Monday, May 21, 2012

Here comes the bride...

About 5 minutes before 2pm, the wedding committee came and got Rachel from out hideout room so she could line up. For a split second, I thought I might freak out, being by myself, but it's actually one of my more memorable moments because I prayed, and felt at complete peace. I just waited for a minute until the lady got me out of the room. We processed in as one procession, with sacristan, deacon, bmaid/groomsman, bmaid/groomsman, bmaid/groomsman, MOH/best man, Steven, then myself and my father. So they had told me at the rehearsal that as soon as they got Steven through the doors they would be grabbing me to go down the aisle, since my procession wasn't separate. They had told me the day before to walk slowly and enjoy my walk down the aisle, but my dad and I got a major 'F' in that! As soon as I got beside him, all I could think about was that I was supposed to be part of the procession, so we needed to get going! The walk down the aisle was pretty quick and was a total blur. Since hardly anyone at our wedding was Catholic, I was 2/3 down the aisle before people realized I was coming and stood up (they rang the bell at the beginning but, again, non-Catholics didn't know that meant to stand). Actually, I don't know if it would have been much different had there been a lot of Catholics, because most Catholic churches, from the weddings I've been to, have adopted the separate bridal procession that is normal in Protestant churches. So anyway, I know we walked a little fast than we should, but I do remember seeing the back of Steven's head in front of me and being so ready to be at the end of the aisle so I could see his face! I also remember thinking that 100 people didn't look like many all spread out in the church (not in a bad way- just making random observations as I walked down the aisle lol!).

My ONLY photo regret from the wedding is that the two pictures they got of me from the front coming down the aisle are un-usable because I had the most lame facial expressions!

My mom told me all through my engagement that I wouldn't even notice the people in the church, because I kept saying how nervous I was to have everyone staring at me. And of course she was completely right! I wasn't nervous at all and barely noticed the people. When we got up to the front, the deacon asked his question about who was giving me away (which I was a little surprised he did because it's not really normal, but I was fine with it) and my dad kissed me, and shook Steven's hand... or maybe hugged him; I can't quite remember. I didn't cry at all, the entire ceremony. Seeing as I got choked up in mass on random weekends anticipating our wedding, at the rehearsal, and cried multiple times on the wedding morning, I was really surprised I kept it together! I think part of it was because I couldn't even believe that our wedding day was upon us, part of it was because it went fast, and maybe another part was because I got my crying out of my system ahead of time! I have to say I was really relieved because I'm not a cuter crier! I would have been paranoid about my makeup, too, so I was really glad I held it together.



I took Steven's hands and the deacon did some prayers. There was a part at the beginning where he asked us a series of questions, which the wedding committee neglected to tell us about, so we were really awkward because we had no clue what to answer with. I think we went back and forth between "We will" and "Yes". That made me a bit nervous, not knowing what to say. The deacon made a little joke about not being able to hear us, which broke the tension and got me back to feeling confident. Then we sat down while the readings were read by my sister (MOH) and best man. I had a lot of time to think while we were sitting! I was looking out and seeing all the guests, making eye contact and smiling at some. Steven held my hand, and I refused to let go the rest of the time we were sitting, even though our hands got really sweaty. I thought about how surreal the entire thing was.... us sitting there at our WEDDING. It almost didn't feel real! I tried and was fairly successful at listening to the readings. We picked them out with a lot of thought, so I wanted to be sure I really heard them being read.



When the deacon gave his homily, I had a bit of trouble following. It was a pretty good homily, but for some reason I kept getting a little lost. He talked about marriage, sacrifice, and a lot about Adam and Eve. At one point, he mentioned that when we are having rough spots in our marriage, we needed to read back over the readings we chose for our wedding. I loved that he said that, and I really do want us to do that periodically. (Our readings were Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 128: 1-2,3,5; Colossians 3:12-17; and Matthew 6:25-31,33-34.) A lot of the homily, he actually turned toward us and spoke directly to us, which was really special. I wasn't just seeing the side/back of his head as he addressed everyone else... he was actually addressing us.



Towards the end of the homily, I got a bit antsy. I was so ready to marry my best friend! He motioned us over when he was done and we exchanged vows. It's funny because I thought my voice would waver or I would speak really quietly, but I spoke clearly, loud enough, and confidently. It just felt right and I wasn't nervous about being in front of so many people or anything. Steven did just as well. Next up was rings. I was SO EXCITED to put my wedding ring on. For weeks before the wedding, I would put it on for a few minutes just to see what it looked like and didn't want to take it off. The deacon blessed the rings with holy water, which I knew would happen since we wrote the programs, but never really dawned on me I guess. Seeing it was really powerful. We both were able to get the rings on each other's fingers (yay, no swelling!) which surprised me but I was really happy. I had visions of Steven not being able to wear his ring for a few hours lol.



We did the sign of peace and Steven tried to kiss me. I kept saying "don't kiss me!!!!" and I think it took him a second to figure out why I was so adamant. He settled for a hug, and we both went and shared the sign of peace with our bridal party and immediate family members. The deacon did a last blessing, and had to tell us to hold hands, haha! I guess I was over that "refusing to let go" thing because we were standing toward each other, both looking at the deacon, and for some reason didn't grab hands. The deacon said "you may want to hold hands at this part" and we did, and it was because there was something in the blessing about our hands being joined. Thanks for the heads up, Deacon Mike! :)

Sign of peace hug... I later realized I didn't give the sign of peace to the deacon. Oops!

He then pronounced us husband and wife, and we kissed! I felt like I was floating on our walk out of the church, holding hands with my husband. I'm pretty sure no one else existed for a few minutes. We were walking fast, I think because we were happy and excited, and our photographer was kneeled down at the end. She told us to stop so she could get a few pictures (she had to run down from the balcony), and those pictures she got are some of my favorite! We were so thrilled to be brand new husband and wife! We walked around the side of the church to a back/side door so people wouldn't talk to us, since we had a time limit in the church for pictures. We had to wait there while the church cleared out and my parents came over to welcome Steven in the family. My mom hugged us and then my dad hugged Steven- that picture has become one of my very favorite. I love the expression on my dad's face. Steven and I kissed and hugged some more, and checked out each other's rings. Then we got back in the church and did all our pictures, which again I had a lot of fun with. I especially loved when it was just us and the photographer in the church getting pictures. I felt so mushy and emotional getting pictures done together!

Kissing my husband!

Love all the smiles in this picture!
Switching my rings into the right order. Gotta say, Steven looks good holding those flowers!
My dad so loves his son in law!


We got some outside which I also loved... they came out so well! Then we got in the limo (and made the poor body builder type limo driver hold both my bridal emergency kit AND bouquet while I got in lol) for our ride to the reception. It was a fun ride, being so excited together. The only thing I didn't like is that the limo driver left the little partition open. I should have asked him to close it, but I didn't. I think the ride consisted of me squealing, us looking at our rings a bunch of times, kissing, and repeating the words "married" and "husband and wife" over and over!


Next up... arriving at the reception! 









4 comments:

  1. I had the same thing happen about crying. I would cry at Mass for several weeks before the wedding, but I didn't cry at all the day of our wedding. It sounds like all in all, your wedding was beautiful. Your photos are lovely.

    Jeanne G.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too! I was a WRECK at the engagement party, shower, rehearsal, EVERYTHING - and was dry as a desert for most of the actual wedding. The only time I started to get teary was when the officiant held a moment of silence for my ill grandparent-in-laws who couldn't come (mostly because I didn't expect it) and during our sisters' toasts.

      Delete
  2. This is making me sooo excited for mine!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awww I love these recaps! Your pictures turned out so, so well. I love the story about the sign of peace hehe! :)

    By the way, I really like the new look of your blog!

    ReplyDelete