Weddingbee Blog

Confession: We were SOOO ready to be married, our ceremony script was the last thing we wanted to deal with/cared about.

Whew, I’m so glad I got that off my chest. I’ve seen lots of brides post their ceremony in full and talk about how much time they put into their ceremony script and how important certain passages for them were, or poems they included. I think that is awesome and I’ve loved reading what they’ve put together, but truthfully, throughout the wedding planning process, the ceremony became less and less important for us.

We were just so excited to get married and have all our family and friends there to celebrate. We waited seven long years (and boy, were they long) to get married. We sorta just wanted it done and over with. Are we the only ones out there who felt this way?

So, when it came down to putting together our ceremony, we had no idea what to do. Luckily, our Priest gave us this handy-dandy book giving us suggestions for the order of the ceremony, passages, and vows. Over the two years of our planning I did save a few sets of vows that I loved. None too religious, but just the right amount that Mr. Dolphin and I felt comfortable with. There was no “we promise to bring our children up Catholic,” etc. in our ceremony. We want our children to choose what religion is right for them. We will introduce them to Catholicism, but ultimately we want them to decide for themselves. I’ll step down from my soap box now on that subject.

Really, we just wanted to say our vows, kiss, and head over to the party. But since we paid so much for the ceremony site, decor, and chair rentals, we thought, “man, we better make this thing a little longer.” We set a limit of 20 minutes tops from processional to recessional. Hey, it’s hot in Florida in May, and we didn’t want our guests sweating in their fancy clothes.

We had no idea our ceremony would have such a profound effect on us.

Kyle, do you pledge to love Kimberly and throughout your years together to be honest, faithful and kind to her? Do you pledge to give to her the same happiness she gives to you, and to respect her for who she is?

Even though we didn’t spend an exorbitant amount of time crafting our ceremony, that didn’t mean that the ceremony wasn’t a special moment for us. Saying our vows was the moment it all suddenly felt so real. We were getting married. I had no idea how I would feel up there, and how important saying these simple words to each other would be.

I come here today, to join my life to yours…I pledge to be true to you…to respect you…and to grow with you throughout the years…Time may pass, fortune may smile, trials may come…no matter what we may encounter together, I vow here that this love will be my only love… I will make my home in your heart from this day forward.

It hit each of us like a freight train during the ceremony.

Mr. Dolphin was the first one to completely lose it.

As soon as his lips started to shake and tears started to come down his face, I lost it. Check out the video below to see Mr. Dolphin’s mini cry. I edited out my complete UGLY cry. It really is quite awful. Only our family will be subjected to that craziness. Why couldn’t I have a nice/pretty cry?

♥ Our Wedding // Vow Snippet from Mrs Gator on Vimeo.

If you look close enough in the pictures, you’ll see red tearful eyes shining through. I remember trying so hard to keep everything lighthearted during the ceremony. I’m always the one crying at my friends’ weddings. At Seminole Bridesmaid’s wedding, someone sang Mandy Moore’s song “Only Hope” and I lost it… did I mention I was the maid of honor? Yeah, I totally lost it in front of an audience. Embarrassing.

Anyways, for our wedding, I planned to hold myself together. That’s a little hard when you are committing your life to the one you love and saying the words aloud.

Kyle, take this ring as a sign of my love and respect. I vow to share my life with you from this day forward. With this ring I marry you.

Mr. Dolphin’s hands had swelled up a little from all the heat, so his ring was a little bit hard to put on. I’m a tough girl though, and managed to cram that wedding band on his finger!

And, voila! We’re married!

All photos by Starks Photography

Sometimes I think we should have done things differently, and maybe have written our own vows. But, looking back, I wouldn’t change a thing. We did what we felt most comfortable with, spiritually and emotionally.

Do/Did you have trouble writing your vows?

If you would like to see the rest of our ceremony, you can download a PDF of it by clicking the link below.

Simple and Sweet Ceremony