Wedding Wednesday: The Ceremony

The ceremony. The whole reason for the party. Ahhhh…I will tell you flat out, I got lucky. I did not put half the time into ceremony that I put into the reception. I knew where I wanted it to be and how I wanted it to look but I never thought about the joy I would feel during it. If I could go back, I would have made it longer because it was so exhilarating. If you are getting married, make the ceremony a priority.

But like I said, I got lucky. Our pastor was so helpful and I think the ceremony fit us as a couple. And bless his heart, he had to come on this little cart thing because he has been having foot problems.

Of course, following him came the groomsmen, the bridesmaids and then the adorable ring bearer and flower girls (their outfits here).

I think he was a little nervous haha.

The weather forecast was iffy all week and I was more than a little nervous, but God had my back. It was so sunny when we got married that there was no worry of rain.

When it was my time to walk down the aisle, I was so impressed with how my dad and I held it together. I thought we would have been crying all over the place. It was at this time too that I was extremely thankful that we had done a first look…there were so many people there (around 200), it was hard to see Ryan’s face until I got closer to him.

After my dad gave me away, it was real. I was getting married! We begin with a prayer. Now this might be TMI but my nose was running like crazy! Ahh! So I took this moment to grab a tissue from my MOH. Your welcome for sharing my bridal secrets.

Back to being serious though, I really tried to take it all in. Our parents in the front rows…friends by our sides.

I wasn’t nervous like I thought I would be. I have have always been one to show my emotions on my face…happy or mad or sad, I have no control. Every word the pastor said was for us and I reacted just how I would in normal conversation. When he referenced the crowd that had come to celebrate our matrimony, I made this face…

Like I said, I didn’t put a lot of thought into the ceremony, but I am so glad I wasn’t a robot bride. We also didn’t write our own vows which I think helped tremendously with nerves. I truly do admire those that can pour their hearts out in front of a ton of people but for us, writing notes was a much better fit. The traditional vows were cool too though because if you think about it…so many people at the wedding had once said those same words to the person sitting next to them. Darn cute if you ask me.

When the pastor told us it was time to kiss, I was SO ready. I felt like Ryan and I were communicating without words the whole time. I don’t know how to describe it other than: magical. So after all the extreme eye contact, the kiss was what I was longing for.