Weddingbee Blog

So there we were after all of that preparing. Pulling up in front of the church. Getting out of the trolley. Taking my dad’s arm. And all of a sudden, I was the girl at the top of the aisle in the white dress.

Photos once again (unless noted) by the terrific Samantha Warren of Samantha Warren Weddings.

Mr. Tiramisu’s cousin served as our ring bearer, which was especially fitting as Mr. Tiramisu played the same role at his parents’ wedding. Look at this handsome kiddo waiting on the church steps as we pulled up in the trolley:


Cute, but don’t let that smile fool you—he renamed himself the “ring barrier” and proceeded to threaten the disappearance of our rings. Luckily, we know this guy pretty well and had given him fake rings. Here they are nestled in our Paloma’s Nest bowl:

We all gathered in the entryway, the crowd hushed, the music started, and one by one my best friends made their way down the aisle, looking oh so beautiful.

Even my sometimes-shy little sis was shining:

(non-pro pic by RD)

Speaking of shy, our adorable flower girls hid behind their flower wands:

And then it was time! I tried my hardest to heed everyone’s advice, and to take time at the top of the aisle to take it all in. I looked around, I tried to hold the moment in my mind, and it was pure bliss. I’ll give the advice again, even if I couldn’t follow it: pause, breathe, wait, and count to ten before you walk down the aisle—if you can. I couldn’t. I saw my man up there at the altar, and it was all I could do to keep from running.

He saw me:

I saw him:

(non-pro pic by KC)

Seeing each other for the first time at that moment is an indescribable and irreplaceable memory that we’ll always have. There’s a lot of advice out there, and everyone has to decide for themselves, but just for the record, my feeling is this: which is more important to you—the photos of the day, or the day itself? I’d have missed ten cocktail hours for the butterflies I got when I saw my groom standing there waiting for me, and I just don’t think it would have been the same if we’d been taking pictures together all morning.

My Dad started to lose it a little bit towards the end, but ultimately both of us saps made it down the aisle virtually tear-free:

Our minister let us write a lot of the ceremony ourselves. I have to thank all the bees who had come before me for all the help they had given us. This well-loved book helped us out as well.

We both loved the idea of a group blessing, and we took inspiration from the very talented Mrs. Lovebug on some of the wording.

My Mom read “Union” by Robert Fulghum.

“…The symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, ‘You know all those things that we’ve promised, and hoped, and dreamed—well, I meant it all, every word’…”

That one gets me every time:

Mr. Tiramisu’s Mom read an Irish Blessing:

Which got to me too:

One thing that we didn’t really think too much about was having our Moms do readings for us. With a fairly short ceremony, they ended up being a big part of it, and with such a small altar space, they were right up there next to us during that time. It turned out to be a really great decision.

I couldn’t get enough of the way my almost husband was looking at me while we said our vows:

We kept our vows fairly traditional, as we both found a lot of meaning in saying the same words that have been said for generations in our families:

Vows said, rings on… all that was left to do was kiss!

And I give you Mr. and Mrs. Tiramisu!

Next up: How about we cut to some details?

Previously:
1. The Pre-Game
2. We Practice the I Dos and the Party Part Too
3. The Day is Here!
4. Going to the Chapel