Our Wedding: The Ceremony - Part I

After getting ready, taking some pictures with the girls, and relaxing, it was time for the Ceremony! Our Cermony started at 5pm, and I walked at 5:10pm. The day was so beautiful... not a cloud in the sky, in the 80's, no rain... we were so blessed!

Here are some pictures from the beginning of the Ceremony, and some detail shots!

I had some wooden arrow directional signs we made and left at home! Thank goodness I had this sign made, and it worked just fine!

Some different views of the Ceremony site before guests arrived...

I wanted to add some sea grape tree leaves to the outer edges of the aisle runner, but there was just not any extra time for that... I thought our monogram aisle runner I DIY'd turned out good though!

Our Ceremony Programs! I won a tri-fold brochure giveaway through Uprinting, and decided to make our programs with the brochure template. I thought they turned out pretty good, and you can't beat free for something half your guests toss out anyway! I placed them in a white basket, and put some burlap underneath. I had a sign that hung on the basket which can't be seen in this picture, so guests knew they were programs.

I had some custom signs made for the Bride and Groom sides...

Instead of doing a bamboo arch to stand underneath (ran out of time, and didn't have a way to transport it to the venue), we decided on some dried dune grass in large, glass vases which went on both sides of the aisle where we stood for the Ceremony. We now have them in our living room as part of our home decor :)

Our Unity Sand Pouring vases...

A custom sign made for the beach entry so we wouldn't have any curious passerby's coming up the stairs during our Ceremony!

A bucket I had at the bottom of the stairs for "Sandy Feet", so guests and the bridal party could just wipe their feet off when coming up from the beach. There were just some paint brushes, which I painted the handles white, and threw them in a bucket with some burlap.. not necessary, but fun!

We hired a steel drummer to play while the guests waited for the Ceremony to start, and he also played some recorded songs while we walked down the aisle. Daniel practiced Canon in D on his acousitc guitar during our engagement, recorded it, and we had it playing as I walked down the aisle towards him. It was just something special that meant a lot to us, and personalized our wedding a little. We had the steel drummer play wedding steel drum music for the bridal party, and our exit song was UB40's "I got you babe".

Grooms parents...

Bride's little brother, who was also an usher, and Bride's mom...

Daniel and I don't have grandmother's, and our grandfathers prefered not to be walked down the aisle.

Here come the bridesmaids!

Just something funny I noticed, maybe they were all nervous, but they all held their bouquets so high! lol

Matron of Honor

Jr. bridesmaids -- my little sisters, and Daniel's little sister, with our dog Kelsey!

..and my sister, and other Matron of Honor with my niece, flower girl. My niece was supossed to walk with the Jr. Bridesmaids, but I'm not sure what happend.. she probably got scared or something so she just walked out with my sister.

There's Ms. Kelsey! Daniel's aunt kept watch, and sat her right beside her in her own little seat! I loved that she had an aisle seat and was able to watch Daniel and I during the Ceremony! She let out a couple yelps, and pants during the Ceremony which was just hilarious. I love her to pieces and Daniel's aunt watched her for us the entire weekend, stayed in her hotel and everything! It just worked out perfectly. I made a special pearl collar for her and it had ribbon which matched the girls bridesmaids dresses! I'll share it in another post... I'm so happy we decided to bring her! It definitely wouldn't have been the same without her there!

Here come the groomsmen!

The Best Men...

Our officiant, Dan. He also was our mentor for our 13 week pre-marital counseling sessions. His wife and him were our mentors and we have formed such a tight bond with them! They are so special to us, and we were so happy Dan agreed to marry us! :)

Here's Daniel and our day of wedding coordinator, Ebonee right before he walked...

There he goes... off to get married! :)

More Ceremony pics soon!