Our Wedding : The Ceremony

Resuming re-caps!

The Ceremony!

I was shaking as we made our way (sneakily) up the stairs to hide in a little galley kitchen before the boys would see us. I was surrounded by my best friends and my family. This was when everything started to become less dream-like and more real to me. I stood behind my girls, who chatted quietly and excitedly. Every now and then, the girls would check in with me. But it was good to have the 10 or so minutes of quiet reflection for me. I had been waiting all my life for this...for the proposal, for the engagement photo session, to ask my best friends to stand with me, to find the perfect dress, to pick our wedding bands that we'd wear for the rest of our lives...as well as all the other joys and frustrations that come as you plan a wedding.

Just then, I heard the boys lining up on the other side of the door! Someone made Patrick laugh and once I heard his voice, my heart skipped a beat and the tears welled in my eyes. This was it! It was actually here and happening! I was so happy! I heard the string players begin, and knew that my mother-in-law was being led down the aisle by our cousins, then my little brother escorted my mother to her seat.

Next, the boys headed down the aisle!

They were followed by our sweet ring bearer and flower girls --- who took their jobs QUITE seriously!

After my lovely bridesmaids each made their way down the aisle, it was mine and my father's turn. 

I mentioned that Patrick's composition that he dedicated to me would be played by our String Quartet as my father and I made our way down the aisle. Well, I am sure it sounded lovely, but as soon as I stepped out with my dad, I couldn't hear anything. I saw my handsome groom, and that's all there was (He looked pretty happy to see me too!).

We walked together, this man who raised me to the man who stole my heart. It was beautiful. I kept squeezing my father's arm, partly to calm my nerves, partly to let him know how excited and happy I was and partly to imprint the memory in my mind. I looked around at my friends, family and all those who came to support us. I last found the eyes of my mom, and smiled. This was our day.

The room looked amazing. It was grander than I had planned or dreamed it would be. The flowers, the beautiful blue, and all my crafties looked perfect (Special THANKS to my Auntie who did all the set up that morning!). It was exactly as I envisioned, but BETTER!!! Our Officiant, Father Steve began the service. We heard beautiful words. We kept looking at each other. Much like The Office's Jim and Pam Halpert, we took "mental pictures" to remember each moment. 

One of my very best friends from grade school beautifully read our chosen reading. And then we heard our best friends' composition and performance of the Pablo Neruda sonnet in Spanish!

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

***

No te amo como si fueras rosa de sal, topacio 

o flecha de claveles que propagan el fuego: 

te amo como se aman ciertas cosas oscuras, 

secretamente, entre la sombra y el alma.

Te amo como la planta que no florece y lleva 

dentro de sí, escondida, la luz de aquellas flores, 

y gracias a tu amor vive oscuro en mi cuerpo 

el apretado aroma que ascendió de la tierra.

Te amo sin saber cómo, ni cuándo, ni de dónde, 

te amo directamente sin problemas ni orgullo: 

así te amo porque no sé amar de otra manera,

sino así de este modo en que no soy ni eres, 

tan cerca que tu mano sobre mi pecho es mía, 

tan cerca que se cierran tus ojos con mi sueño 

And then, one of my very favorite parts of our ceremony occurred. We were so lucky we got to hear our ridiculously talented friends sing an a cappella version of our favorite Shakespeare Sonnet. Sonnet XVIII. You can see the tears in my eyes in the picture. This was our love sung by our friends. It was an incredible moment that we won't forget.

Then we stood and looked over one another. We exchanged vows, the traditional vows in a marriage ceremony. Our voices were shaking, but we spoke the truth. I'm not sure about Patrick, but I felt like our vows were these wonderfully traditional words made true and real by the simple fact that we were the ones speaking them. I felt like we were saying them, just us, to each other. It felt like we were the only people in the room. We placed our beautiful wedding rings on each other's fingers. Father Steve blessed our marriage, and pronounced us "Husband and Wife." 

The Vows. 

The rings.

The Blessing.

"You may kiss your bride!"

And we we're officially two souls joined. 

Two very silly souls, joined. 

Next up, FORMALS and RECEPTION RECAPS!!!

Best,

Micah

Family, Friends, Toasts & Champagne! {Rehearsal Dinner}

First things first: I apologize for disappearing. As soon as we returned from the honeymoon, my theatre company opened our second production (of which I was the production manager), and then Patrick, myself and a few other friends went into rehearsals, and opened a run of the musical Next to Normal, followed by me immediately going into rehearsals for Evil Dead: the Musical (yes, that's right...Evil. Dead. The Musical.). Needless to say, our life as newlyweds began and continues to be super busy!

I want to begin re-caping our wedding, if only for the joy of re-living it. It was the best week of our lives thus far. Let's start at the very beginning, The Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner!

Our rehearsal was at 11:00am on the Friday before our wedding (there was another wedding happening that day in our venue), so we woke, got ready and headed out immediately to the Towers. I wore my white strapless BCBG I told you about, with my DIY beaded necklace!

My Soon-to-be Husband wore a matching shirt! Love.

I admit I was getting nervy and stressed on the way to the Towers for our rehearsal. We had spent the night before assembling the favors (which, of course, I'll tell you all about), and there were a few things that still needed to fall into place. I hadn't seen Patrick for a few days (I had left work early to be able to finish up last minute errands/projects before the wedding, and had headed down to RI), but as soon as I saw him, I felt the nerves calm and excitement grow!

To tell the truth, as soon as our Officiant arrived and took charge, things went relatively smoothly! Our groomsmen and bridesmaids stepped up to the plate! With our friends looking on, my dad and I preceded to practice our walk down the aisle to Patrick who was waiting for me. During the rehearsal of the Ceremony, both Patrick and I suddenly became very emotional. I believe it started really to sink in that the following day would be our wedding day. We could barely make it through the vows! I looked around at my friends; some from when I was in elementary school, some new friends; and to my family, the smiles shining from their faces. I started to really feel the love and support around us that would continue to grow through the rest of the day and continue past our wedding day that still goes on today. We completed the rehearsal and finally got a clear picture of what our ceremony would be like. It was just as we hoped for, but until then, couldn't fully picture. We were so excited!

After that, we parted ways again; the girls and I to mani/pedis and the boys for lunch and maybe a game or two of disc-golf. I opted to drive with Bridesmaid Joelle, who sweetly offered to cart me around. But when we got back to the place where she had parked her car, we noticed that her driver's side rear-view mirror was hanging by a thread! Someone had swiped the car, and knocked it almost off! We headed to the police station to report it (all the while, my stress levels slowly rising). When we got there, a nice family was reporting that they had swiped a car a few moments before! We found that it was the same accident, and cheer was restored to both Joelle's and my own faces as the report was filed and apologies were accepted.

We arrived late to the nail salon, and I made a few changes to my original plan for my nails (opaque white heart on the ring finger and bright blue toes). But I went with a soft pink for fingers and toes and outlines of hearts on the ring fingers --- I think they came out really well!

Final pic of my sparkly without the wedding band!

After all the ladies were properly pampered and polished, we headed home. I gathered up the peacock fingerprint guestbook and headed with my parents to the Tower House, the beautiful bed & breakfast where we stayed the night we got engaged!

My handsome little brother and beautiful MOH sister!

Guys, I can't sing enough praise for this place. Not only was the rehearsal dinner delicious and full of family, friends and love, but they decorated for us and made the place into (seriously) an enchanted garden. The weather was perfect, everyone was outside, there were lights and lanterns in the trees, and delicious nomblies around every corner.

But the best part of that night was the toasts. It's actually quite hard to capture with words the amount of love, honesty, friendship and family that were poured into each toast; and almost all of our friends and a lot of family members stood up and said something. P and I were overwhelmed with happiness! Our best friends made us all teary with their sentiments. Patrick's cousins made us laugh and cry and our ring-bearer and my little cousin stole the show with some fantastic lines ("I remember when you two started marrying each other..."). The toasts were such a gift to us. My grandfather came up to me at the end of the night and said "You know, you have amazing friends." And I do know that. I couldn't be more grateful.

 

With a beautiful rehearsal dinner where we re-connected with far away family and old friends, laughed and cried happy tears with our dearest and toasted and ate delicious treats, Patrick and I got ready to spend our last nights as an unmarried couple. He drove me home, just like he did when we met and carpooled to rehearsal in that fateful production of Birds of Paradise. We kissed goodnight. And turned in, dreaming of our wedding day!

More to come!

Love,

Micah

Somethings

Something old,

something new,

something borrowed,

something blue,

and a six-pence in her shoe!

The age-old rhyme. I love it. Such a sweet tradition for the Bridal attire details. I intend on doing my best to gather all my somethings for the big day! I got a little curious today and did a little research on the rhyme and this is what I came up with: The Something Old is supposed to be protection for the couple's future child. (Wikipedia said nothing for Something New, but it is my opinion that something shiny and new to wear on the wedding day is always cause for happiness). Something Borrowed is traditionally from another happy bride, to pass along that happiness and bring good luck. Something Blue (my favorite of course, I will have SEVERAL something blues) is there because blue is a symbol for fidelity. The six-pence is a British coin and acted as both a sign of prosperity and wealth for the couple, and a ward against any evil done by "frustrated suitors" to be worn in the left shoe. The tradition is attributed to Lancashire county in 1883.

Well, what do I have to show for myself? Lot's of stuff!!!

If you'll recall my posts where I talked about accessories, you will see that I am slowly but surely acquiring my somethings!

First; because I have been teasing about this for awhile, let me talk about one of my Something Blues. I found it in my first Friday Finds post and I couldn't stop thinking about it! Oh, get outta here P-man!!!

I mean it babe, 

SCOOCH! 

I'm about to talk about my 

wedding dress here!!!

Wee! So, When I tried on the dress last, I was talking with my mom and future MIL and we were talking about adding a little to the dress! We were thinking that adding a simple ribbon at the waist would really add to the silhouette. And my consultant suggested finding a brooch or button to tie it together. Well, I found one that I love! Also the Etsy seller One World Designs Jewelry was fabulous! She made sure that the package was delivered and sent me a beautiful little card to go with it, with well wishes for the wedding! I love the piece and I am excited that I now have a piece of the wedding that I could potentially pass down to my children in the future! Without further a do, here she is!!!

One of my Something Blues!!!

Yay! I am so excited to bring it to the first fitting (which I still have to schedule AHH!) and to see how to get it on my dress. 

I'll continue this post soon! I'm heading to a meeting with my boss from work to begin planning our ceremony! EEE! More on that later too!

What's your Something Blue? Are you planning on acquiring all of them?

All the best,

Micah