mrs. alana's miscellany: our wedding: the ceremony

As you may know, Mike and I are back from our little anniversary trip to Chicago! I'm dying to tell you all about it (short version: it was great!) but since it'll take me days to go through the 43897349 photos we took, we'll continue with wedding week! We're picking up at the ceremony, but you can catch up here if you need to:

{getting ready}

{the details}

{first glance}

And what's a wedding without a little music? Here's ours from our actual ceremony:

{All photos are by Mark Parker Photography.}

We literally almost forgot about the veil. The music had already started when I remembered and we had to actually send someone to get my hairdresser/family friend out of the crowd to come back and fix me up. Did I mention how completely scatterbrained I was?

I love these two shots with my Dad. I had them printed on a little canvas for his Father's Day present. He actually got really nervous right before the ceremony! It was kind of cute, but I was pretty serious when I told him he'd better not pass out on me. Thankfully he did just fine. :)

Like just about every other bride in 2011, after I saw the royal wedding I just had to have a drop veil like Kate Middleton's. I had been shopping for veils with no luck--everything just seemed so big and fluffy. The drop veil was exactly what I wanted: simple and understated. I got mine for a steal here.

Glad I have such cute little cousins to play flower girl and candle lighter for us!

It was fun to see our lovely friends waiting in the wings right across the entryway.

I was getting a little anxious/excited/giddy, as you can see!

Is there anything better than that big bow and the flowers in her hair?

This is one of my favorite shots of the day. Everything seems just perfect doesn't it?

Of course you can't tell that just seconds before this they started playing the wrong song after we and our friends went through so much trouble choosing and actually getting the music in time! Luckily the doors were shut and I quickly whispered "wrong song! wrong song!" at the coordinator and she got on her little walkie talkie and in two seconds the right song was playing. Speaking of which, I highly recommend having a coordinator who knows what they're doing (ours came with the venue). I felt so relaxed all day knowing she had everything handled!

The room looks huge in this shot--everything was rearranged after the ceremony for the reception. All the tables are hiding behind the curtains on the sides. Handy, huh?

The preacher who married us is a long-time friend of the family, who actually baptized my brother and me. It was so special to me to have him there! He started things off with an introduction about God's plan for marriage. It was lovely.

Then he led us in prayer, during which I'm embarrassed to say I was mostly thinking about how loudly my dad was breathing and if he had his knees locked and was going to pass out right then and there like on all those clips on America's Funniest Home Videos. Thankfully, he did not. (Sorry, Bob Saget.)

Now for a little story about the veil that almost ruined everything (but not really). Right before the ceremony, my dad practiced raising my veil and making sure it was laying flat in the back. Then I told my sister who would be standing next to me that in a worst-case scenario, she was responsible for fixing it at all costs. I told her my worst nightmare was that I would get married with my veil all mussed up the whole time and not even know it until afterward. (A little melodramatic, but I saw it happen on a wedding show and swore it wouldn't happen to me! Somehow when you're planning a wedding every little thing feels like it could be the end of the world.) Of course Alissa immediately goes all DON'T YOU PUT THAT EVIL ON ME but I did and it was a good thing too because as you can see above, my veil was all jacked up. And there she is below earning her place as maid of honor. Crisis averted! (Thanks sis!)

We kept the ceremony short and sweet--no unity candle/sand/water/whatever, extra readings by family members, or songs stuck in there just because. I'll never forget going to a cousin's wedding when I was little and how after lighting the candles they had to just stand there until the song was over and it was the longest most awkward two minutes ever. I just wanted to get in, get married, and get out.

When Mike first suggested that his dad hold my ring instead of having a traditional ring bearer, I was a little thrown. But then someone suggested he pass it up to the nearest groomsman, who would pass it to the next until it got to Mike, so all of his guys would touch the ring. Mike's a big softie, if you didn't know, so he immediately loved the idea, and luckily so did I. So both of our parents held our rings and then passed them to our wedding party, who passed them up to us. And somehow we managed not to drop them!

Several weeks in advance, our preacher had emailed me the vows he usually uses for weddings, just so I could have a look at it beforehand. It all looked great to me, although I was surprised there was nothing about the wife submitting to or obeying the husband like I was expecting (I'm from a very conservative church). So then during the actual ceremony I was doubly surprised that he had added all that back into the ceremony! Not that I minded, I just smiled to myself that it almost felt like I was sort of "tricked" into submitting. ;)

I see what you did there.

And now for the part you've all been waiting for: Mike's screwup. Mike did his vows first and had a little trouble repeating the semi-long vows after our preacher. Somehow he turned "forsaking all others" into "I promise myself to you AND OTHERS." I kid you not--on our wedding day my husband added an escape clause. I froze and did a double-take, thinking that it was all a joke (and a very unfunny one at that). Mike later said I looked so mad for a split second he thought I would walk out on the whole thing. Luckily for him, I decided to stay and got through my vows without adding anything in, although now that I think about it I think I could've added anything at that point and gotten away with it (daily foot massages, anyone?).

We got to have a good laugh about all this at our marriage retreat a few weeks ago. At the end of the retreat all of the couples stood as a group and repeated wedding vows (read by the instructor) to each other. I glared at Mike and whispered that he'd better not even think about messing up this time so naturally we were giggling pretty much the entire time and everyone in the room probably thought we were insane and not taking it seriously at all. We finally got control of ourselves and actually got a little teary towards the end.

It's true what they say: it's the things that go wrong that you'll always remember and (hopefully) laugh about.

I'm pretty sure we didn't exactly keep the kiss like our preacher said to during the rehearsal. :/ Whoops!

Naturally they played the wrong song as we walked out, but I didn't even care at that point.

(FYI: It was supposed to be Your Love Sets Me Free, the happy, upbeat song on the playlist. Instead they played Ingrid, which is beautiful but too slow for a triumphant exit, ya know? Whatever, married is married!)