20 Years of Magic: Ceremony

 December 30

BEST.DAY.EVER.

You know the song, "Today Was a Fairytale" by Taylor Swift?  That is how I felt all day.  And yes, you can infer from that statement that I love Taylor Swift.  More on that later.

The morning was pretty quiet.  I had hired a stylist to come and do my hair and makeup, so that was fun because those of you who know me are well aware of how low maintenance I am when it comes it hair and makeup – messy bun and lip balm.  That's it.  I asked her to do a loose, Elsa-esque fishtail braid, which I loved.  However, it rained throughout the day and the humidity was not my friend.  Not that I cared…I was loving every minute so much that frizzy hair was not even on my radar.

My bouquet was delivered while I was getting my hair and makeup done, and you can see that it was just gorgeous.  The first picture was from that day, and the second was five days later, when I still could not help myself from admiring it.

And then there were my shoes, which I ordered from Etsy.  I am so in love with these shoes.  Rainbow Chucks.  I want to wear these shoes every minute for the rest of my life.

C wore Chucks, too!

The last thing I did before leaving the room was my nails…our theme was the movie Up, so I gave a nod to Kevin with my accent nail.  :-)

A few other details:

for my bouquet

C's collar stays

one for my bouquet / one for C's lapel

Mickey and Minnie with our wedding date

20 years and the Coach!

Family was getting picked up at 12:45 to take a limo over to Grand Floridian, so we had agreed to meet in the lobby of Port Orleans French Quarter at 12:40.  When I saw my two brothers, I almost lost it.  When we got married in 1994, they were only 11 and 12.  They wore tuxedos and, along with C, wore black bowties and vests covered in colorful music notes and a Mickey Mouse.  Well, those two brothers of mine found those same bowties and vests online and were wearing them to surprise me.  Seriously.  I know I say "I can't handle it" a lot.  But I can't handle it.  The thought they put into tracking down those bowties and vests completely overwhelmed me.  They are the best brothers ever. EVER.

We went over to Grand Floridian for photos in a beautiful limo…what a treat, because I can count on one hand how many times I've ridden in a limo in my lifetime.  Our photographers, Chris and Dean, met us over there and we spent a little while taking pictures.  Not going to lie...smiling is exhausting.  Of course I was happy, but after a while, my goodness!  Thankfully, Dean was hilarious and kept us entertained.

Once family photos were done, the magic really started with the arrival of Cinderella's Coach.  Not ashamed to say I'd been dreaming of riding in such a coach for as long as I can remember.  I could not resist asking C for my phone so I could take some quick pictures.  Climbing into that coach was a dream-come-true moment.

We got to ride from Grand Floridian over to the Wedding Pavilion with three attendants and six beautiful ponies while the limo took our family over to the Wedding Pavilion, then went back to Port Orleans French Quarter to pick up our friends and deliver them to the ceremony.  We soaked up every minute of that amazing ride.  We had people calling out "Congratulations" as we rode through the resort, and although I began the day a little disappointed by the weather, it turned out to be super romantic riding in Cinderella's Coach in the rain.

When we arrived at the Wedding Pavilion, everyone was already inside, so we were taken to the vestibule, where the bridal party can relax for a few moments.  We also met our awesome officiant, Renee, who came highly recommended, and with whom I had shared a very lengthy phone conversation and countless email exchanges.  It was so nice to meet her in person and we immediately loved her and felt honored she would be playing such an important role in our day.

Once it was time to get started, Jamie came to collect C and he and my two brothers waited just outside the closed chapel doors, and it was then that I experienced my very favorite moment of the day.  I was across the way in the vestibule, and I decided to peek out of the door toward them.  What I saw were my three favorite men on the face of the earth, standing together, looking incredibly handsome, ready to marry me again and stand up with us again, and I was completely overcome with love. It's funny how moments like that sneak up on you and actually take your breath away.  I called out, "I love you!" and they turned toward me and called, "Love you!" and it was a perfect moment in my life I will never forget.  I am crying as I write about it.

I waited alone for a minute or so, and then Jamie came to get me.  We waited outside the closed chapel doors until Jamie gave the organist the signal and the beautiful melody of "Married Life" from Up filled my ears as the doors opened.  I tried to take everything in, but I was too giddy.  I ended up having a flashback to my wedding day when I was so excited to get down the aisle to C that my dad whispered to me, "Slow!  Slow!" – which was appropriate then, and has also proven to be invaluable life advice.  I took a second to admire our beautiful aisle runner and then did my best to not run down the aisle to C.

The ceremony itself was perfect.  So perfect!  Renee did such a lovely, lovely, lovely job!  Of course I cried…through C's vows, through my vows, through the two readings my brothers did…so many happy tears!  We wrote our own vows, which included nods to The Office, Arrested Development, Parks and Rec, Dr. Seuss, Walt Disney, Harry Potter, and Up…so personal and sweet and funny.

These are the readings we chose:

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 blossoms have fallen from their branches,

they find that they are one tree and not two.

From A History of Love

by Nicole Krauss

Once upon a time, there was a boy.

He lived in a village that no longer exists, in a house that no longer exists,

on the edge of a field that no longer exists, where everything was discovered,

and everything was possible.

A stick could be a sword, a pebble could be a diamond, a tree, a castle.

Once upon a time, there was a boy who lived in a house across the field,

from a girl who no longer exists.

They made up a thousand games.

She was queen and he was king.

In the autumn light her hair shone like a crown.

They collected the world in small handfuls, and when the sky grew dark,

they parted with leaves in their hair.

Once upon a time there was a boy who loved a girl,

and her laughter was a question he wanted to spend his whole life answering.

We exchanged rings that are engraved with one of our favorite lines from Up:

"you and me...we're in a club now"

Once we made it official - again! - with a kiss, we turned to walk back down the aisle and to our surprise, the organist played "Baroque Hoedown," which is the theme from the Main Street Electrical Parade.  We were completely shocked – in a good way!  We had requested the recessional music to be a Disney medley, but we didn't know exactly what it would include.  This song is hands down, one of our very favorite Disney songs of all time.  It is so upbeat and happy and it fit the mood perfectly.  We'd taken about five steps when we realized what it was and we just stared at each other in disbelief.  I feel like we almost skipped out of the chapel!  Another great moment we will treasure.

We went back in so we could take a group photo and then our family and friends were ushered out of the Wedding Pavilion while we chatted with Renee before we made our grand exit back toward Cinderella's Coach.  Our family and friends had rainbow ribbon wands they waved at us, and we even heard a loud and enthusiastic "Wingardium Leviosa!" with the waving of the wands.  SO great!  I love our family!

We got to go for a quick ride in Cinderella's Coach while our family and friends were transported over to the Grand Floridian Convention Center for the cocktail hour, and then once again, C and I headed into the Wedding Pavilion for photos.  Once photos were done, we hopped back into the coach and rode over to the reception.  Along our way, we were blessed with more good wishes from complete strangers, with the most special "Congratulations" coming from Richard, who is a long-time cast member and an absolute gem.  He is in his late 80s and guests adore him.  We were so touched that he made a point of walking over to the coach as we passed the Grand Floridian, tipping his hat, and wishing us well.  Incredibly sweet.

Our ride was pure bliss, but as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.  We were certainly sad to leave the most awesome mode of transportation we have ever experienced, but we were anxious to get to the reception to party with our family and friends!

Next post:  The Reception

Happy Tails to you!