Weddingbee Blog

When we arrived at the chapel, to my surprise the entrance of the church was already full of guests obviously realizing they had beaten our ushers to church. The ceremony began at 4:30 and it must have been something like 4:10.

Trying to whisk ourselves away as quickly as possible, the bridal party and I shot into the bridal suite near the entrance, and the men moseyed off to the grooms “suite” near the front of the church. I say it in quotations because… well… you’ll see! The photographer was busy getting set up, but I begged someone to grab Mr. Sunbeam’s friend to capture the ladies and me in our bridal suite together. I heart pictures.

These next pictures have a short story to proceed them. Our Best Man #1 had told us a few days prior, with an air of pride, that it was his job to deliver Mr. S’s gift to me before the ceremony. We hadn’t intended to exchange gifts, but it seemed like we had to exchange something! Mr. S had written me a lovely note, that the Best Man #1 had delivered to me before our first look. Before the ceremony my MOH delivered a small gift to Mr. S, in his small, music stand-filled “suite”.

“Our First Christmas”

Everyone was seated. It was ceremony time! Wouldn’t you know it, it began without my knowing! All of a sudden I heard the music and I thought, ‘OMG, I think that’s the song for the parents. We gotta get out there!’ For the full experience, you can listen to the song that played while our parents walked down the aisle.

My grandparents had kicked off the procession.

They were followed by MIL Sunbeam, escorted by BIL & Best Man Sunbeam, and then followed by FIL Sunbeam. My FIL was originally going to escort his mother, but she’s had some hip problems and must have decided it would be best to remain seated.

Then came my brother and mother. Do you see the smirk on his face!? After so many grumpy pictures (he hates having his photo taken) SOMEONE is beaming down the aisle! I wish I could have seen this in person! Once the parents and grandparents were seated, my groom and his entourage filed out with our Pastor to take their place at the altar.

*Anticipaaation*

Next the bridesmaids made their way down the aisle in PERFECT timing to 8mm by Yann Tiersen. The music ended just as they had all lined up in the front of the church. Who could ask for more!?

Then, all was still. My father was hanging out in the doorway of the church, trying to keep cool. He was clearly nervous. My father who is usually a joker was very serious for the ceremony, and to think, our pastor had prepared himself for any goofy responses that my father may have had under his sleeve!

Da da daa daaaaa, the radio ballet by Elluvium began to play and the doors opened once again to reveal, well, me, of course!

All the way down the aisle I watched this handsome happy face.

** I love to watch the footage of my train swishing a little as we walked down the aisle. Siiigh.

At the front of the altar my dad placed my hand in Mr. Sunbeams, then started for his seat but quickly turned back around to give me a kiss on the cheek. Dads can be so cute. And hey hey, it’s the lovely veil by Mrs. DG! I’m keeping that baby as an heirloom!

Up the altar stairs we went, hand in hand. It was time to be married.

Wow, I’m getting teary eyed just writing about this! It has to be the best feeling, whether you do a first look or not, to see your groom standing at the end of that aisle beaming while he waits for you, and to see out of the corners of your eyes all of your family and friends, and soon to be family-in-law. I love weddings. Let’s renew our vows every year, OK Mr. Sunbeam? Hmm, make that every other, so we’re not copying Nick Cannon and Mariah Carey.

A note regarding the poms hanging on the pews. I had attached a big circle of ribbon to each to wrap around the pew, but when I arrived at the church I realized that I had really underestimated how wide they were! Since it was probably the day before the wedding I used some of my dad’s washers (flat doughnut shaped pieces of metal..?) to act as counter weights for the poms. It worked well, but some got knocked out of place by our audience when they sat down. I should have extended the ribbon and just tied on heavy weights, but I was in for a quick fix at the time. Haha. The things you do moments before you’re wedding.

Anyway! Up next, we say, “I do.”

The above photos were taken by RAD Photography, with correcting/cropping by me on occasion unless otherwise specified. ** Indicates a photo taken by friend.

Previously with the Sunbeams:

• The Lovely Bridesmaids
• Quintessential Portraits
• Chemistry
• Love in the Stacks
• Bride Meets Groom
• Bridebeam
• Old, Borrowed, & Blue
• Groombeam
• The Dress, Shoes, & Rings
• Let’s Get Beautiful!
• Papery Details
• One last busy night
• Dessert and an impromptu photo shoot
• Pasta & practice makes perfect
• Sunbeam final fling!
• Five days and counting