Wedding Blog

Okay now, where did I leave off… ah yes, Champ and I accidentally went to the county jail to apply for our marriage license. Oops! We were actually supposed to meet with our officiant the same afternoon, but because we took that small detour to the jailhouse, we sort of ran out of time. We only had two days before we would be married, and we somehow had to fit in a meeting with the man who would unite us in marriage. While this totally stressed me out, I knew somehow that it would all be okay.

Because the town of Vail is so small, I’ve known my pastor for nearly all my life and couldn’t imagine anyone else performing the ceremony. Our families are very close, and he’s really almost like a father to me. He’s met Champ a few times, but never really had the chance to get to know him, so I knew this meeting was important to both of us.

We decided to meet right before the rehearsal in the church basement, and even though it was last minute, I swear it made things so real for me. He asked us what we loved about each other, what marriage means to both of us, what we saw in our future, and my tears started flowing. I hadn’t really spoken out loud to someone about the character traits I love in my soon-to-be husband. I had written my own vows, but I hadn’t actually spoken them. It was during this conversation that I absolutely knew without a doubt that I was marrying my best friend. I heard the footsteps of our wedding party and family arriving upstairs, and I knew it was probably time for the rehearsal to start, but we both couldn’t stop talking about how we are both committed to a life-long promise to one another. Nothing else mattered… we were ready.

So, we headed upstairs to join our closest friends and family for a rehearsal that once seemed so far away. Our wedding coordinator was in full rehearsal mode, and she lined us up for the ceremony.

Then I realized we were all in the wrong order and had to grab a program to arrange the troops. Believe it or not, it was the only time during our wedding I told someone what to do… I swear!

We both felt so calm after our talk with the Pastor before our rehearsal; the time flew by. We went over the order of the ceremony, and handed over our vows we had written to each other.

I practiced handing over my beautiful bouquet to my MOH (which I did WAY too early in the actual ceremony), and we practiced the vows.

Instead of only speaking our personal vows for each other during the ceremony, we also chose to speak the traditional vows. There’s a significance for us in saying the words that so many others have spoken.

If there’s one tip that was given to me that I actually remembered during the ceremony, it was how to light the unity candle. Our coordinator advised us to start high and unite our flames and gradually come down to light the unity pillar candle.

Even our little niece got into the rehearsal action. She loves her Uncle Champ!

Not sure if you can tell, but I was kind of excited to marry this guy! He looks a little freaked out, but I assure you he loves me and he said, “I do.”

Next, up: We head across the street to one of Vail’s oldest and most unique hotels for the rehearsal dinner…

… where I’ll never look at my MOH the same.

Previously:

Champ Wedding: Finally in Colorado
Champ Wedding: A Quick Trip to the County Jail