Wedding Recap: Reception

Honestly, this is where the wedding day really really becomes a blur. People told me I wouldn't remember my wedding day because it would happen so fast- but this part? I don't remember a bit. I'm thankful we had our family and friends with us to celebrate, and that was had amazing people take amazing photos so that I can "remember" these moments!

You can't have a pi day wedding without pie! The "<3 Pi" sign was painted by my mom the night before the wedding. Not even joking. When I say that I leave things for last minute, I mean, we were painting and wrapping bouquets the night before at midnight. But, that's just how I roll, and I'm happy that my family just rolled with it.

On our first date, T showed me a picture of a zombie cake and asked me what I thought of it/if I'd be totes cool with it. Obviously- I said yes. A few months later (okay, a month later), we were engaged, and I decided that I really wanted a "nice" wedding cake with a Willow Tree topper. So, the zombie cake was downgraded to a groom's cake. Originally, T planned on baking and decorating his own multi-tier cake (I should probably mention that he'd never baked brownies, let alone a cake, at this point). I got him to make a super simple box cake mix in a sheet pan and told him to practice icing and decorating it (with his airbrush kit...). One brownish-black cake later, I told him that there was no way on earth that I was putting a cake that color in my mouth, much less on a day when I was wearing an expensive white dress. So, a trip to Publix later, we had a zombie cake made by the pros that was much more size appropriate for our reception, and it wasn't too black-brown. :)

Originally, I planned on baking my own cupcakes. Then, a week before the wedding when I decided to test bake, we had what I shall refer to as "The Cupcake Fail/Cupcake Fire Incident" when I dumped my cupcake into the flaming hot oven as I was removing them from the oven and they caught fire and all I could do was yell to my mom "Cupcakes!" and "Fire!" and "My cupcakes!" (I'm apparently useless in disaster situations. And yes, the cupcakes did catch fire. There were flames.) So, the Monday/Tuesday before the wedding, my parents gently "offered" that we get a local cupcake place to cater the cupcakes. I think it was an awesome idea. My dad made our tree stump cupcake stands, we added some burlap and baby's breath- and I got the vintagey vibe I was going for.

 If you know me, you know I had an obsession with Harry Potter. I was pretty much convinced that HE would be my husband from the ages of 11 to about 21? So, I thought it'd be cute to pay tribute by opening up the sixth book to the chapter entitled "The Unbreakable Vow" and sitting it on my cake table.

 Yes, I gave my little brother a selfie stick and told him to use it at the wedding. We got super cute pictures and I think it added a ton of fun!

 Some of the shots we got:

Our "guestbook" was a painting that T painted and we had our guests sign and leave us messages on. My favorite is my dad's- "Leave room for Jesus"- he's so funny. ;)

 And then, we did the typical wedding reception festivities- the cake cutting (we cut the groom's cake and ate our cupcakes later- I wasn't really hungry for cake), and garter and bouquet toss!

Wedding Recap: The Ceremony

From the beginning, I knew that I wanted to have a ceremony that was special to T and I as a couple. Having a degree in religion, having done church work and written sermons, having written papers on The Wedding Feast of Revelation...I knew that we wouldn't be following any ordinary liturgy. I wanted a special, intimate ceremony, celebrating our union to one another, but more importantly- celebrating the goodness of God. I wanted Christ to be at the very center of our wedding. Luckily, our pastor was amazing and allowed me to write the ceremony. I'm so thankful that he allowed me to do so, and that he allowed me to have my special day the way that I had dreamed of.

Before the ceremony, I had a playlist of soft worship music playing to bring people into the atmosphere of worship, but the music in the ceremony itself was done by my brother and his band. They were amazing to work with. I really enjoyed the fact that my brother got to be a part of my day, that we were able to have a band, and that I was able to have control over musical composition and tell them how to sing the song. :) I'm sure that my constant changes to style and sound were annoying, but they put up with it, and even wore pi bowties. It was pretty neat.

The whole thing was actually a pretty-much family affair. Max and band did the music, my childhood best friend was my matron of honor, and the rest of the wedding party was Travis's family (his brother, sisters, brother in law, and father). Our adorable flower girl was our niece, she did AMAZING and made us all laugh.

 I walked down the aisle to "You're Beautuful" by Phil Wickham (but we did it more in the style of this cover by Sarah Reeves).

One of my favorite moments from the ceremony was the time when the doors to the sanctuary closed, and my father and I got into place. I was so worried about timing and having too much time between the wedding party and myself walking down the aisle, but time just flew, timing worked itself out, our flower girl made it down the aisle, and then, I heard these words as the doors opened and I walked to my groom.

When we arrive at eternity's shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and we'll sing
You're beautiful

I can't put the feeling of pure joy that I felt at that moment into words. I was just so happy- the happiest I have ever been, and I could not stop thanking God for all of his blessings in this moment. You guys- God is so good, he is so so good. His story of redemption and restoration in my life seemed to climax at this moment.  All of my dreams from the time that I was a little girl and I started praying for my future husband were coming true. I was walking down the aisle to marry my best friend. And- I had my daddy by my side, wearing my favorite popsicle people tie.
And then...the ceremony started!

One part of our ceremony that was "different" was that my father didn't "give me away". I don't know, but the whole thing of "who gives this woman to be married" thing just didn't sit well with me. I mean, it's not like my parents aren't still going to be my parents, it's not like I'm not going to get to see them again, and I'm not cattle that is meant to be bought or sold. Plus, why is there so much emphasis on the bride's family approving and blessing the marriage, but no mention of the groom's family? Both of our families are very special to us, and I wanted both of our families to be involved, plus I wanted some audience interaction. So, I merged some things I read online together, added some of my own stuff, and came up with this:

A marriage is not only the joining together of two individuals, it is also a joining together of two families. The care, support, and nurture that has been extended to T and L by their families is just as important now as it has ever been. In fact, it needs to be extended now to include another person. Both families need to be committed to love and encourage both partners in this marriage. To honor this uniting of the families, L and T wish to ask their parents’ blessing. 

 (To the parents) Will you bless T and L in their marriage? Will you celebrate with them in their times of joy and bolster them in times of hardship? Will you offer them your love and encouragement?
We will.  

(To the congregation) Will all of you, by God’s grace, do everything in your power to uphold and care for these two persons in their marriage?
We will.

Sidenote: For our parents' responses, each of our fathers spoke on behalf of the families, T's father going first, followed by my father.

Then, we went ahead and got all of the legal stuff out of the way- we said our "I do"s and declared our intent, and then we proceeded with the rest of the service! It was very simple, "Will you have xxx to be your husband/wife, to live together in holy marriage? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, for better for worse, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

Once again, we continued the theme of nontraditional by choosing two portions of scripture from Revelation. Both of these held a special meaning to me, as I wrote my final senior paper in college on a chunk of scripture that contains these.

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power to our God,
And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, and all who fear him, small and great.” Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready; to her it has been granted to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” - Revelation 19: 1, 5-9

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” -Revelation 21: 1-5

We stuck with a very simple ceremony, there was no message- our pastor read the passages and moved onward with the ceremony.

Before the wedding, I had gone back and forth about writing our own vows. I wanted to, but I wanted to maintain tradition. I wanted to repeat the same words that my parents and other family members had recited in the years before me. Then, the week of the wedding came, vows still were not written, and I was stressed out. One night, I think it was two nights before the wedding, I got a sudden stroke of brilliance around 2 am, when I was unable to sleep due to all of the stress of the upcoming wedding, and I wrote my vows. These are vows that I will cherish forever. I mean each and every word that I said that day, and I'd say them again over and over. I love my vows. I'm going to do a post on writing them and how I did that after I finish the wedding recap- so tune in for that in a few days!

Travis: Before I met you, I was sure I would be the guy version of an old maid.... Being single was what I was used to and I had almost given up on finding my lost rib. But even before our first date to Ci-Ci's, I knew you were different. And after our first trip to Texas, I knew I wouldn't want to live without you (and no longer trusted antibiotics). I promise to stay by your side and to love you most of all His creations down here and to move my stuff to the man cave without complaint.And if you get bit in the impending zombie apocalypse, you'd be the one zombie I don't shoot, even if it means that you'd bite me. I love you and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I'm excited to be rejoined with my long lost, finally found, rib

Mine were slightly longer...whatever. Our vows were "us" to a tee. T was short and sweet, I rambled on and on poetically. :)

T, From the time that I was a very little girl, I have dreamed of this day. I prayed continuously for my husband and the fact that you are standing in front of me today completely exceeds any expectations that I had. This moment is better than anything I could dream up. When you came into my life, I realized that what I had always thought was happiness couldn’t compare to the joy that loving you has brought me. I never thought that I could meet someone like you. I never thought I would meet someone like you. But, you are the person that God created for me. We go together like two pieces of a puzzle. You are my very best friend. You make me smile and you make me laugh. You are my everything. Your faith inspires me, your drive to seek truth and love compels me. You encourage me to be the woman that God created me to be and you accept me for who I am. You love me despite my imperfections and flaws. You are a breathtaking reflection of God’s heart for me, of how he pursued me and loved me even when I didn’t love myself. You held my hand in the darkness and you pulled me out into the light. You are my life. Because of you, I laugh, smile, and I dare to dream again.
 I am so proud today to call you mine and to become your wife. I have so much respect for you. I will follow and support you wherever God…or the United States Air Force…calls you to go. It doesn’t matter what happens in this life as long as I have you. You are, and always will be, the love of my life. Everything that I have is yours. I will love you without reservation, cherish you, and hold you in the highest regard. I will support you and comfort you, through life’s joys and sorrows. I promise to respect your aspirations wile recognizing that mutual respect requires mutual sacrifice. I will encourage you, inspire you, be honest and faithful to you. I will stand by your side-in sickness and in health, for worse or for better, in an apocalyptic scenario or a zombie invasion. By embracing our challenges together and with the Lord, we will emerge stronger than before. I vow all of this to you, knowing that none of it can be fulfilled thorough my own strength, but only as I continually strive to live in the strength, grace, and love that God provides me.
 Today, I get to marry my very best friend. I love you with all of my heart and I can’t wait to see what adventures God has in store for our life together.

I just love them. I just love them, love them, love them. Yes, we are planning on framing them and hanging them on our walls to remember for years to come. :)

 For the exchanging of rings, I really wanted to incorporate some aspects of a Jewish wedding. Honestly, I wanted a much more Jewish wedding than I got (i.e. smashing of the glass and some "Mazel Tov"s!), but we settled on this little bit (Travis still isn't too sure about my obsession with Judaism). I was viewing different wordings for the ring ceremony, and rather than the typical "With this ring, I thee wed" (that sounded way too formal and not at all us), we simply said

By this ring you are sanctified to me as my wife/husband in accordance with the traditions of Moses and Israel. I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.

Our pastor followed up with by saying

May you remember to set one another as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for there is love that is strong as death and jealousy is as demanding as the grave. Many waters cannot quench this love, no flood can sweep it away.

I thought it was beautiful and it gave me that Jewish vibe I was going for, while incorporating some Song of Songs.

Then, he declared us husband and wife!

And the band started playing Taylor Swift's "That's How You Get the Girl" as we left!

I had earlier joked with T about how I was going to sing and dance my way up the aisle, and I don't think he totally believed me. But, I was just so so so happy, so I had to dance. It was so much fun, we laughed, and I just loved it.

After we exited, the band broke out into a medley of songs that use the same chord progression as "How You Get the Girl"- it included some Journey ("Don't Stop Believing") and some "Country Road Take Me Home",  I think some harmonica, and who knows what else. I have no idea- I had gone into a room to be alone with my new husband for a few. All I know is that my mom had to finally tell them to stop so that everyone would leave (it was apparently a fun thing and people were mingling and having a great time) and go to the reception, so that we wouldn't beat them downstairs. :) We had a recording of the wedding (that I hoped would show the exit so that we could listen to the medley), but something happened and the files and disc decided to not work. So, if anyone who was there does so happen to have a copy of the exit (or just a recording of the medley), I'd love to see/hear it- send it my way!

Next up- the reception!

Wedding Recap: Outside Pictures

We had multiple things going against us for outside wedding pictures.

First, the weather forecast predicted bad weather- at the very least rain, and the possibility of severe weather, like tornados (wouldn't that have added excitement to the day!). But, the rain stayed away and the sky lightened long enough for us to grab a few photos.

Second, I married the self proclaimed "evil albino king", which means- he doesn't like sunlight. Therefore, T kept closing his eyes- which in turn made pictures difficult. But, we stuck with it, our photographer was amazing and didn't give up on my groom.

We did eventually find a covered place in the back of the church that provided some shade, some light, and some of the buildings blocked most of the sun. We were able to grab a few shots (YAY!) and laughed a whole lot. We did decide that all of our wedding party photos would be inside though- formal pictures in the sanctuary it was. Hey- I'm not into those overdone Pinterest photos anyways. ;)

We also figured out that pictures taken with our foreheads and noses together seemed to work pretty awesome. So, we took lots of those- which really quite accurately describes us as a couple- because I just love playing "nosey-nosey" with the things I love- my cat, my husband, you get the idea.

These are my favorites from the wedding. I'm pretty excited about getting some printed to hang in our home. Considering the circumstances- I'm calling them a success!