The Ceremony

Our wedding ceremony was one of the most emotional moments of my life. It was truly remarkable... We had spent a considerable amount of time planning the ceremony. We selected an officiant whom we felt a connection with and one that we felt had a "presence." As a nonreligious couple we were so happy to find Bruce Otto, a retired Reverend; at the wedding you might have thought we had been attending his church for years (more than one guest asked us this in fact!). We also "crafted" our ceremony to contain messages/themes that we value in our relationship. I say crafted rather than wrote because many of the elements (paragraphs, sentences, etc) where selected from a book I posted about here. The music was selected based on how the song made us feel, as cheesy as that sounds! We kept the decor minimal. The room was so "warm" on its own with the sunlight on the brick walls and we decided that we preferred a simple, understated look that wouldn't compete with the ceremony...

We used several shades of pink roses and the ribbon that was used throughout from the invitation to tying the linens on the highboys. {You will see the hanging flowers again later in the day}

The programs that were a labor of love and that people did actually read; this handmade leaf paper was used throughout the reception as well...

We waited for the ceremony to start in this little hallway that was filled with skylights...

This photos is from right after my dad sat down, we peaked at each other with these little smiles and with so much emotion in that one look... You may notice that the "groom's parent's seats" are empty, his mom was having some medical issues and wasn't able to sit; so they stood in the back during the ceremony...

I love that you can see us softly in the background of this photos...

Dear husband was rubbing my hands with his thumb through out the marriage address, vows, and ring exchange... with tears in eyes...

We wrote our vows together and said the same one to each other.

One of my favorites...

Our processional was "Happy Together" and it was the perfect fit for the moment and for setting the tone of the reception... we were so happy! {For some ultra-cheese, I am listening to the song as I type this post and it just makes me smile!!}

Next week I will do a few more wedding posts: a few of our favorites from when we stole a few moments during the reception, a bit on the reception decor and such and then that post I mentioned my first day back from the honeymoon... why I will unabashedly say that our wedding day was perfect {and yes, things did still go wrong}.

Wedding Recap Posts:

- My Version of a Perfect Wedding
- A Stolen Moment During the Reception
- Eat Drink Be Merry
- The Garden Party Floral Decor
- The Garden Cocktail Reception
- The Ceremony
- The Time Before The Ceremony
- The Meeting
- Florals: The Personals
- Getting Ready: The Groom's Side of the Story
- Getting Ready: Dress and Accessories
- All About The Shoes
- Getting Ready: Hair & Makeup
- 300th Post A Wedding Photo
- Wedding Photos Are Arriving: Almost A Bride

Or all of the post on our wedding day can be found through the label My Wedding.

{Photography by Brian Kinyon}

Comments

[Victoria Lynn]

Tara, I love love love those hanging flowers--where did you get them?? I'm posting about them on Victoria with Roses!

[Lucky Designs]

Just beautiful Tara!

[Tara]

Thank you, ladies!

The containers for the roses are from CB2, I used the Whirly and Squirly hanging candleholders with ribbon from Paper Source.

[Melissa]

So pretty!!!

[The Pissed Off Bride]

SO PRETTY! I love everything. You looked beautiful and hubby looked handsome.

I like the flowers on the ends of the chair. Nice touch!