Weddingbee

…While Mr. Lovebug and I were exchanging vows, Chaucer the bling bearer was being a patient (if pant-y) little gentleman right around the corner:

He’s not normally hyper or destructive, but we had no idea how he’d behave on his big day, in a strange environment. Would he be nervous and whiny? Pull on his leash and chase butterflies? Well, our puppy did us so proud. He was calm, friendly, obedient - and oh so handsome in his “power tie” collar and ring pouch:

When the moment came, Melissa called out, “Will the ring bearer please step forward?” Chaucer and his human buddy came padding down the aisle, right to Mr. LB:

Of course, the smiles on everyone’s faces made us feel quite the proud mama and papa. Chaucer is such a sweet and gentle dog - you can see it in his mopey puppy face and his awkward puppy gait. It was pretty redonk.

We’d expected it to be adorable and funny, but it was also surprisingly emotional for us, too. It felt like (get ready to scoff) a family moment. Like, Wow. This is our little family right here. And here we go, starting our lives together! Mr. Lovebug said afterward that he’d almost lost it when he unclipped the pouch and took out the rings:

Since we’d originally met some, um, resistance to the proposal of including Chaucer, it was very gratifying that it went so well. For those of you considering including a pet in your wedding, consider this a ringing endorsement of the idea.

I absolutely loved the way Melissa suggested we perform the ring exchange. She had each of us place the rings halfway down one another’s finger with words of offering. Then we pulled our rings on the rest of the way ourselves, saying words of acceptance:

I never would have thought of doing it that way, but for me, personally, it was very meaningful. Making verbal and physical gestures of receipt forces you to really think about what you’re doing: you’re ready to give love, of course. But are you also truly ready to accept it? For someone with self-esteem issues, anyway, it was a powerful thing. After all, one meaning of “accept” is “believe.”

I snuck a not-so-subtle peek at my new bling…

…and Mr. LB finally got a ring of his own:

Of course, (I’d like to think) it wouldn’t be genuine Lovebug if there weren’t a few laughs in there somewhere:

Everyone will tell you how much they enjoyed your ceremony; when you see your guests looking like this, you can actually believe it.

The girlfriend who’d made my something blue read Love, by Roy Croft with such grace and emotion, it was as if she’d written it herself:

(This expression says, “Can you believe how lucky we are in our friends?”)

(And this one says, “I am so going to work that open bar tonight.”)

Melissa read the closing blessing (a beautiful, nonreligious benediction), which she had written herself, while we soaked up the last few moments of the ceremony :

For our pronouncement and first kiss, I had hatched this crazy idea of inviting everyone to join in, if they so chose, and kiss their own spouses, S.O.s, etc. I partly wanted to take the spotlight off us for that moment, and partly thought it would make a super cute photo op.

Well, despite the fact that we’d explained it the programs, my grand plan went over like a lead balloon. LOL. What can I say? You win some, you lose some. Everyone just kind of laughed and watched us, anyway:

(I love how Melissa’s smile peeks through between us.)

Our recessional was “Holiday Road”, by Lindsay Buckingham (the theme from “Vacation”). You can jam out to it right here if ya want. We made a fast getaway sans rice, bubbles, petals, or any other projectiles:

And before we knew it, we were the Lovebugs! It went so quickly, it really did. The great thing was, we had no idea we’d enjoy it even half as much as we did. And what about our “non-traditional” approach to things? No veil, no bridal party, no one to walk me down the aisle? Answer: no regrets. Everything felt like it was exactly how it was supposed to be.

Next up, cocktail hour! Meaning, more photos of the Lovebugs than are really necessary. No really. It’s sick.

All photos by Chris Richards.

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