Wedding Recaps: Ceremony

Another installment of wedding recaps- here we go! To Mr. SE and myself, our ceremony was the most important part of the entire wedding weekend. We both had strong convictions about the way that our ceremony would be conducted: Mr. SE wanted it in a Catholic church, and I wanted it in any Christian house of worship. Luckily Non-Denominational Christianity and Catholicism have many similarities in the way that their wedding ceremonies are conducted, and it was easy for us to collaborate on the perfect ceremony. We decided to have a non-mass Catholic ceremony, which followed the following structure:

Gathering Song
Opening Prayer
Old & New Testament Reading
Gospel Reading by our Deacon
Exchange of Vows and Blessing of Rings
Unity Candle and Song of Blessing
Prayer of the Faithful
The Lord's Prayer
Sign of Peace
Final Blessing
Introduction of couple

After attending the June 2009 wedding of my Matron of Honor, Kate, I knew that a Catholic ceremony was the way for us to go. There was something special about everything involved in the ceremony-- it's not to say that shorter ceremonies are lacking anything, but I wanted the ceremony to involve as many traditions as possible. Mr. SE and I both felt that this was a very serious thing: committing to each other in the presence of God, our families, and each other-- and we wanted to respect the very sacred union that we were creating.

Through our marriage preparation sessions, our Deacon really got to know us, and was able to put quite a personal spin on our ceremony. I felt so much love during that hour. A love of support and encouragement from all of our family and friends in the pews, and encouragement of all the other couples who have ever been married on that altar. Our Deacon said something to the effect of Christian marriages being part of the tree of the body of Christ, and our marriage was a bud on the branch. I loved that analogy, and believe it's instrumental to have a support system like that when beginning the walk of marriage. It's the best road ever, but it's not always an easy journey.

We put a lot of thought into the special roles involved in our ceremony. Our flower girl is my cousin's daughter (I was the flower girl in her parents' wedding at the exact same age as she was for ours). The readers were family members for both Mr. SE and myself. For our Prayer of the Faithful, we chose our mutual friend Brandon and he was the perfect person to read those very important proclamations. And for our Song of Blessing, my Matron of Honor sang "Con te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli. She has the voice of an angel, and it was truly beautiful to hear her voice filling the Cathedral.

One of my favorite parts of our ceremony, was being able to sit on the altar during both of the readings, and the sermon from our Deacon. It was such a special thing to be able to hold my "almost" husband's hand and look into the pews. I made a special point of trying to notice every single person that had come to witness the beginning of our journey as husband and wife. Our ceremony is the most special experience I've ever had in my life. While saying our vows, a beautiful light came through the stained glass and rested on Mr. SE and I. We truly believe it was God shining down, along with our family members that are already in heaven.

After our vows, we gave a Sign of Peace to each other and our bridal party and parents. It was so special to walk down my bridesmaids and give them all a hug and a kiss, followed by my parents and Mr. SE's parents. These are some of my favorite images of our ceremony. So much joy and so much love.  

Let me know if you'd like the template that I used to design our programs. It was hard to find something for a non-mass ceremony, so I created one of my own.

All photos by Gray Photography

Wedding Dress: Mori Lee, The White Room
Tuxedos: Mens Wearhouse
Mom's Dresses: The White Room
Bridesmaid's Dresses: B2 by Jasmine, The White Room
Flower Girl: David's Bridal
Flowers: Brocade Designs
Ceremony: Cathedral of the Incarnation
Deacon: Mark Faulkner (if you're in the Nashville area, let me know if you'd like his info)

Wedding Recaps: First Look

Mr. SE and I decided it was important for us to see each other before the ceremony. All wives tales aside, we believed it would make us more at ease, less anxious, and give us clarity for the ceremony. It did all of that and more. Le sigh- looking through all of these pictures gives me butterflies every time...

I'll never forget walking out into the courtyard towards my future husband. While my bridesmaids clamored up against the door (and my planner shooed them away), I tip toed my way towards my future husband. As I reached out to tap his shoulder, our photographers instructed him to turn around. The look on his face will forever be burned into my mind. I've never seen such happiness, joy, and love on my husband's face-- it was the beginning of the most magical hours of my life.

Choosing to see each other before the ceremony was the right option for us for a variety of reasons. Like I already stated, it definitely brought a sense of calm to our ceremony, and it also worked out logistically. We were able to take pictures with each other and our bridal party too. Here's some of my favorites.

That was a super picture-heavy post! What do you think about seeing your fiance before the ceremony? Love it or leave it? Sound off!

All images are from the incomparable Gray Photography