Wedding Week: Our Ceremony Part 1

I'm so excited to finally share with you our ceremony. It's funny because I didn't give the ceremony THAT much thought but it ended up being the highlight of our day. Per my awesome timeline, we arrived at the church with plenty of time to take family portraits on the stairs before guests arrived. I even made sure family arrived 10 minutes ahead of schedule so that we could get the ball rolling and it couldn't have worked out better. It was so fun to get out of the car and see all the family!

Love these two quick portraits with hubs and my mom. Mom grabbed me at that point and said "I don't have enough pictures with my baby, I want more!" and so we took this one.

I'm glad we had a few extra minutes to spare after photos so that we could really take in what our ceremony setup was to look like. Mom didn't want me to ruin the surprise but I wanted to see it since I wouldn't be seeing much during the ceremony. Our church came pretty bare bones and although beautiful, we wanted to add some special touches to our ceremony to make it uniquely ours. And since it was a fall wedding we included pumpkins! I love pumpkins and the color orange so naturally fall is one of my favorite times of year and that day was a perfect day of fall in NC! Our florist Aldena Frye supplied the flowers but my mom found a local artist to carve out pumpkins for us. Hindsight it might have been a little too much but it was fun and unique!!

Another route where we went a bit nontraditional was our wedding program. I knew I just didn't want to have a program because printing is so expensive and half the time it's just wasted so I decided to go the chalk board route and I LOVED it! I did it all myself so I was a bit nervous and it took a while to actually get it going and make sure it looked good and the chalk dried correctly, etc. I also painted it with a brush and that made the paint a little uneven (lesson learned). With that said, I think it turned out pretty good and we even have it in our house now.

After getting to admire the awesome decor we spotted our first wedding guest driving by and decided it was time to go our separate ways until our ceremony started at 5pm. Those last thirty minutes were like a lifetime.

I went downstairs with mom and dad, my bridesmaids, flower girls and sister and mother in law, were already down there snacking since we had not eaten since that morning. My mom graciously thought to bring wheat thins and candy for us! When I got down there everyone was forcing me to eat but I just couldn't! I became overcome with nerves full force. I could hear the guests through the thin wood flooring because the church is over 100 years old and the more footsteps I heard the more my nerves clenched my stomach. I kept feeling my stomach turn and turn. I think I did manage to down two peanut butter crackers that my sister in law forced me to eat along with her girls. Also by this time my feet were killing me  from standing so long for portraits, dang heels.

 

This girl, was somehow a nervous wreck all of a sudden. I swear I really didn't have too many emotions during the day because it just felt so surreal, like I didn't quite comprehend that I was getting married and it was happening to me until we got down into that room. My dad was there and my mom and I was just freaking out a bit, so many people there to support hubs and I! I, was about to get married!! What?! Like I said I didn't even get that feeling at our first look.

My mom had also supplied us girls with mini bottles of champagne to celebrate and get the party started but having two sips of that made my stomach even more queasier! Bleh! I in turn, let the girls finish it and calm their nerves instead.

 

Quick side note: I decided that I wanted my wedding band to go on my finger officially and not over my engagement ring so I switched them by this time to the same hand. I'll never forget after the ceremony when hubby told me he was so nervous he knew only to put the ring on the finger that had the ring and come to find out I had switched it on him! Good thing I knew which hand to hold out.

 

Finally it was time to say goodbye to the mom's and bridesmaids as they lined up at the top of the stairs and I at the bottom with my father. It was such a surreal moment. I'm actually getting a little teary eyed just thinking about it. I literally started shaking and my stomach was still flipping, I was breathing heavy knowing it was almost my turn. I was going to marry the man of my dreams at the end of this aisle while holding on to my daddy. It was such an overwhelming feeling. Remember how I mentioned the first look takes NOTHING away from this moment?! I didn't even cry at our first look but this moment standing next to my dad was so joyous and exciting, I just didn't know what to do!

 

My dad asked me why in the world I could be so nervous, and said the only thing I had to be nervous about was that this wasn't the right thing that I was doing. I said it was the contrary, I was just so excited and knowing that my husband was at the end of that aisle and all those people there who love us watching just overcame me with emotion. My brother in law stayed behind to open the doors of the church because we wanted them closed before my entrance and even he was so excited to be the last one to see me and how beautiful I looked, it was such a special moment.

I stood there behind the door with my dad as our dear friend, Wilson, played acoustic guitar to Ave Maria to signal my entrance, and I don't think I heard anymore of it after my dad asked if I was ready, and then we started our entrance. Here is the acoustic inspiration for our rendition of Ave Maria, isn't it just lovely?! Now you can get the feeling of being with us on our special day.   

Stay tuned for part 2! Sorry to drag it out but like I said, I didn't put too much planning into the ceremony so I never shared any details before now, so I'd like to divulge if you will. 

In case you missed it:

Wedding Video!

Bridal Luncheon

Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding Timeline
Getting Ready  
First Look

Portraits

xoxo,

mrs. a.

Photographer: Meredith Perdue / Videographer: Simile Productions / Flowers: Aldena Frye / Church: All Saints Chapel / Reception: The Stockroom at 230 / Hair: Kari Berry via Marigold Parlour / Makeup Artist: Fiquet Bailey Swain via Luxe Apothecary / Bride’s Gown: “Lauren" by Amsale / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin from Coplon's / Bride’s Earrings: ED-1D-261 by Bounkit from Coplon's / Bride’s Veil: Veils of Art via Etsy / Wedding Invitation: Palm Papers / Bridesmaid Dresses: “ G558C" and "G660C" in Charcoal by Amsale / Groom’s Attire: Custom Tuxedo by Indochino / Groom Bowtie: Ralph Lauren / Groomsmen Tuxedo: Vera Wang from Men's Warehouse  / Groom’s Cufflinks: Nordstrom