When the music started, my first thought was, “Oh no, we didn’t practice getting out of the door.” For those of you who know my Dad, he’s rather large. I sort of panicked at the thought of both of us fitting through one side of a sliding door. But, somehow, we managed :)
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| Father and the Bride |
As I stepped outside into the sunlight, I was blown away by the faces looking back at me. Dad and I did our little walk to the end of the deck, and executed the perfect, memorable moment that Lesley had requested. I didn’t fall down the stairs or trip on the aisle runner. I took in the flowers, the beautiful day, and the 55 friends and family who were with us. And, as I entered the canopy, I saw the love of my life waiting for me.
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| The walk with Dad |
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| Actually arriving on time, at the end of the song |
The end of the perfect song on the perfect day delivered me to him. Someone said to me later, “It almost looked like you were pulling your dad down the aisle.” I kissed my father, hugged and kissed my mother, and my father, after shaking Matt’s hand, gave my hand to Matt. A lot of people told me that the ceremony would be a blur, but I allowed myself to really be in the moment—to listen to the words we had worked so long to craft; to hear the little nuances of change and whole sections of new writing from Topher; to look at Matt, our guests, our wedding party; to feel our hands locked the whole time; to look into Matt’s eyes.
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| The ceremony |
I think even if I put the entire ceremony here for you to read, it would never convey what transpired during the meager 10-15 minute ceremony. Most people told us that they really felt what we felt, that the ceremony was different from anything they’d ever heard, that they could clearly see how much Matt and I love each other. Matt and I each shed tears during our vows, but there were no shaky hands or swollen knuckles during the ring exchange. After the many drafts of the ceremony, and each of us working so hard to articulate our vows, it was wonderful for it to end up being exactly what we wanted it to be.
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| Enjoying Topher's additions to the ceremony we wrote |
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| The ring exchange |
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| Our first kiss as man and wife |
After Topher told us to kiss, I realized that our recessional music wasn’t playing. We were supposed to walk back to Led Zeppelin’s “Thank You,” but, instead, we were presented with a surprise ending to our fairytale ceremony. A Scottish bagpiper, wearing the Stewart tartan no less, piped us down the aisle to “Scotland the Brave,” which, if you’ve read the earlier blog about the rehearsal dinner, was pretty ironic. Through teary eyes, Matt and I made our way back to the camp. As we took a moment to ourselves inside, my Dad shot off his black powder canon.
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| Scotland the Brave |
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| Our solemn reverend |
When we came back outside, we were presented with a second surprise: our golfcart, outfitted with a “Just Married” sign, and a string of Molson/Diet Coke cans. The piper struck up a song again, and piped our wedding procession up the road and around the corner to the reception site, where we started the best party we’ve ever thrown…
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| Big post-ceremony smiles |
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| Just Married |
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