I arrived at our house at 4:30, after a busy morning getting my nails and hair done. I had woken up at 7:00am with a feeling of nervous excitement...that was the only nervousness I felt the entire day. I just couldn't be nervous. I was marrying my best friend and the person I loved... It was a beautiful day. Not a bit of wind, and only slightly cloudy. By the time the ceremony started, it was in the lower 70s and the night stayed relatively warm.

B and I had made the decision not to see each other before the ceremony, and because of this, he stayed at the house and got ready, while I had spent the previous night at a hotel with K. This allowed me to spend the day with K and my sister...and for all the decorations to be a surprise when I arrived at the house.

I barely saw anything when we pulled in to the house because I was so busy hiding in the car and trying to get into the house without B seeing me. The plan was for me to get dressed, take some photos, and then the ceremony would begin at 5:30. There was some confusion at this point on my behalf. I thought I was supposed to be waiting for the photographer to take pictures of me getting ready...and I think she thought she was waiting for me to be entirely dressed. I spent quite a bit of time waiting for my other bridesmaids to arrive, and running around the house trying to make sure things were taken care of. Some of my beloved friends came in the house to see if I needed anything and I was so happy to see them. Before I knew it, it was 5:00 and I still wasn't dressed! I finally started getting ready. Time was flying. I got dressed and we took a few pictures, but not nearly as many as I had thought we would take...I was told not to worry though, because we would take more later.

Our friend Ken, was acting as our wedding "planner" for the day, and he was making us stay on track. When he came in to tell us that we had 1 minute left to take pictures, my heart jumped. I couldn't believe that I was getting married! Suddenly, I heard the music start for the wedding party...and they opened the front door...and there was B! Haha. I shrieked a little and hid...and luckily, he didn't see me. It was at this time that my mom and B's mom were escorted down the aisle. B picked all the music for the ceremony, and the wedding party walked down to Mannheim Steamroller's "Cavatina." It was a four minute song...and I started to worry that not everyone was going to get down quick enough. The flower dog and the ring bearer had to wait until the mothers lit the unity candle, and it seemed as if it took forever... But eventually, off they went. As my first bridesmaid stood waiting for her chance to walk down the aisle, I felt tears come to my eyes. I was overwhelmed at the fact that it was finally here...and I was about to be married to the person I cared the most about in the world.

I suddenly found myself left alone in the foyer to our house. It was at this time I thought of my dad, and wished he was there. I wondered what he would have said to me before we walked down the aisle. I wondered what he would have thought of B and of the beautiful place where we were getting married. I really wished I had him there to walk with me. I had made the decision to walk by myself because I couldn't imagine anyone else walking me down but my dad...but it didn't make it any easier for me.

I was lucky that our ringbearer's mom came back and told me she was going to help me out the door...my train probably would have gotten stuck somewhere without her help. :) Ken was suddenly telling me to go. I realized though, that the wedding party's song was still playing and was like no...I don't think I'm supposed to be going. It was a confusing moment...but I didn't go. :) The beginning of the version of the wedding march B chose for me (Aaron Meyer's "Here Comes the Bride...you should search for this, it is beautiful) had soft drums playing...and I wanted to wait until they were over before I stepped out. So I kept the guests waiting for a minute or so. I stepped out of the house, and I lost all sense...I remember our friend telling me to go slow. I wanted to stand there for a second, but when he told me to go slow...I just got plain confused! I had to go down steps, and this made my dress get out of whack in the front...and then I was trying to walk slow (although I think I ended up going fast) and I felt myself trip some on my dress. :) Ha. This is where having someone to walk with would have made my walk so much easier... You can actually see in the picture that it did get stuck under...I imagine that is the way it looked all the way down the aisle (I haven't seen all the pictures yet). I don't remember much else from my walk down the aisle...but thinking watch your step! And of course, seeing B. When I finally got to the actual "aisle," I could see him. He looked so handsome in his tux. And he was smiling at me. I didn't take my eyes off of him.

I made it to the end of the aisle and stood there with our pastor. And then the ceremony began. B and I faced each other and took each other's hands. I couldn't stop looking in his eyes. We went through the gathering words and the opening prayer...although the pastor did forget to ask who gave me away...my mom had wanted this part to be included, despite the fact that my dad was not there. After the declaration of consent, my friend N read a poem called "Love," by Roy Croft.

Love

I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you

For the part of me
That you bring out;

I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can't help
Dimly seeing there,

And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked
Quite far enough to find

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.

Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good.
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.

You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

After N's beautiful reading of the poem, we had a scripture reading, and then exchanged our vows. B and I wrote our own...we said a lot of the same things...and mine were of course, a bit longer then his. He was rushed to finish his, and I'm a writer, so of course mine were longer. :) I thought I would cry, but I didn't. We both love to laugh, and of course, our vows included some things that made us laugh...one of the reasons that we love to be with each other so much is our ability to make each other laugh...so I am glad that we were able to have fun with our vows, but also make them somewhat serious as well.

We then exchanged our rings. I had a very hard time getting B's ring on. I think his finger grew from the time we bought our rings 2 months before! :) I pushed and pushed, and he then had to help me. And poor guy, by the end of the evening, could barely get his ring off because it was so tight, his finger got swollen! Anyway, it did cause a bit of a laugh. :) Then we had the blessing of the rings.

We then lit the Unity Candle, and during this time, Josh Groban's "To Where You Are," was played in memory of my dad. This was the first bit of time that B and I got to actually take a breath. He told me I almost made him cry when I came down the aisle...and I told him he looked snazzy in his tux. It was nice to have this time to breathe and just be with and enjoy each other during the ceremony.

When the song was over, we received the Ministerial Blessing, the Benediction and more blessings, and finally, B was told he was allowed to kiss the bride. :)

We were then announced and walked back down the aisle to 98 Degrees' "True to Your Heart."

After everyone made it back down the aisle, we went back to the rows to greet everyone. It was wonderful seeing friends that I hadn't seen in years, and those that were there from the very beginning. We took some pictures (don't have any of those yet) and finally were ready to enter the reception area. I hadn't seen the completed reception tent, and it really was just beautiful when I saw it. It was lit only with the white lights and lanterns. We were introduced and then the eating began. The food was great. I couldn't really eat much though, as I felt like my undergarments had been put on a little too tightly! :) I'll let the pictures do much of the rest of the talking for what took place at the reception...I don't have a picture of the cake yet (although I did smear some cake on my lovely husbands face)! Our toasts were great and we danced some and the reception was definitely a lot of fun.

Entering the Reception

My best Friends and I

Our First Dance to "When God Made You He Must Have Been Thinking About Me"

A Picture with all my former staff members...also known as my family

By the time the reception ended (around 10:00), B and I still had to feed all our animals and finally get to bed. Responsibilities don't go away, not even on your wedding day! Probably my favorite part of the evening though, was when we first went back into the house after everyone left, to get ready to feed the animals...when B said "Hi Mrs. B." It made me smile. And made me realize that we were finally joined as one.