I Do's

Ok, I have one video I can upload from here. And it very nicely demonstrates just how insanely loud the rain was. Here we are, saying "I do:"

The Marriage License

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We chose to incorporate the signing of the marriage license into the ceremony for a few reasons. We wanted to emphasize the gravity and completeness of the commitment we were making in an additional way. We wanted to recognize all the dimensions of our marriage, spiritual, emotional, and legal. Also, I never understood the idea of signing either before vows are taken or after a couple is pronounced husband and wife (or husband and husband, or wife and wife, as the case may be).

So my dad built us a beautiful table that matched the arch on which to sign, and we bought a lovely white feather pen.

(My uncle Bill with the table my dad built)

Both items got rained on.

But the Best Man, Dan, graciously ran out into the downpour again to retrieve the pen.

(For all the things it might look like, this is Chris shaking the water out of the quill after Dan ran out and got it)

And we made it legal.

Rev. Nurya

Chris

Me

Dan

And Mandy

The Rings

“What symbol do you offer as a pledge for the fulfillment of these vows?”

____________________

Picking out our rings was an amusing debacle. We made a number of trips to the Diamond District, and we scoured the internet, emailing images of rings back and forth. We didn’t have a whole lot of money to spend, but we both had very specific things in mind.

I wanted something featuring leaves or vines, something with a nature feel to it. He wanted a dark metal with the Gregory crest laser etched into it. We ended up going through Wedding Ring Originals (www.weddingrings.com) on Lex. I tried on about a dozen different “leafy” rings, and settled on the simplest one (it’s funny, at the time, I found all the others too flashy, but now I’m thinking I might have this one added on to in a few years, lol). It is absolutely beautiful.

Chris didn’t have it quite so easy. He found the perfect True Tungsten ring, but the etching technology that was within our price range was not nearly the quality we were looking for. I’m hoping to get him an etched ring for some future anniversary. But he loves the ring the way it is; it has an amazing shine to it. I had our names, wedding date, and “Always” (per the Bon Jovi song) engraved inside.
_____________________



“The circle of the ring speaks of love freely given: it has no beginning and it has no end. The circle of the ring declares the unity and the oneness of your two lives, which shall contain your devotion beyond every journey, that you may always return again to your togetherness.”




“I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness. With all that I am, and all that I have, I join my life with yours.”






“I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness. With all that I am, and all that I have, I join my life with yours.”



(And on my right hand you’ll see my engagement ring. I couldn’t settle on just one style, so I wear them on opposite hands)

Vows

26 May 09

Chris and I wrote our own vows. For obvious reasons, we both considered the vows to be the most important part of the whole ceremony. They were/are extremely personal and important to us (not that either of us finished writing them more than a day before the ceremony). When we said them, we said them to each other, and we meant every word.

Part way through saying our vows someone, ahem, said loudly, “We can’t hear you.”

To which Rev Nurya responded, “They’re not talking to you.”

This has been repeated to me more than anything else as guests’ favorite part of the wedding.

We’ve been considering putting the vows up here, and we will continue to consider it. For now, though, they’ll remain just between us. That is, until one of us gets around to typing them all out. They’re currently handwritten and living in our memory book, where they have been since the wedding.

Second Reading

Boo honored us with Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr Seuss

He had to borrow Rev Nurya's copy because his got so wet that it disintigrated. The other groomsmen were even trying to hold the sheets very delicately out for him. He was also annoyed that we picked a little bit of a tongue twister.

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the couple who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "We don't choose to go there."
With your heads full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down, any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air,
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.
And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.
OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!
You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to great heights!
You won't lag behind, because you'll have all the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang, and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly you'll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.
Except when you don't.
Because sometimes, you won't.
You'll get mixed up of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed upwith so many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with great care and great tact
and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)
KIDS, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!
So, be your name Buxbaum or Dowrie or Bass
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to great places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So … get on your way!

Do You?

Do you Chris, take Amanda to be your wife, to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and to be faithful to her, as long as you both shall live?


I do.


Do you Amanda, take Chris to be your husband, to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, and to be faithful to him, as long as you both shall live?


I do.

The Ceremony

Prelude

Music: “White Wedding” by Billy Idol, “Going to the Chapel” by The Crystals

Processional

“Time After Time” Instrumental by Cyndi Lauper and Sarah McLaughlin

“Bridal Chorus” by Wagner

Of course, all the music got scrapped because of the monsoon.

Opening Words

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to unite this man and this woman in the ‘bonds of marriage, a source of joy to those who enter into it and of great good for our common life. Solemn words and symbolic acts are but the outward sign of what is here meant; for a true marriage is a union of lives, established in respect, love, and devotion; a dedication of each to the other, and of both to the wider community of which their lives are a part.

Charge to the Couple

• Chris and Amanda, the covenant which you are about to make with each other is meant to be a beautiful and sacred expression of your love. As you pledge your vows, and commit your lives to each other, we ask that you do so in all seriousness, and yet with a deep sense of joy; with the deep conviction that you are committing yourselves to a dynamic growing relationship of trust, mutual support, and caring love. Remember, then, that your decision this day is your act of faith in one another. Your faith must not be a vain hope in what the other will do or will not do, might

  

  become or not become. Yours must be that deeper faith that you each will be acceptable in the other's eyes despite the changes of the years and the assaults of the world. Such faith requires that you honor yourself as well as attend to the needs of the other. Such faith requires that you learn to listen before you speak. Such faith requires that you each be open to that divine spark within you, and be willing to be guided by the grace of its light. Your pledge to one another is a devotion in freedom, and not a license to control. Your covenant will endure the trials of time only as you keep to that sacred integrity.