I love Cannon in D, but I hate cliche wedding music, so AnnMarie and Sam played a song by Yanni for the first part of the procession. To Take... To Hold. Here's a video if you would like to listen to it. You can stare at the cover of his piano book for 4 minutes. If you'll notice, there is a lot of I and Me talk during this bit. Chris wasn't going to be terribly helpful in this area. I picked out the church music, we chose the readings together, it was a lengthy process. First we crossed off everything that sounded too heterosexual good, homosexual bad. Then I crossed off everything that had women being subservient to their husbands. Then we had a few options for each thing. I crossed off the cliches, then we were left with some interesting choices. Verses below. All Photos by Angie Gaul at milestoneimages.us
Jason walking Mima down the aisle.
David walking Nanny down the aisle.
When my mom saw this picture she said "She looks like death warmed over."
Which I suppose was true, Nanny passed away four months after this photo was taken.
She was already living with my parents and having strokes at this point.
Nanny made it to all three of her granddaughters' weddings and saw her first great-grandchild be born.
That was all she wanted, and we're so glad she got it.
In a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony both the bride and groom walk down the aisle flanked by their parents.
We did it this way at Jaclyn's, Elise's, and my wedding.
Nancy thought it sounded cool and went with it.
Bruce looks thrilled as usual.
My Lib and Brendan
Tim & Hannah (so pretty!)
Jim & Morgan
Dan & Jaclyn
Andy & Elise
I walked down the aisle to Magnificat as done by John Michael Talbot.
You can hear a really folky version of it here.
We don't really do it like that, but you get the jist.
It was sung by the wonderful Christine Solimeno, a friend from the Folk Group.
I wish women had more cause to wear a train. It really shouldn't have to be a once in a lifetime thing.
My Godparents did the first reading from the Old Testament. My sister and I chose the same first reading which was the same first reading my parents did. I really love it, especially the end, and who doesn't love comparing people to animals via Bible readings? They alternated verses, very cool.
Song of Songs 2:8-10, 14, 16a; 8:6-7a
Hark! my lover–here he comes
springing across the mountains,
leaping across the hills.
My lover is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Here he stands behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattices.
My lover speaks; he says to me,
“Arise, my beloved, my dove, my beautiful one, and come!
“O my dove in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret recesses of the cliff,
Let me see you,
let me hear your voice,
For your voice is sweet,
and you are lovely.”
My lover belongs to me and I to him.
He says to me:
“Set me as a seal on your heart,
as a seal on your arm;
For stern as death is love,
relentless as the nether world is devotion;
its flames are a blazing fire.
Deep waters cannot quench love,
nor floods sweep it away.
Stern as death is love. My favorite line
Andrew, Chris, John, and Matt singing the Psalm - This is the Day
Elise also used this psalm at her and Jason's wedding.
Don't mess with a good thing.
Chris' Uncle Bill did the second reading.
Romans 8:31b-35; 37-39
Brothers and sisters:
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He did not spare his own Son
but handed him over for us all,
how will he not also give us everything else along with him?
Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones?
It is God who acquits us.
Who will condemn?
It is Christ Jesus who died, rather, was raised,
who also is at the right hand of God,
who indeed intercedes for us.
What will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?
No, in all these things, we conquer overwhelmingly
through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Bill put on his big lawyer voice and banged that thing out.
Quick and straight to the point.
My husband is so handsome
My sister did me a solid by quietly blowing air onto the back of my neck throughout the entire ceremony.
Chris was terrified.
I looked over at him and whispered, "you look nice," wondering if I could get a compliment out of him.
He looked at me with a solemn face and replied, "There is a microphone up my ass right now."
There is a reason I married this man, ladies and gentleman.
Deacon Rich read the Gospel: John 2:1-11
There was a wedding in Cana in Galilee,
and the mother of Jesus was there.
Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.
When the wine ran short,
the mother of Jesus said to him,
“They have no wine.”
And Jesus said to her,
“Woman, how does your concern affect me?
My hour has not yet come.”
His mother said to the servers,
“Do whatever he tells you.”
Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings,
each holding twenty to thirty gallons.
Jesus told them,
“Fill the jars with water.”
So they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them,
“Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.”
So they took it.
And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine,
without knowing where it came from
(although the servants who had drawn the water knew),
the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him,
“Everyone serves good wine first,
and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one;
but you have kept the good wine until now.”
Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee
and so revealed his glory,
and his disciples began to believe in him.
We obviously chose this reading because Jesus knows his wine.
Chris' Uncle Doug read the Prayer of the Faithful.
We chose this text, again for the mention of wine and friends:
The response is “Lord, hear our prayer.”
For leaders of Church and state
for heads of institutions,
for heads of homes and households . . .
that they will lead us and guide us
in the search for God and the good life,
in the search for peace and joy,
in the search for love among us—
let us pray to the Lord.
For all married people:
for those who married yesterday,
for the new couple Julianne and Christopher, married today,
for those who will marry tomorrow . . .
that they may savor
the joy of being together,
warm love, and children,
a long life, wine, and friends,
and a new day, every day—
let us pray to the Lord.
For all young single people
who look forward to a vocation
full of life and full of love—
let us pray to the Lord.
Mama and Dad holding hands. I love hand holding pictures.
See how the program folds out from both sides.
Just like the letters from Pride and Prejudice.
The font on all of our wedding paper was called Jane Austen ;)
In a Catholic ceremony you can't write your own vows.
Our vows read:
I Julianne, take you Christopher to be my husband.
I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.
I will love you and honor you, all the days of my life.
And vice versa.
Finally!
Husband and Wife motherfuckers!
Now let's do some shots!
This is the first time Chris cracked a real smile.
His worst nightmare is speaking in front of people or being on stage like this.
I was proud of him for getting his vows out without crapping his pants.
We walked out to Annie's Song by John Denver.
It was not only my parent's wedding song, but Chris' parents' wedding song.
Jaclyn walked down the aisle to a string quartet playing it at her wedding, so we walked out to it with my friend Joe singing it.
The Switch played it at the reception and everyone got up to dance.
You should all know this, but I'll give you a video anyway.
Finally into the limo to have some boos!
Well! That was the important part! More tomorrow!
