Our Wedding: The Ceremony

If you missed my first wedding recap post with photos of us getting ready, you can find it here.

The ceremony was in the same location as our reception, Morris Arboretum in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Every time we ever saw our venue it had either just snowed or rained.  The first time we actually saw the space while it was warm and sunny, was a week before the wedding! 

I worked with the folks over at WeddingPaperDivas.com to create my perfect wedding program.  They didn’t have a template that I liked, so we basically started from scratch.  They were a pleasure to work with and I highly recommend them.  We used their services for our invitations, menu cards and programs. 

Music from the ceremony (click below for Youtube links)
Attendants’ processional – Wonderful Tonight Instrumental
Bride’s processional – Moon River Instrumental
Recessional – All You Need is Love Instrumental

The walk down the aisle with my dad felt like it went by so quickly!  I’ve heard from brides that the walk can sometimes feel really long, but my experience was the opposite.  Tip for brides-to-be or future brides: take advice with a grain of salt.  Every experience is going to be different. 

We were really hands-on during the planning of our ceremony.  We worked closely with our officiant to make sure the phrasing and blessings were appropriate and reflected us as a couple.  Bryan and I wrote our own vows, which we kept secret from each other until the ceremony.

Aside from my veil blowing around like crazy, I think our ceremony went exactly as planned.  I didn’t cry too much, we didn’t mess up our vows, and our family/friends didn’t fall asleep.

Up next: our cocktail hour!