After the opening welcome, Deidre introduced the concept of the White Knot, and spent a minute or so talking about what it meant to her, and how important it was to us. You can read more about the White Knot Foundation here and here.
The ceremony itself began with a short blessing, spoken by Deidre:
"In the presence of God and in the quiet of this very special moment, we pause to shower our blessings over this marriage.
May Megan Marie and B feel fortunate to have found one and other, in friendship and in love.
May their mutual devotion and trust bring them peace and contentment, and may that trust grow deeper with the passing years.
May their differences inspire them to work together, and may they always appreciate and rejoice in all that they share.
In gentleness let them be tender with each other's dreams, and healing of each others wounds.
Let goodness flower forgiveness, and be the fruit of their married life, Amen."
After the first blessing, Deidre talked about how B and I met, and she told a short version of our engagement story! She also talked about how our wedding was the four year anniversary of our first date. :)
Deidre then began our first reading. It was a passage from Captain Corelli's Mandolin, by Louis de Bernières:
"Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two."
(Note: It was so incredibly hard for me to find a "perfect" reading. I really wanted to use a passage from one of my favorite books, but I couldn't find anything appropriate. After what felt like endless hours spent googling and searching, I stumbled upon this thread, which really helped me out!)
Then came the only part of the ceremony I was nervous about. See, way back in May of '09, when we first met with our officiant, she had us do a little "marriage activity," if you will. She had us sit apart from each other, with a pen and paper, and write down the things we loved about each other the most. I thought it was a little silly, but I obeyed. B spent MUCH more time on his, but he is just like that! After ten minutes or so, Deidre came back in the room, collected the papers, and explained we wouldn't need them until later. Later, as in, the ceremony. That kind of later. By this point I had already forgotten what I had written and I was a little freaked out, but B loved the idea.
So back to the ceremony...
...Deidre took out her notebook and said that she wanted to read a few words that we wrote about each other months ago, that had been kept a secret until this moment.
B got really excited!
While I got a bit shy...
And Deidre read:
"This is what B wrote about Megan Marie-
There are many things I love about Megan but there are a few
I can place at the top of the list.
I love her smile. I used to only have photos of her when we were a state apart but now I get to see her smile every day while I'm trying to make her laugh.
I love how energetic she is, even though it has forced me to be less lazy!
We always have new adventures to pursue.
I could say the same about her creativity, which always leads us to new projects.
She is the most affectionate person I know and she never fails to make me feel loved.
She gets me more than anyone else ever has or could, and maybe I get her, which is why we fit so well and make each other even better people.
At the very least Megan inspires me to be my best.
It was so nice to hear all of these things for the first time. I had begged B several times over the last few months to tell me what he wrote down, but he never budged. Now I am glad that he didn't, since this was such a special moment for us!
Then Deidre moved on to what I wrote down:
I can place at the top of the list.
I love her smile. I used to only have photos of her when we were a state apart but now I get to see her smile every day while I'm trying to make her laugh.
I love how energetic she is, even though it has forced me to be less lazy!
We always have new adventures to pursue.
I could say the same about her creativity, which always leads us to new projects.
She is the most affectionate person I know and she never fails to make me feel loved.
She gets me more than anyone else ever has or could, and maybe I get her, which is why we fit so well and make each other even better people.
At the very least Megan inspires me to be my best.
It was so nice to hear all of these things for the first time. I had begged B several times over the last few months to tell me what he wrote down, but he never budged. Now I am glad that he didn't, since this was such a special moment for us!
Then Deidre moved on to what I wrote down:
"And this is what Megan Marie wrote about B-
I love the way B always can make me laugh!
I love his scratchy beard.
(pause for waves of audience laughter and see my reaction in the photos below!)
I love his love and fairness toward any living creature big or small.
I love the way he can calm me down or bring me up depending on what I need at the time.
I love his extreme desire to be the best man he can possibly be, and I love the way that B treats me as an equal partner in every way."
This is my hysterical laughter at the mention of a scratchy beard...
What are we looking at in this picture??
What could possibly be up in the sky, over our ceremony site, preventing us from saying our vows??
Any guesses?!
All photos in this post: Hazelnut Photography
