A Little More on the Ceremony

As I re-read my Ceremony post, I wanted to say a few more things because I feel like, since it has already been over a year, I was not so specific in re-counting the details. To be honest, what I remember from our Ceremony is basically what I laid down in that post. All that stuck (and to me, all that mattered) was that Patrick and I were married in front of our friends. I can't recall every tiny detail, because I was hot, sweaty, nervous, excited and overwhelmed with love that day. And that doesn't bother me.

I know it was a beautiful ceremony. Our best man, Devin, recorded it on his iPhone, and (when we're ready) we'll listen to it again to remember the details more distinctly. But for now, I think my post, albeit it's vagueness covers what was very important in our ceremony. We exchanged our vows in front of our friends and families. We were blessed in our marriage. There was music. There were tears of joy and songs.

I love him, he loves me. We got married.

That being said, I am kind of kicking myself for not getting to these re-cap posts sooner to really get those details in! (Lesson learned). I've been to a few weddings now as an adult, and I find that the most important details will always stick. And that's all that matters!

Thanks for reading my self-concious re-cap review!

Best,

Micah

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

Hello, Hello, Hello!

Hello everyone! Like so many posts before this one on this blog, I am apologizing for disappearing. Again. I'll fill you in on what I've been doing...

Basically, from the moment we stepped off the plane home from Italy to now, I have been in a show. Not one, but four separate ones. Next to Normal with Patrick in August, Evil Dead: The Musical in October, A Christmas Carol reprising my role from last year (!), and The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus in January/February (for which I was acting and producing). So ridiculously busy!

Now that it's March, I think things are finally calming down a bit for me to return (triumphantly) to the blogosphere, keep up with some recaps and move forward! Good thing too, because Patrick and I have a big announcement to make...

We're going to have a baby!

Not kidding. Completely thrilled. Almost no words to express the joy and love. We found out a little before Christmas that we'll be expecting the Little One in August! (Woo hoo!). Patrick and I had decided not to wait too long before having kids. We feel incredibly blessed, overwhelmed with joy and excitedment and content.

Lucky me too, it just so happens that one of my best friends (and bridesmaids) Abbie is also expecting (she's a full trimester ahead of me, so it's been wonderful to ask questions and discuss things with her!). 

Facts:

I am, this week, four months and a week pregnant.

We are having a little boy!

We're moving to a bigger apartment!

So, you can see, our lives have been even more of a love-roller coaster. We've been lucky, again, to have quickly found an apartment we really love (a little further out from where we were before) and we've slowly been packing and moving into the new place. It already feels like home! I can't wait to share with you our decorating (especially Baby's room!) adventures and life as a married (and soon to be parenting) couple! Don't worry -- there are plenty of crafts, wedding re-caps, and other typical Roses are Blue posts! So stay tuned!

:) :) :)

My very (preggies) best,

Micah



How do you handle wedding stress?

We all get stressed, concerned, and anxious at times, especially with the pressure of planning a wedding. Today, in Lazy Sunday Land, I was reading an article on the Huffpost Weddings and thought it had some beautiful things to think about when brides or grooms feel overwhelmed about their weddings. Here's what Shannon Kellogg has to say about her ways of dealing with wedding-planning stress:

"1. Outward appearances are not a 1:1 correlation with happiness. You don't need to be a psychologist to know that people who appear outwardly "perfect" are probably not. It's just not possible to be perfect. And it would be rather boring if you were. While reality shows and magazines might feature fabulous weddings, a perfect wedding does not necessarily a happy marriage make.

2. I am so lucky to be marrying my fiancé. Whenever I would become stressed or overwhelmed with wedding planning, I would think about my single days before I met my future husband. I remembered how much I had hoped that someday I would find the person whom I was meant to be with. And here it was -- I had it! Thinking about how lucky I was to be with this man made the current stressors feel trivial. I'd go through it all again, so long as I have him at the end.

3. I just want my wedding to be loving and fun. I reminded myself about the actual goal of the wedding: to celebrate being head-over-heels in love, to join our families, and to have a great party together. Period.

4. My wedding is not tied to my self-esteem. My feelings of self-worth don't come from having the wedding of the century. My feelings of confidence come from within. The things that define me -- my love for my family, my passion for work, my quirky personality -- none of those are impacted by how my centerpiece looks or which photographer I choose. My wedding is a part of my life, but it is not all of me.

5. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Once I took the pressure off of myself to have a wedding that represents everything that we are as a couple, I was free to have fun. I realized that I wanted to enjoy planning the wedding while it lasted. I then had such a good time picking out a dress that I loved. I had fun talking to people about the wedding plans. I fell in love with the venue. I picked songs and flowers that I liked. And best of all, I felt the joy of being engaged."

-Shannon Kellogg, psychologist.

Here's the rest of the article! Lovely gem of advice for a musing bride on a Sunday afternoon.

Best,

Micah

Suddenly Soppy!

soppy [ˈsɒpɪ]

adj -pier, -piest

1. wet or soggy

2. Brit informal silly or sentimental

soppily  adv

soppiness  n

That's me, or at least, that's me these days! I know I have mentioned it before, that I am far more easily moved by movies, pictures, art, stories, anything since we've been engaged. Even at the since-broken wedding of Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, I got a little teary-eyed (and yes, I am deeply embarrassed to admit this). The other night, I was watching Disney's Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey and I cried when my character's break-up scene happened. Guys, I was reading a 'Real Weddings' story in BRIDES magazine and teared up. (The bride wore her mother's dress!!!) When did I become such a mushy-stuff-cry-face???

Ever since Patrick and I got engaged, I've become more sensitive to romantic things. I get a little happy-teary eyed at poems about love and Shakespearean Sonnets, and Rom-Coms and everything in between. Now, I have always been a hopeless romantic, so I connect well with the emotional life of a story, poem or artwork. So,  it's not that I'm unsure of the cause, but it's just interesting to me to have such a strong spike in my Soppy-Scale. Don't get me wrong, I'm very much enjoying being mushy with every slightly wedding-related thing or small heart-shaped candy on top of my cupcake. It's just funny to me that there's an apparent difference in how I react to things. Probably its that I begin to think about our marriage and what it will symbolize. And how exhilarating it will be to begin our lives together.

Therefore, I am only slightly not embarrassed when I get a little teary finding my fiance wearing his wedding ring around the apartment, or seeing a bride walk down the aisle with her father in a movie, or lately during the song in our production of a "A Christmas Carol" when Young Ebenezer proposes to Belle. Whatever! I proudly am a soppy fiancee and don't care who knows it!

Best,

Micah

Music to my ears!

Now that I am sitting down to write this post, I realized, I have not talked about music at all! Being an actor that gets herself involved in musical theatre all the time, and simply being a fine arts lover; music is and always has been a huge part of my life. And Patrick, of course being a composer, has music woven into his heart. Needless to say, it's going to be a big part of our ceremony and of our day!

Some decisions were easy to make: we're not doing Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" for my walk down the aisle.

Well, yes, I did. Or will.Whatever.

In the beginning of our relationship, Patrick composed a piece of music for me; a Variations for String Quartet. The piece is in seven movements, each breathtakingly beautiful. But it is the theme of the piece that really hits me. From the first time I heard it, way back before we had really talked about marriage, I knew that this would be the music that I would walk down the aisle with my father to marry my best friend to. It paints our love in the best, most truthful way possible and it makes me feel like I am home. I can't imagine any other piece. I, unfortunately, am unable to upload a music file of it right now, but I am working on that with P, so hopefully we can remedy that so you can hear for yourselves. In the meanwhile, we are hunting for a great string quartet to play it at the wedding!

We've also recently come to the wonderful decision to include a beautiful a cappella setting for male choir of Shakespeare's "Shall I compare thee..." or Sonnet XVIII. You may remember why this particular text is important to us. And since a big part of Patrick's undergraduate career and a large number of his friends were in a male a cappella group called "The Accidentals" at Trinity College in CT, we thought the best people to sing it would be our good and talented friends from the group. The whole thing makes me tear up just to hear it! And since Shakespeare is one of my greatest loves about theatre, and the meaning of the text is perfect, AND Patrick MEMORIZED IT and RECITED IT to woo me in the beginning stages of our relationship, it's a perfect choice for us. We are planning on having it sung just before our vows!

As I have said before, we are very fortunate to have such talented musical friends surrounding us. And I am so excited because Patrick and I just commissioned our good friend, Andrew (one of our groomsmen) to write an original piece for us; a setting of Pablo Neruda's Sonnet XVII for cello and soprano:

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.

We are thinking we might have it set in the original Spanish, to honor the Costa Rican side of my family. I love it either way and cannot wait to hear it! (Oh, and Erica (Andrew's wife and my bridesmaid and best friend) will be singing it as Andrew plays the cello)!!!

For our recessional song, we were thinking of using an arrangement (done by the mister for the string quartet) of "I've Just Seen a Face" by the Beatles. 

Here's the cute/awkward reason as briefly as I can tell it: On the night of our first kiss, we had been listening to songs from "Across the Universe", and after the kiss, when he was leaving to go home (he had forgotten his keys in my car and had to come running back), I was listening to that song. So, we think it would be fitting that after our first kiss as husband and wife, that song should be played. 

Other decisions, that have not been made yet, are proving a little more tough; like the first dance song.

At first we were going to go with "our song" which is gorgeous: "My Favourite Thing" by Silverchair. It has been our song since the summer we met for many reasons. 

Another contender that Patrick just brought up a few days ago is "Married Life" from Disney/Pixar's "Up" by Michael Giacchino. (Used in Mrs. Lioness' wedding from the Bee!)

Patrick and I saw the movie in theaters and were left sobbing in each other's arms (we'd have to end the dance before the sad part). The love between the two characters Ellie and Carl is depicted in one song that chronicles both the happy times and the sadder times in their marriage. It is love. Both songs are beautiful, and emotionally tied to us. It's just down to us picking just one! 

I'm 110% positive that there will need to be more music posts, but this is where we are at so far! I've got to say, I'm quite pleased!

Best,

Micah

P.S. There's a whole funny story to the first kiss that I may or may not plan to post on. Stay tuned!!!

Bridesmaids (An awkward love letter)...

No Not the movie.

Although it is hilarious....

I'm talking about my bridesmaids. My girls! There are seven of them, and I couldn't be more honored, more proud and happy to have them stand with me on my wedding day. They're awesome, and so supportive!!! (I wrote a ridiculously long and detailed wedding-update-email to them at 11:15 two nights ago and almost everyone responded right away!) They are all beautiful, talented and smart women, all have my respect and love. And all are very special to me.

Alex, Maid of Honor, sister
Claire, Patrick's sister
Amber, Patrick's cousin
Abbie, best friendie
Erica, best friendie
Katie, best friendie
Joelle, best friendie

To Alex, my little sister and Maid of Honor, I love you with all my heart. I am so proud of you. You are growing up to be such an amazing person! I love you, forever.

To Claire, I cannot WAIT to have you as my sister!! You are so sweet and unflinching in kindness.

To Amber, I also cannot WAIT to be a part of your family. You are an amazing woman, and I honestly look up to you.

To Abbie, Nyello --- you put up with my awkies sense of humour, cupcake/crafting soliloquies, and still manage to stay best friends with me! You are such a role model for me in your grace, creativity and passion. Love ya girl!

To Erica, you have taught me so much about what it is to be an actor in love. I have learned so much from you. You are beautiful, talented and one of the most generous people I know. Love you!

To Katie, you let me be myself! In all seriousness, you do. And that is something that I have rarely had in my life. Thank you. Love!

To Joelle, oh hai, you are amazingly, energeticly loving and you are always always there for me. And I will always be there for you!!!

I feel kind of silly writing this post, as I do not feel that words can really describe my relationships with each of these girls. I am honored that they will be standing with me as I marry Patrick, and I simply could not see my wedding without them. The are the ultimate gift I can have in my life for friends, and I am so grateful!

Love you girls. Thank you for your unwavering support, wise words, kind thoughts, consolation, encouragement, love and everything else that my grace-less thoughts have failed to mention.

Yours,

Micah