Ceremony Readings

Photo by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words

I had about 10 ceremony readings that were potential candidates for our ceremony. In the end we went with a reading from The Prophet and the book of Ruth. They both resonated what our definition of love and marriage were.

Ruth 1 16:17

 16 But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God

17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me."

SPEAK TO US OF LOVE

From The Prophet

By Kahlil Gilbran 

Then said Almitra, Speak to us of Love.

And he raised his head and looked upon the people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with a great voice he said: When love beckons to you, follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth. Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself. He threshes you to make you naked. He sifts you to free you from your husks. He grinds you to whiteness. He kneads you until you are pliant; And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that you may become sacred bread for God's sacred feast.

All these things shall love do unto you that you may know the secrets of your heart, and in that knowledge become a fragment of Life's heart.

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say, "God is in my heart," but rather, "I am in the heart of God." And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:

To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.

To know the pain of too much tenderness.

To be wounded by your own understanding of love;

And to bleed willingly and joyfully.

To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving;

To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy;

To return home at eventide with gratitude;

And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.

Ceremony - The Best Part of the Day

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words

By far the best part of the day was our wedding ceremony. I have never felt so connected to another person than when I stood before God, family, and friends and declared my love, devotion and commitment to my husband. I was on the verge of full out tears throughout the ceremony so I was so surprised at how many photos showed me smiling from ear to ear.

We discussed with our pastor the ceremony in our counseling sessions and we decided to go with the traditional vows without any alterations. The only thing we added were two readings a biblical and non-biblical reading. I can't wait to get our video back because our pastor did a beautiful job in  officiating the sermon. He said such beautiful words on his message of the meaning of marriage and what it truly means to join your lives together.

My friend from college (who I met in our first week of our freshman year) did a reading from The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. A friend of Roosevelt did our second reading from the book of Ruth. I put together a simple book for each reading made from bronze shimmer card stock and accentuated with a pink ribbon so our readers would not hold a plain piece of paper in front of everyone. A simple quick project.

Look how happy we both were. Aaaahhhhhhhh.

Before we exchanged rings our pastor quietly prayed over them with us. Only we heard the pastor's prayer and it was one of the most intimate moments of the ceremony.

Exchange of our rings.

Our pastor blessing us after our vows and ring exchange. One of my favorite shots from the wedding. Edmund did a gorgeous job.

THE KISS!

And we are officially the Petersons!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ceremony decor and details

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words Photography

From the beginning I was set that our ceremony have lots of candles and rose petals lining the aisle. I went back and forth about having other flowers. My thought was unless the arrangements were going to be recycled later on for the reception there was no point in investing a huge amount from the budget on large ceremony arrangements. So we went with a very simple decor which was fine since the room at the Four Seasons had an elaborate chandelier and the rich wall treatments.

To save money I sourced all the candle and glass online and spent  a lot of time researching which vendor had the best price. Ultimately I sourced all the pillar candles from Dining by Candlelight and got the best deal on their chamber pillars, which are slightly thinner than regular pillars but give the same overall look at a lower price. The glass I sourced from HJK Imports a glass wholesaler based in California. Since the glass was so inexpensive there were inconsistencies in the quality and thickness so  I was lucky to have ordered more glass containers then we actually used. However, there prices was so unbelievable that I still realized a huge cost saving over renting the glass from my florist. For votives and tea lights I sourced them from IKEA , Michaels, and ebay. Ikea by far has the best price on votive and tea light glass holders. 

On the alter of candles we had a sheer runner and a cross that Roosevelt inherited from his grandmother. The cross was one more way we could incorporate something from our grandparents into the wedding.

My aisle runner as talked about in an earlier post was from Bell Creation.

In each chair we laid out the programs. I slaved for two weeks on the programs and I think I made them more overly complicated than they needed to be. In looking back I would have gone with a simpler, less time intensive program. But guests did tell me they loved them. I got inspiration from a picture on Project Wedding and when I could not find the enclosure I had in my mind I decided to make it. Cutting, scoring, and folding the enclosures was the longest part of the process.

I tied in our mantra of "Love is Simple, Love is kind" onto the belly band on the program.

Photo by me.

The pages which were printed on text weight shimmer paper were held in the enclosure with a pink ribbon. We had a simple program which had the wedding party, order of ceremony, words of gratitude, in remembrance, and an excerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit.

Here is our word of gratitude:

Your presence here adds greatly to our joy and happiness on this day.  We thank you for the many gestures and words of support and encouragement that you have extended to us over the course of our Engagement. We ask that God bless and enrich your lives with joy and love as much as you have enriched ours with your friendship and generosity.

Here is the excerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit we used :

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, Because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

The Processional

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words Photography

Since our wedding was so small, the processional went fairly quickly.

I debated for months as to the music for the processional. I didn't know if given the size of the wedding party if there was truly enough time to have a different song for the wedding party and the entrance of the bride. Plus there were so many songs that we both loved and narrowing down the choice was so hard. We made our final decision on the music 3 weeks before the wedding. After hearing Lynette Washington's rendition of "When I Fall in Love" we both knew that this was the song. It summed up our relationship in a nutshell and her voice was just so moving and touching. For my entrance I choose "I Believe and You and Me" by the Four Tops. That song makes me cry every time I hear it. Plus it was the perfect message to Roosevelt of my love for him.

Our parents. Roosevelt escorted my mother.

Our groomsman. We choose to go with khaki suits for our groomsmen. We got their suits from K&G for $99, which was a great buy since they can easily wear their suits again.

Our bridesmaids. I was so surprised once the pictures came back how their dresses photographed an almost purple color instead of the chocolate brown that they were.

Once the doors closed behind them and I heard them switch music to the bridal procession, my eyes started to well up. My biggest concern in walking down the aisle was not to break out into full tears. My uncle squeezed my hand the whole way down the aisle. I didn't look at Roosevelt until I got to the alter.

Roosevelt was so excited to see me. And him knowing me so well knew that I was overwhelmed and he quietly whispered "Are you ok?". And I replied back "Yes, I'm crying because I am so happy."

Then it was time to become husband and wife.

Our Wedding Bands

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words Photography

We bought our wedding bands almost a year before the wedding from jewelers in St. Martens and St. Thomas. I knew that I wanted two diamond wedding bands to go on either side of my engagement ring. I also wanted a plain band to wear on days when I wanted a break from wearing diamonds (Crazy thought  right? But it does happen).  I did not anticipate that I would love all three of my bands that I would want to wear them all at once. But once we got them home I really loved the look of all of them together and the versatility it gave me.

Roe's stipulation was that we find him a band with diamonds and he wanted something out of the ordinary. When we saw this ring in St. Marten we were struck by its simple understated elegance, and we both had definitely not seen this design anywhere else. We also thought it beautifully mimicked the look of my engagement ring surrounded by the two eternity bands.

It was hard waiting for the day when I could wear my bands. I tried hard not to try them on or look at them till the wedding day.

And now I gaze on them every morning and every night. I do take my rings off to shower and when I cook but other than that I do everything with them on.

Its almost time for the Ceremony

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words Photography unless noted

On our way back from Boat House Row I gave Roosevelt one of his wedding gifts. We both agreed that we would exchange our wedding gifts that night when we were alone together since we felt we wanted that to be a private moment between ourselves. However, I had got Roe something special to keep with him through out the day. When I ordered by handkerchief from etsy seller  Molly and Mom, I also had one done for Roosevelt. On it was inscribed "Love is patient, love is kind" which comes from 1 Corinthians 13:4. It is something that Roe says to me whenever we have a disagreement or I need encouragement. It is the mantra of our relationship.

After getting back from Boat House Row we came back to the Four Seasons where I was whisked away to the holding room and Roe went to do last minute checks on his groomsmen. In the holding room I was greeted by my two bridesmaids, my mother, and two of my good friends.

Photo by my close friend, Courtney

It was the first time seeing my bridesmaids together in there dresses. I went shopping with them separately for their dresses and allowed them to choose their own. My only stipulation was the dress had to be a chocolate brown. My one bridesmaid got her dress from David's Bridal and the other is from Priscilla of Boston. They both looked so lovely. I was also surprised to see that my one bridesmaid had the same gardenia clay flowers in her hair from DK Designs Hawaii. Goes to show you why we are friends - we have the same taste!

It was also time for me to put on my veil and the cap sleeves that attached to my dress. After stressing for months over my veil I finally decided to go with a simple dropped veil. I am so glad that I did because I hated wearing the veil, it felt so weird.

Meanwhile Roe was outside getting miked by the videographer and making sure his groomsmen were all ready.

Then it was just time to wait for the Pastor. He had a last minute funeral that morning so he was running late. This was the only time during the day where I actually got anxious and was on the verge of loosing it. It was not till after the ceremony that I learned he had a funeral which caused him to run late.  Like Roe always tells me I need to be more patient. Thus our motto.

We were only running 10 minutes behind which is so minor when looking back on everything. I was just so anxious to get started. However in lining up outside I felt a wave of emotion over take me. I was about to have a full out cry with ugly cry face. I was just so filled with love for Roosevelt I couldn't contain it. I felt as though time was moving so slow and everything around me just dropped away. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. I was actually getting married.

Boat House Row

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words Photography

The Four Seasons Hotel sits right on Logan Square in center city Philadelphia which marks the beginning of Benjamin Franklin Parkway.  At the other end of the Parkway is the Art Museum. The Parkway and the museum was made famous in the movie Rocky with the scene of him running up the steps of the Art Museum and jumping around triumphantly. On a Saturday afternoon in the height of wedding season you can see at least 2-3 bridal parties on the steps of the Art Museum steps taking their formal portraits. We wanted to stay close to the hotel, however, we wanted to avoid the overused Art Museum. Therefore we went with Boat House Row off to the side of the Museum along the river. The Boat House is where all the row clubs have their houses and were you can see a multitude of runners and bikers on an early Saturday morning. The row clubs are beautiful structures and are surrounded by flowers (which luckily were still in bloom) plus there are a number of interesting monuments.

A couple of things were working against us in terms of getting all the shots we wanted. We had limited time. Since our ceremony was at 12 that left only 1-1.5 hours to get shots. Due to all the rain the day before the grass and grounds were wet, muddy or soggy in most parts. And though I know you get your dress professionally cleaned I was not up to getting my dress or shoes muddy or soiled. Because of the time constraint Roosevelt was really concerned with keeping on schedule which inhibited him from totally relaxing in some of the shots. Add on to this that one of  my shoes started to cut into my foot which meant I was bleeding limping bride did not make things better, However, despite this we were able to get in some really great shots.

Roe was a dear and carried my train the whole time we were out there.

This shot shows off the beauty of my bouquet. While we were out there a lot of the joggers yelled congratulations and commented on how beautiful we looked. Its great being a bride and groom!

        

However, we did slip in time to act silly.

And talk on the cell phone

One of the themes that Edmund wove through our pics were shots of Roosevelt and I holding hands, I think they truly captured the tenderness of intimacy of some of the moments that we shared throughout the day and are some of my favorite shots.

First Look

All photos by Edmund Moon of Daily Thousand Words

We did not plan ahead of time how or where we would do our first look so it was very last minute how it went about. It occurred in the main lobby of the Four Seasons right at our appointed time to board the limo and take our couple shots. There was a huge convention at the hotel that week which wrapped up the previous day so it was a little chaotic in the lobby with the departure of guests.  I found a little alcove to hide in till I saw Roosevelt and the photographer come down to the lobby. As guests walked by I got smiles, strange looks, and words of congratulation. I was just so nervous, this was the moment Roosevelt would see me all decked out in my gown. I just hoped he would love it.

I was so overwhelmed at this moment that I was desperately trying to hold back the tears. 

This was the first time either of us had seen what the other was wearing and we just stood back and took it all in from the other.

At first we were not going to have car service for the day, but Roosevelt and Kathy really insisted that it would make getting around so much easier. I am so glad we did.

Roosevelt kept his suit a secret all during its making. I was looking at all the little details that he had incorporated into the suit. One thing we had discussed about his suit and agreed upon was that he would not have a boutonniere, we are both not big fans and think they look a little prom-ish. Also we wanted to set him apart from his groomsmen so he went a pink pocket square.

Look how excited both of us are!

Together finally.