Love Week Part 3

Here we are at the ceremony! If you missed the first couple recaps see here:

Part 1
Part 2

I think one of my most favorite parts of the first look was the fact that I got to ride to the church with the hubby. I remember scrambling around with my family trying to figure out if all the cars had left, everyone at my house had made it into a car and we hadn't left anyone behind. :) We didn't hire a limo or rent a car or anything because we had planned so many stops throughout the day that it was easier that way. To be honest, I was so happy we saved the money and I have no regrets about it to this day. My maid of honor chauffeured the hubs and I to the church and then our photographers chauffeured us to the reception (we stopped on the way to the reception to take pictures where the hubs and I had our "first date" in MD), a family member drove my car to the wedding and reception and then we took it from there.

I'll never forget walking down the aisle with my dad. If you knew my dad you would know that he NEVER gets nervous or anxious about anything. He's my super hero. But he was nervous walking me down the aisle! The walk seemed so short yet so long down the aisle. I was just trying to remember to walk slow, BREATHE, and smile. I wish the photographer had captured the look on the hubs face when he saw me walking down the aisle. It was one of my top requests on "the list" of shots or whatever but unfortunately it never came to fruition. Oh well, guess we can always have a do-over, right honey? ......honey?

For the ceremony, we had a very special person officiating. Growing up, he and his wife were like family to me (and my family). They are really good friends of my parents and he and his wife have a special place in my heart. To say it meant a lot to me for him to do the ceremony is an understatement. Both hubs and I felt very honored for him to do the ceremony. It was only his second wedding! The only other wedding he had done was for one of his kids, he was very nervous that he was going to mess it up. My dad didn't help that process either, the entire previous evening my dad kept saying the hubs and my names over and over again to the officiant, but switching the first letter of my name with the first letter of hubs name to try and mess with his head. The poor guy was so worried that he was going to mess it up the day of the wedding that the first thing he did was confess it to the whole congregation, just in case he messed it up! Haha, it was so funny to hear him sound out our names so carefully!

Hubs and I wrote our own vows to each other. We loved the traditional vows but still wanted to make it our own so we actually incorporated our own vows into the traditional ones so we could still say, "until death do us part". :)

My dad and sister are very talented singers but neither likes to perform in public, particularly solo. My dream ever since I was a little girl was to have my father sing and play guitar at my wedding but my dad had always said he wanted to be enjoying the wedding from his chair, not sitting in the spotlight. When it came time to pick the music out for the ceremony, I didn't say a word about him or my sister singing because I already knew he didn't want to and I knew my sister would be a ball of nerves and not get to enjoy the wedding at all! Unbeknownst to me, my father had already informed my sister that she had to sing and he told her he would sing back up for her. I nearly cried when my dad and sister told me. We picked Annie's Song by John Denver and there wasn't a dry eye in that church by the time they were done singing. They wouldn't let me listen to them practicing the entire time before the wedding so it was a complete surprise at the wedding to everyone. Everyone was coming up to my dad, sister and I at the reception saying, "I had no idea you/they could sing!" "I mean, I knew you could sing but I didn't know you could SING!" It was definitely a moment I will cherish forever!

We did our send off from the church, rather than reception. We knew some people could only attend the ceremony and that some weren't staying for the full reception and so it made the most sense to do it at the church. Next up a trip down memory lane at our first date spot!