The Wedding Story

Everyone awoke to a beautiful morning - blue skies with white fluffy clouds and all the sun one could wish for!

The ladies began their day by going to Salon Bella to have their hair done. Mine was tied in knots (to mimic my stomach!) after the natural curl in her hair was brought out. The other girls' hair was done in a loopy updo. My mom also had her hair and makeup done.

Once they were ready to go, the attendants hurried off to the church to dress and prepare for my dressing ritual. While they were thus occupied, several gracious volunteers led by our friend Lyndsay were busy setting up the reception site. The groom, the groomsmen and the ushers were also getting ready. They were so quick that they even had time to take some of their pictures!

Once I was finally dressed and ready to go (hair and makeup took longer than budgeted for!), my attendants and I entered the church and took pictures as well. There wasn't time to take the group shots as we had planned so those were postponed until after the ceremony. I was actually happy about this because I'd been disappointed that Mark would see me before the ceremony, but I'd planned to sacrifice this to spend as much time with our guests as possible.

Once the moms and Mark's grandmother were seated, the ceremony began with a vocal solo performed by Kristie, one of my attendants and a super friend from high school. Once Kristie was finished singing Panis Angelicus, everyone prepared for the processional. The attendants were escorted in by the groomsmen who were wearing white orchid leis. Once they reached the front of the church, the men transferred the leis to the ladies with a kiss on the cheek. Once the wedding party was lined up at the front of the church, Mark and Fr. Walker proceeded down the aisle and took their spots.

A moment of great anticipation elapsed while everyone waited for Papa and I to come down the aisle. With Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring playing, I made my way to the front of the church where Mark was waiting with a big smile!

When we arrived, Ginger, my mom, came forward so that she could participate in the giving away. Once we had expressed our desire to marry one another and once the congregation expressed their vow to uphold us in our marriage, my parents gave me away and then took their seats for the remainder of the ceremony.

The ceremony continued with readings from Song of Solomon 2:10-13, 8:6-7 and the Gospel of Matthew 5:1-10 (The Beatitudes). The readings were done by Christopher and Keola, respectively. Kristie kept things moving with a beautiful rendition of Ave Maria by Schubert while everyone in the wedding party went up the stairs to the altar.

Finally, the moment arrived where we vowed to love and honor one another for the rest of their lives. We exchanged rings to symbolize our eternal commitment and then were blessed by the priest. Once the priest had given Mark permission to kiss his bride (um, that would be me!), he pronounced us husband and wife and we exited to the glorious sounds of the Allegro from Water Music (I forgot my flowers...oops!). We were followed by our guests whom we greeted and thanked, individually, for coming. Once everyone had a chance to congratulate us, it was time for more pictures and then it was on to the reception.