Love is All About “We”: We Do!

All photos below by The Wiebners unless otherwise noted. We purchased a disc of all unedited images from our wedding day, so some post-processing has been done by me for the purpose of sharing the photos with you. Click on any photo to enlarge.

Although we spent months planning “the party”, we all know that what truly matters on the wedding day is the ceremony. It felt so surreal to hear the organ playing as my bridesmaids walked down the aisle and I made my way to the door of the sanctuary, arms linked with my parents’ — my mom to my left and my dad to my right.

In the background of the above photo, standing beyond the church coordinator, you can see four people. The two women on the left — Tara and Christine — are actually the ladies responsible for introducing Mr. Cupcake and me! They were the hosts of the famed Halloween party where we met five years earlier. Tara and Christine made it to the church with their boyfriends just as the bridesmaids were starting to walk down the aisle, so they weren’t allowed inside yet… but it was actually very apropos and fun seeing them just before my walk down the aisle. After all, without them, the day might have never happened!

As I made my way to the door, I was reminded of the advice of many bees before me: take a deep breath, be aware of the moment, and don’t bolt down the aisle! I reminded myself to take my time, look at the faces of the loved ones around me, and, most importantly, check out my future (and extremely good-looking) hubby awaiting me at the end of the aisle. Kendra, the church coordinator, fixed my train as I got in my place, and I took those few seconds to look into the sanctuary and soak in the reality of what was happening. It was an incredible feeling.

If you’d like to see us in action, here’s a little video clip from my mom’s cousin. You can hear that after the bridesmaids entered, the song remained the same (Trumpet Voluntary by Clarke) but the organist added quite a bit of “oomph” for my processional. The organ sounded amazing — no video could compare to the live sound, but I hope you’ll enjoy it nonetheless. (Also, please notice the guy on the left who is the first to stand up before I walk down the aisle. That is our friend Tim, who was, by far, the most excited person for us that day. He was so funny and will make an appearance later in this post, too!)

For those non-video-watchers, here’s our journey down the aisle in photos.

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My beaming groom awaits!

I definitely felt a rush of love, seeing the faces of so many of the amazing people in our lives in the same room. It was touching to see tears in the eyes of some, and seeing the excitement that was evident in each person’s face was priceless.

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{ photo by Mr. Cupcake’s cousin, Evan }

I got a tiny bit teary-eyed, but I am happy to report that Sobfest ’09 did not occur that day. There was no ugly cry for this bride, no sirree. (Except I pretty much cry like a baby every time I watch the video.)

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{ guest photo }

When we reached the end of the aisle, my mom let out a little laugh at all of my tearful bridesmaids! We never knew they were such softies!

Our ceremony was performed by both the Pastor of the church we were being married in (far left) and the Pastor who had baptized Mr. Cupcake as a baby (and even married his parents!!). We were honored to have them both there; Mr. C’s childhood Pastor made the trip from Central Pennsylvania to be there that day and he performed the Homily.

When Pastor Bill asked, “who gives this woman to be married?” my parents said, in unison, “She gives herself freely with our love and support.” I loved that special touch! (Something I picked up from an episode of Brothers & Sisters, no less. )

Then came time for the “hand-off”. I kissed my parents farewell as Mr. Cupcake took me by the hand.

Look how cute Mr. C’s grandmother is, smiling behind my dad!

Mr. Cupcake’s cousin, Elliot, gave a reading from the bible, and our friend, Amy, gave a reading by Victor Hugo. (It was the same reading that I read at my mom’s wedding back in February of 2008.) Amy graciously stepped in as a reader at the last minute when one of my cousins couldn’t make it to our wedding.

Pastor Tim (Mr. C’s childhood Pastor) gave the Homily and spoke about valuing each other and putting each other first. It was short and sweet, but meaningful nonetheless.

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{ photo by Mr. Cupcake’s cousin, Evan }

After the Homily, we stepped up to the altar for the Marriage Promise. (That’s when we said, “I do!”)

It made my groom a little weepy, so I wiped away a tear for him.

Next, my oldest friend, Jill, who happens to have an incredibly amazing voice, sang “Feels Like Home” by Paul Newman. (You may know the version by Chantal Kreviazuk.) You can hear how amazing she sounded (and see Mr. Cupcake and I share a tissue and make our guests giggle) if you go here.

Mr. C pretty promptly whipped out the tissue.

Okay, okay — I did a little crying, too. But there was no ugly cry! I swear.

After Jill’s song and some sniffling, it was time for the exchange of rings…

… a blessing…

… and a prayer.

Then, it was finally time to smooch!

Presenting, Mr. and Mrs. Cupcake!

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Remember our very excited friend, Tim, from the video? He’s the one on the right in this photo, hanging into the aisle to get our picture.

Told ya he was excited!

I think we giggled all the way back down the aisle as we passed our smiling loved ones. It was spectacular — and it had all gone so fast!

We headed straight back to the private room I had waited in earlier to steal a smooch and a few moments alone.

We happily greeted our bridal party as they soon followed.

Mr. Cupcake got in one last set of tears (for now)… I think I am asking, “are you still crying?” here. That’s my sensitive man!

My brother had snuck in a bottle of champagne and poured it into some cups for us all to toast with. It was a nice surprise that we weren’t expecting! (I hope we weren’t breaking any church rules, now that I think about it… oops!)