How I Tied the Knot: The Ceremony

Previously in the post, Tying the Knot: The Ceremony I shared some of my favorite pictures and moments from our wedding ceremony. Now, it's time to let you all in on the details behind our ceremony and the lessons that I learned from that aspect of our wedding day. And, of course, some pretty pictures to display along the way!

Our Flower Girls and Ushers: Chris has three nieces and three nephews, all under the age of 10. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to include them, but we had no idea how, since there were so many of them! We had each of the three girls be our flower girls. They each carried a pomander ball, that I made myself. Each of the girls were escorted down the aisle by one of the boys, acting as an usher. It couldn't have worked out more perfectly. They were more than precious. And they loooooved being in the wedding. The flower girl dresses were from here and the boys tuxes were from ebay. Yes, ebay. See Lesson learned #25.

{please excuse the blurring of the little one's faces for privacy purposes}

Readings: As some of you might know , the Catholic church is quite strict about the readings/scripture that can be read during a wedding ceremony. At our initial meeting with our priest, we were given a book of appropriate scripture readings to choose from. Although this strict rule didn't really allow us to "customize" our ceremony by interjecting more meaningful passages and readings it did take some of the stress off from having to come up with the most perfect and personalized ceremony. Here are the readings we chose: Genesis 2: 18-24, Psalm 103:1-2, 8, 17-18a, 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8a, John 15: 9-12
We had Chris' two brothers and one sister read our three Bible verses and the Gospel was read by the priest. My Aunt read the Prayer of the Faithful {and my Uncle walked me down the aisle}. Having our closest family members {next to our parents} have a special part in our ceremony meant a lot to both of us.

Ceremony Music: We both wanted the day to be a celebration, so when we sat down with the church organist we chose joyful melodies. Seating of the Mothers: "Jesu: Joy of Man's Desire" by Bach. Processional: "Cannon in D" by Pachelbel. Entrance of the Bride: "Trumpet Voluntary" by Purcell. Lighting of the Unity Candle: "How Beautiful" by T. Paris. Recessional: "Praise Processional" by M. Dickerson & "Hornpipe" by Handel

Vows: Deep down inside, I had always wanted to write and recite our own vows. But, I knew that I would have never made it through them. I would have teared up from the moment I started. So, we recited the same vows that our parents and our grandparents recited. The traditional vows. And they were just as special. And we made it thorough them.

Remembrance Candle: After my Daddy passed away three months before our wedding, I struggled with the proper way to honor him and remember him on our wedding day. I knew that he would "be" there, but I wanted him to be visibly present as well. So the idea of a remembrance candle was formed.

I went to Wal-Mart and bought a large candle that had three wicks. One wick was lit in memory of my Father, one for my two sets of grandparents, and one wick for Chris' set of grandparents. I wrapped the candle with raspberry ribbon and put it in a hurricane glass from Target. The program read:
In Memory
To those who could not be present today,
but are certainly looking down on us.
Mr. Gary _____
Mr. & Mrs. Gustave ___ and Mr. & Mrs. Robert ____
Mr. and Mrs. David ___ and Mr. & Mrs. Fred ____
Their presence is felt in our hearts and is represented by the
three flames in the remembrance candle placed near the altar.
The remembrance candle couldn't have been more perfect.
We also mentioned those that couldn't be with us in the Prayer of the Faithful.

Unity Candle: We decided to incorporate a Unity Candle into our ceremony because we appreciated what it symbolized.

Our ceremony was arguably the day. A beautiful church {on a beautiful day} filled with people we loved who were there to witness us take our vows. I hope that your ceremony is/was just as beautiful.

Lesson Learned # 25: We were outraged when we heard that the tux store wanted to charge us the SAME amount for the ushers/kids tuxes as they were charging each of the Groomsmen. Chris' sister and sisters-in-law found the boys tuxes on ebay {just search for "brand new boys tux} for only $24.99 each plus shipping.

Lesson Learned # 26: I made the flower girls pomanders myself about a month before the wedding. I went to Michael's {local craft store} and bought a the smallest Styrofoam ball they had {2 inch?}. Then I purchased silk flowers when they were on sale for 1/2 off. I plucked off the head of each bud, leaving about 1/2 inch of stem attached. Using a pen, I poked a small hole in the Styrofoam ball and filled it with hot glue before I stuck the short piece of stem in. Hold for at least 30 seconds. Don't be afraid to use a lot of glue. Repeat til your ball is covered. Making them myself saved me about $15 per pomander.

Lesson Learned #27: You will love this, friends. The Unity candle cost us all of about $8. The middle candle was $3 from Wal-Mart and the two tapered candles were $.97 each at Wal-Mart. My Mom had a clear crystal holder that was perfect for the large candle. We bought two holders for the tapered candles from Wal-Mart, on clearance, for $1 each that actually matched my Mom's larger holder. I wrapped the unity candle with raspberry ribbon to give it a little flare. Who said that a Unity candle set had to cost $40+?.

previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away, the cake, thank you cards, blurb guest book, outside the mansion, the dress, the invitations
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.