The Ceremony or Part III
When we arrived the first thing I saw were tons of people standing outside the church. This was the first time I've ever seen St. Francis or Fernwood for that matter. I just trusted my mom's, sister's and 2 aunts' opinions on this one, and I was happy I did.
Our car parked at the front of the church and Brian's Commuter with EVERYBODY in it arrived and parked in front of the church too, effectively blocking my view. My sister got out of the car and so did Eddie Boy. Moira wanted to go out too, but I told her to wait - we were going to go out last. The van backed out and I could now see people being herded into the church - at 6:15pm, the wedding should have started at 6pm. As friends and family walked by, they waved at me and some approached me and raved about Moira and my gown. Moira was dying to go out by then.
Finally, Nenita came out of the chapel to get Moira, she signaled everyone to line up and I was left in the car. I had no idea what was going on, basta waiting for my cue from Nenita. She signaled for me to come over and I stepped out of the car and walked gingerly towards the church.
The first thing that caught my eye was the amazing flowers and lighting - it was truly a beautiful sight. Then, I saw every seat was filled - friends and family were with us in our celebration. Then, I saw Brian's back a few steps away, we decided that since it was a renewal of vows, we would walk down the aisle together. To be able to still have that bridal entrance though, Brian stood in the back as the entourage walked in and waited for me to step into the place. When I saw him, I had to smile - there he was, waiting for me. I walked forward a few steps and realized he didn't know what he was supposed to do! I looked at Nenita who immediately understood what I wanted, she called quietly at Brian. "Brian, look at Marla."
When he turned, his face lit up and I knew I smiled too. I walked up to him and kissed him even though it wasn't time for that yet - he had the biggest smile. We both said hi to each other - it was the first time since last night that we saw each other. We started to walk down the aisle to the music of "The Rose", the same bridal march song we used when I first walked down the aisle.
There were tears and laughter throughout the ceremony, like it had the first time too. Because the airconditioning was directly at us, I was cold so Brian to be nice put an arm around me - from the front row my sister hissed, "Take your hand off her. Just wait." Brian and I had to giggle and so did some of my friends who were nearby. My kids too decided the altar where we were and the steps were the perfect places to play so during the ceremony, there were moments where the congregation would laugh and we knew it was something our children did. Ian did fall down the steps at one point, causing a unified gasp which made us turn around - luckily he found it the funniest thing also causing a unified giggle.
When it was time for the vows, I took the misallette and prepared to read - I've read it before and in fact, edited it for errors so I didn't think it mattered. As I began to read the words though, my voice cracked and in my head I was telling myself, "Why are you crying?!" Behind me, my friends who were readers began asking for tissue paper as they were crying too. Brian began to read his vows and also began to cry. Who knew?!
Father Ver gave his homily on love and marriage, he was funny, insightful, reflective and just perfect. We had the cord, veil, candle and arrhae traditions and the ceremony ended with the kiss. Picture taking which had begun in the hotel, kept on going...until we were well on our way to the reception.
Our car parked at the front of the church and Brian's Commuter with EVERYBODY in it arrived and parked in front of the church too, effectively blocking my view. My sister got out of the car and so did Eddie Boy. Moira wanted to go out too, but I told her to wait - we were going to go out last. The van backed out and I could now see people being herded into the church - at 6:15pm, the wedding should have started at 6pm. As friends and family walked by, they waved at me and some approached me and raved about Moira and my gown. Moira was dying to go out by then.
Finally, Nenita came out of the chapel to get Moira, she signaled everyone to line up and I was left in the car. I had no idea what was going on, basta waiting for my cue from Nenita. She signaled for me to come over and I stepped out of the car and walked gingerly towards the church.
The first thing that caught my eye was the amazing flowers and lighting - it was truly a beautiful sight. Then, I saw every seat was filled - friends and family were with us in our celebration. Then, I saw Brian's back a few steps away, we decided that since it was a renewal of vows, we would walk down the aisle together. To be able to still have that bridal entrance though, Brian stood in the back as the entourage walked in and waited for me to step into the place. When I saw him, I had to smile - there he was, waiting for me. I walked forward a few steps and realized he didn't know what he was supposed to do! I looked at Nenita who immediately understood what I wanted, she called quietly at Brian. "Brian, look at Marla."
When he turned, his face lit up and I knew I smiled too. I walked up to him and kissed him even though it wasn't time for that yet - he had the biggest smile. We both said hi to each other - it was the first time since last night that we saw each other. We started to walk down the aisle to the music of "The Rose", the same bridal march song we used when I first walked down the aisle.
There were tears and laughter throughout the ceremony, like it had the first time too. Because the airconditioning was directly at us, I was cold so Brian to be nice put an arm around me - from the front row my sister hissed, "Take your hand off her. Just wait." Brian and I had to giggle and so did some of my friends who were nearby. My kids too decided the altar where we were and the steps were the perfect places to play so during the ceremony, there were moments where the congregation would laugh and we knew it was something our children did. Ian did fall down the steps at one point, causing a unified gasp which made us turn around - luckily he found it the funniest thing also causing a unified giggle.
When it was time for the vows, I took the misallette and prepared to read - I've read it before and in fact, edited it for errors so I didn't think it mattered. As I began to read the words though, my voice cracked and in my head I was telling myself, "Why are you crying?!" Behind me, my friends who were readers began asking for tissue paper as they were crying too. Brian began to read his vows and also began to cry. Who knew?!
Father Ver gave his homily on love and marriage, he was funny, insightful, reflective and just perfect. We had the cord, veil, candle and arrhae traditions and the ceremony ended with the kiss. Picture taking which had begun in the hotel, kept on going...until we were well on our way to the reception.
posted by Marla | 10:58 PM
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