Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Wedding recap: The Ceremony

We arrived at the church with plenty of time to spare, making me a happy bride. The limo driver pulled up to the front of the church, and then kept moving to the side entrance. This meant that I would have to walk through the entire church in front of everyone who had already arrived in order to get to my private room…not happening! So we made the craziest K-turn I have ever been a part of - and I’m a terrible driver - backing up into mid-day downtown traffic and parallel parking in front of the church. Mike later told me the driver did the exact same thing when she dropped the fellas off, so I guess she didn’t learn her lesson.

After we parked there were some guests assembled on the steps waiting for us to exit the limo. Megan quickly shooed them away so that I could enter the church without spectators. There wasn’t a private entrance for me in the church, and the room for us girls was a small space with a glass door. I want to make a side note here and mention that I knew I wasn’t going to remember every detail of the day, but I promised myself I would try to capture small moments in my memory. One of those memories was as I was first entering the church; all I remember was looking up and seeing two of Mike’s groomsmen, Chris and Kyle, with their jackets wide open forming a barrier so that no one could see me as I scuttled into my room. It was such a funny moment that I couldn’t help but laugh away some of the nerves.

Once in the room I started to get really anxious. All the ladies were crammed into this tiny room and we were trying to joke around, but my cool facade was shattering. The time started to fly by as people came to visit me. Mike’s mom stopped by to tell me Mike was penned-up by himself in a tiny room without anyone (except for when my Dad told him “There’s still time to run…") All of a sudden it was time to line-up. I started trying to breathe really hard to calm down, which only succeeded in making me light-headed. My Dad tried to joke around with me, but I’m pretty sure I told him to shut it. Sorry Dad!

As the girls walked down the aisle I heard Pachabel Cannon starting, which is the song I had dreamed about playing at my wedding since I was a little girl. When I heard that, I froze and looked at my Dad and said “I just realized what’s happening.” He just laughed and tugged at my arm.

When we got to the top of the aisle, I tried to capture that moment in my head. I remember looking at Mike with that goofy grin on his face (he later told me that Weston, his best man, told him “Smile at her!") and I remember seeing my Mom sobbing. That’s it. I’m pretty sure I blacked out for most of that walk. As my Dad handed me off, he completely tripped on my train. He blames it on the fact that we didn’t practice the hand-off with my train in rehearsal. I blame it on his clumsiness.

The ceremony was beautiful. Mike and I laughed through the entire thing, although I’m not sure what about. We tend to just laugh at everything, especially when we’re nervous. I eventually started to look around at who was in the church; I would spot random friends and family members and just start waving. Such a distraction! I will tell you that it was a major pain to sit and stand and walk up those steps in that dress. I know I looked like an elderly woman, but at least I didn’t trip!


Father Patrick did a wonderful job with the homily. He asked Mike and I to send him some notes about how we met and why we love one another, but we didn’t know he would be reading that information verbatim to the entire congregation. It should have been embarrassing, but it was really touching to hear and he did a great job of tying it all together.

When it was my turn for the vows, I started blinking…a lot. I don’t know why. And then for some reason when Mike was reciting his vows I randomly said “I do!” Oh, and another fun insider fact: after our first kiss as husband and wife Mike whispered something to me that I couldn’t hear so I asked him to repeat it. His first words to me as a married couple were “Do I have lipstick on my face?”


At the end of the ceremony as we walked off the altar, I did some weird dance with my arms. I really don't know what that was, but I am still kicking myself for it.


It really took me until the ceremony to grasp what was going on. That this wedding was ours. That these people were all here because they loved us. It was a huge rush of emotion for me, but did I cry? Of course not. I told Mike how I felt and we both laughed.

3 comments:

  1. I cried enough for you. Ridiculously.

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  2. The thing I remember about you in the little glass room was when the pre-ceremony music started you almost jumped out of your shoes, exclaimed "OH!" and started frantically fanning yourself or just shaking your hands in front of you and nervously smiling at Libbie, Michelle, Val, Lauren and me. Whatever it was, it was adorably sweet. It was that second I finally saw you be giddy about your wedding :)And then I came back in the room and you all had your shoes off and I said some stupid remark about the West Virginian being the only one who wasn't barefoot (awful).
    Oh, and that Kyle/Chris thing? That was a super awesome bridesmaid's idea. :)

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  3. Ha I almost posted something about the foot thing but I refrained :)

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