So where I last left off, our guests were ushered inside to our indoor, backup location due to rain. Once all our guests, jazz trio, and bridal party was settled, it was time to start the ceremony - about 25 minutes later than scheduled, but hey - that's life!
1. Grandparents
2. Parents of the Groom
3. Officiant
4. Groom
5. House Party girls (each enters with a small cluster of flowers, and places it in vase at the altar.)
6. Bridal Party "couples"
7. Bride with parents
I do have to show pictures of my groom, though, who was so excited he was skipping down the aisle:
Rather than the "who gives this woman" (always kind of gives me the creeps) our officiant, my Uncle D, began thusly:
"Ms. Llama parents, Mr. Llama parents: as representatives of the your respective families, will you take Mr. Llama and Ms. Llama into your hearts to create one exceedingly good-looking Italian family?" <We will>
(We wanted to start with a laugh... what was also funny is that our parents didn't know that was the question that would be asked of them, so they had a good laugh too!)
After that, my Uncle D welcomed and thanked our guests for coming (we gave him bullet points, rather than an exact script), and also made a joke about his "ceremonial hat."
We wanted a way to remember those who are no longer with us, but we truly wanted it to be an uplifting moment, rather than a sad one. We went through a couple different ideas - our favorite was sending one of those paper lanterns into the air with an invitation, but not surprisingly, Disney wouldn't let us do that. We finally settled on placing a piece of saltwater taffy on each seat and doing a "Sweet Remembrance."
Then we moved onto the first reading! Not to sound like a broken record, but we wanted some funny readings that our guests would likely have not heard before. We did a lot of searching, and ended up with a couple that we were quite happy with - and also were quite happy with their "performances!"
The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice. Although it was cold, he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.
Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur. The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.
“I like this Dinosaur,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny. He is also quite clever, though I will not tell him this for now.”
“I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur,” thought the Dinosaur. “She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice. She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.”
“But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “He is also overly fond of things. Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?”
“But her mind skips from here to there so quickly,” thought the Dinosaur. “She is also uncommonly keen on shopping. Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?”
“I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things,” thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. “For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.”
“I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping,” thought the Dinosaur. “For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides, I am not unkeen on shopping either.”
Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old. Look at them. Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.
And that, my friends, is how it is with love. Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together. For the sun is warm. And the world is a beautiful place.
This reading was so perfect - first of all, Mr. Llama is REALLY into dinosaurs. (Seriously - whenever he wakes up from a dream, the first thing I ask is - 'What kinds of dinosaurs were in it?') We liked how it touched on our imperfections and compromise with each other. And as a bonus, it had shopping and warm weather thrown in there! And our bridal party members who did the reading (we had a Dinosaur, Lovely Other Dinosaur, and a Narrator) did a lovely, hilarious job.
After that, we did the "Community Blessing." Something we definitely wanted to do in our ceremony was incorporate our guests. Frankly, it's very possible that I stole some of this from a former Bee - we looked at so many different ceremonies, and I know I took a lot of this from somewhere, but I have no recollection of who/where specifically!
"Today, you have come here not simply to witness Patrick & Annie’s union, but to take part in it. Each of you represents not only yourself, but all of the people who have and will touch the lives of our bride and groom. Your support has helped their relationship to flourish, and the joy that you all bring into the couple’s lives keeps them going. The bride and groom have asked all present to take vows as well, to pledge your support and love for them as they embark upon this new path together. After I have spoken these vows, please answer with “We will.”
Everyone gathered here today, before you stand two people who love you very much. Do you promise to encourage and inspire their dreams? To accept them not only as individuals, but as a couple? To be their friends and their support, today and everyday to follow? <We will> And finally, do you promise not to judge them for their incessant desire to visit Disney over and over again? <WE WILL>"
We are all a little weird,
And life’s a little weird,
And when we find someone
Whose weirdness is compatible with ours,
We join up with that person
And fall in mutual weirdness, and call it love.
“Love never gives up; it knows no end to its trust, no dashing of its hope. It can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the only thing that still stands when all else has fallen."
While Mr. Llama has more religious inclinations than I do, it's never been something super important to him, and it's something that definitely isn't important to me. More than anything though, it doesn't have anything to do with our relationship, and I didn't feel it merited time in our ceremony. However, Mr. Llama wanted to throw his grandparents a bone and put something catholic in there. I agreed to it, but didn't want specific mention of God or Jesus or anything that made me specifically think of church! And this did the job. Check!
Then, we had our vows that we each wrote. We've chosen to keep them private, but I can tell you that they were a combination of heartfelt and funny. We each cried and laughed - a lot.
Mr. L, do you take Ms. L for better or for worse,
for richer or poorer,
in sickness and in health,
from this day forward until death parts you?
<I do.>
May I have the rings? Mr. L, repeat after me:
I have for you a ring. <repeat>
It signifies that your love is the most precious element in my life. <repeat>
This ring has no beginning and no end, symbolizing that our love is infinite. <repeat> With this ring, I thee wed. <repeat>
for better or for worse,
for richer or poorer,
in sickness and in health,
from this day forward until death parts you?
<I do.>
Ms. L, repeat after me:
I have for you a ring. <repeat>
Because it has no end or beginning, it signifies the continuation of true love. <repeat>
As I place it on your finger, I give you all that I am and ever hope to be. <repeat> With this ring, I thee wed. <repeat>
By the power vested in me by the internet, I have been asked to present you with a unity noodle. You may now kiss the bride.
And that was it! He pronounced us man and wife, and we walked back down the aisle.
Thanks for hanging in there on this long post that took me forever to write!! Did you miss anything?
The Ceremony that Could Have Been
Bridal Party photos
Family portraits
Time to take some photos alone!
First look
The Guys Get Ready
The Ladies Get Ready