Weddingbee

Dear readers, I will be on a blogging hiatus for a bit. I’ve been a busy bee lately; I’m going on a trip to Europe with Mr. Eggplant for our anniversary next week! Fourteen days in Paris, Madrid, and Barcelona. The only thing is, I haven’t touched our itinerary yet—yikes! If anyone has suggestions for must-see sights in these three cities, feel free to help a procrastinating Eggplant out and comment below. I would be incredibly grateful.

Now, on to our ceremony recap, before my blogging break starts!

Part I: Primped and Prettied
Part II: The Dashing Gents
Part III: The Wedding Duds + A Suite Switcharoo
Part IV: The Threads, and How They Unravel!
Part V: Meet ’n Greet

We arrived at the church right on time with zero minutes to spare. In fact, I had no time to be nervous because it was go, go, go. In hindsight, this was probably a good thing.

All photographs are property of the awesome Apertura Photography. Please provide credit if you re-post their photos.

Our flower girls were a-dor-able. They kept whispering, “I wike your dwess!” They apparently thought I resembled Cinderella with my wedding gown on. I had them give me a kiss for good luck.

Our floral designer, Stacey Miller, did a fabulous job with the flowers. We ended up re-purposing the tall flower balls (for lack of better words) as centerpieces for our reception.

My MOH was so sweet. She really took care of me the entire day. I thought she looked absolutely beautiful.

I was so proud of our flower girls. They were not nervous at all. I was the total opposite. As a child, I was terrified of everything, especially being the center of attention. Not much has changed since.

Our usher passed out the wedding programs that we had worked so hard on. They were definitely imperfect: stamps weren’t centered, paper was sticking out of the ends, and ribbons were frayed. But guess what? No one noticed.

Mr. Eggplant had a personal moment with his guys before he took the stage, where they said a short prayer for him. He later told me that this was one of his favorite wedding moments because he felt so loved. Mr. Eggplant is a huge softie, but don’t tell him I told you that.

I love the expression on his face. He won’t admit it publicly, but he teared up a little. Hey, wait a minute. He shed a few tears for the guys, but his eyes didn’t water even once for me! Humph.

Our flower girls held pomander balls instead of flower baskets. I originally thought that the balls were too small, but once I held one in my hand, I understood why our floral designer made them so small. They were surprisingly heavy!

This was one of my favorite pictures of the whole wedding. Way to frame a shot!

Before the ceremony started, my brother and Mr. Eggplant’s sister did the honors and lit the candles on the altar.

Our hired musicians (a.k.a. our talented friends) played the “Feather Theme” from the Forrest Gump soundtrack for our families to start the procession. Our musicians put together a really amazing musical program that we still receive compliments about. We were incredibly lucky to have such talented and generous friends take part in our day; it meant the world to us.

My little cousin (who is really not that little… she’s 5’7″ or so) escorted my grandfather down the aisle.

Mr. Eggplant’s parents were next.

Brother Eggplant walked my mom in…

… while we all waited for our turn.

My one-year old cousin was our ring bearer. In lieu of a ring pillow, we gave him a tuxedo bear from Build-a-Bear so that he could keep it after the wedding. The red wagon was purchased in case he became finicky and wouldn’t want to walk down the aisle.

All of the groomsmen entered the church. During the rehearsal, they were instructed to hold their hands like that. Good thing someone remembered to tell them, because I never thought about details like that!

Next up: the bridesmaids. My cousin smiled the entire way down the aisle.

If we ever have daughters, I hope they are as cute (and as well behaved) as my cousins. I love the paparazzi of cameras taking photos of them.

This munchkin refused to walk down the aisle and also refused his red wagon. Poor little guy. It was way past his nap time.

Finally, it was my turn. By this time, I had blocked out everyone in the room. In my mind, it was just me, walking to my future husband. The one tip I did remember was to walk very slowly. It’s so easy to speed down the aisle like a race horse. I took my time and savored the moment—one of the best decisions ever. If you take away one small piece of advice from our wedding recap, I hope it will be to walk slowly down the aisle and to drink everything in.

Have you seen the movie 27 Dresses? There’s a part where Katherine Heigl’s character explains that while everyone is looking at the bride during a wedding, she looks at the expression on the groom’s face because it says everything. Well, I’m really glad our photographers were able to capture Mr. Eggplant’s expression. It speaks volumes to me.

I haven’t shared much about the church we were married at. It was absolutely stunning. We always wanted a garden wedding, but once I stepped into this building with its stained glass ceilings and cement walls, it took my breath away. We knew we were going to be married in it.

Our wedding was the first nuptials that our pastor ever officiated. He did a fantastic job. His words were touching, personal, and funny. Many a family member came up to us and told us how surprised they were that they enjoyed the formalities so much. This meant a lot to us since our ceremony was pretty long (one hour) and we were worried about boring folks.

Mr. Eggplant’s vows were awesome. I laughed out loud…

… and then I cried while saying my own vows.

I just had to post this picture because it cracks me up. Take a peek at Grandma Eggplant on the right. Perhaps we should have shortened the ceremony.

Finally, we said our vows and exchanged our rings.

Then, we lit the unity candle together.

Flowers of appreciation were presented to our parents. And then finally…

The Kiss! I don’t know if we have a photo of it, but Mr. Eggplant actually picked me up off the ground.

Our pastor officially announced us, “For the very first time, I introduce to you Mr. and Mrs. Eggplant!”

And we retreated!

The emotion of the day was joyous. I was filled with incredible joy and gratitude and it hasn’t stopped since. Being married is awesome and I recommend it to everyone!

Have a wonderful two weeks, everyone! I’ll be back to conclude the recaps soon!