Our Vows

Le sigh...Still waiting on pictures from the photographer..... contract says "2-3 weeks following the wedding." It's been over a month now. He was supposed to mail the CD to us Wednesday of last week so unless it got "lost" in the mail, he didn't send it. UGHHH.

Our vows were something we both agreed didn't need to be traditional. We didn't want something religious or really spiritual at all since neither of us are really either. I put Zac in charge of writing the ceremony up though, and he did a great job!

In order to save money, we asked Zac's oldest brother (we will call him "J") to marry us, and then set out to figure out how exactly to make this possible. I'm not sure if it's the same in any other states, but in Virginia you can go to the courthouse and request a temporary license to perform a marriage ceremony. It's valid for 30 days, and you have to prove you performed the marriage within 5-7 days of the ceremony. (Which REALLY isn't enough time, IMO) The cost is virtually free in the end, but you must put up a $500 bond, which will be returned to you once you submit proof that you performed the ceremony.

So! J was officially legally allowed to marry us, which was very nice and he did a FANTASTIC job. He's a great speaker, and put his own touches on the vows that Zac wrote for us. These aren't exactly what was said, as J changed a few things to make it sound a bit better...but you get the idea! (sorry this is really long)

Procession


Welcome
Welcome, family, friends and loved ones. We are gathered here today in friendship and happiness to celebrate the wedding of Erica and Zac. You have come here to share in this eternal commitment they make to one another, to offer your love and support to this union, and to allow Erica and Zac to start their married life together surrounded by the people dearest and most important to them.


So welcome to one and all, who have traveled from near and far. Erica and Zac thank you for your presence here today, and now ask for your blessing, encouragement, and lifelong support, for their decision to be married.

Definition of Marriage
Marriage is perhaps the greatest and most challenging adventure of human relationships. No ceremony can create your marriage; only you can do that – through love and patience; through dedication and perseverance; through talking and listening, helping and supporting and believing in each other; through tenderness and laughter; through learning to forgive, learning to appreciate your differences, and by learning to make the important things matter, and to let go of the rest. What this ceremony can do is to witness and affirm the choice you make to stand together as lifemates and partners.


The reality is that everyone's life is limited to only a certain amount of time. As Robert G. Ingersoll said, "The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here." Take the time to make your partner feel special. Never take each other for granted.


Take the time to listen and to share. Give each other the benefit of the doubt because communication will be difficult at times and misunderstandings are inevitable. It takes time, effort, courage, and commitment to make a successful marriage.


Take the time to negotiate, to talk about your fears, failures, and disappointments. Talk about each other's expectations, hopes, and dreams. Be flexible and willing to adapt well to changes and new circumstances. Above all, take the time to tell each other what you want. Take the risk of being vulnerable with each other.


Declaration of Intent
Do you, Erica, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?
Do you, Zac, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?


Exchanging of Vows
Erica/Zac, please repeat after me:


From this day forward I promise you these things.
I will laugh with you in times of joy and comfort you in times of sorrow.
I will share in your dreams, and support you as you strive to achieve your goals.
I will listen to you with compassion and understanding, and speak to you with encouragement.
I will help you when you need it, and step aside when you don't.
I will remain faithful to you for better or worse, in times of sickness and health.
You are my best friend and I will love and respect you always.


Pronouncement of Marriage
May I have the rings, please?

Please repeat after me: I give you this ring, as a daily reminder of my love for you.

By the power of your love and commitment, and the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife! You may kiss the bride.


Recession

So that's it! What do you think??
 
When we were rehearsing our vows, we couldn't stop laughing...Zac was making jokes and changing vows around, so I did the same. We both said "I will laugh AT you in times of joy..." instead of "with" you, and messed up a couple other words.
 
I did not know, however, what he had in store for me during the actual wedding. Hopefully someone took pictures of it.. but if not, we should have video in ohhhhh 3 years or so. ha.
 
Up Next:
 
Why are the Best Man and Maid of Honor wearing  torn wife beaters?!

The Rehearsal

April 15th, the day of our rehearsal was a beautiful day...a bit chilly, but sunny and rain free! Unfortunately, the day OF our wedding was a completely different story.

If it hadn't rained, we would have gotten married on the patio outside at The Clubs at Quantico. The Wisteria would have been beautifully draped over the pergolas lining both sides of the patio, with the chairs set up in the middle... but instead, we got married on the dance floor inside. I had gotten bio-degradable confetti to line the aisle with, but we didn't get to use it. My mom, on a whim, also purchased an aisle runner from Michael's but the way the ballroom was configured it wouldn't have laid down properly.

Oh.. and WHY are aisle runners SO expensive for something decent looking??? It seems if you attach the word "wedding" to anything, it automatically comes with a 50% markup in price.

Our rehearsal went well... we set up the photo booth in the breezeway, between the patio and the ballroom; quickly decided where things should go should it rain and we needed to get married inside, and of course- rehearsed.



Setting up the photo booth



Zac's brother (who married us) telling Zac's sister (our DOC) what to do. Typical brother and sister interaction. :)



Practicing walking down the aisle.

Can you see the black and white book Zac's brother his holding? I cut down a manila folder to a rectangular size, covered it in scrapbook paper and wrapped a red ribbon around it. I thought it would be nicer to hold the vows in instead of holding a piece of paper...and I didn't want to buy anything. I just printed off our vows, and taped them inside.

Zac and I walking back, to practice one more time.

Waiting with my dad, and our ring bearer to walk again.

And now I will show you a picture I am not proud of... but after watching THIS video.. should at LEAST make you smile or laugh a little... Or watch it below if it works..


It's a little joke between us to make the face randomly... you should see the looks we get..

So without further ado:



Our "face"

Anywhozit.

After the rehearsal we went to a local Mexican restaurant in Stafford called Pancho Villa. I picked a handful of items from the menu, and they made a special menu for us so we could control how much money was spent.


Half of our rehearsal dinner guests.



The other half :)

After we ate, we handed out the gifts to our bridal party and our parents. I don't have a picture of the groomsmen gifts yet, but hopefully the photographer snapped some photos. We bought all of the groomsmen, our ring bearer, ushers and Zac's brother cufflinks off of Etsy. They were silver with a black cabochon with a white skull and crossbones on it. I really liked them! I don't remember which Etsy seller we bought them from otherwise I would link to their store. Zac also ordered his groomsmen  a shot glass for  called a Quaffer.   They took Jager Bombs before the wedding with them. (Gross)

We got Zac's mom a variety of teas because she likes tea, and I put them all in a big flower pot (which broke in the car on the way to the rehearsal *sad face*), gourmet pasta and pasta sauce and some candies, and we got both of our dads fishing stuff. I got my mom a basket full of gourmet stuff. Bertucci's grocery store is AWESOME for gifts (a little pricey but nice). We got both mom's the same sauce and pasta, and a couple other little things from there. They seemed to like their gifts!

After the gift exchange we ate the grooms cake. I was NOT and am still not happy with this cake.

Let me count the ways...
1) Black frosting which made everyone's mouths black (and tasted bad)
2) Sprinkles (what do they have to do with this image??!)
3) The image looks stupid turned this way
4) The cake lady should have turned the image the other way and done it on a chocolate frosting with chocolate piping or white piping.

That would have been a much better idea.. and NO sprinkles. I am not pleased with the woman who did our cakes. She was careless and thoughtless... and this cake tasted like it came from a box!!! I could have made this myself...

*sigh*

So that is the rehearsal!!

After dinner we went back to the hotel and hung out in one of their conference rooms and played games all night. It was fun and relaxing!

I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack!

I didn't even tell you I was leaving. But I did.

And I'm glad to be back. We left for our honeymoon to Australia on the 27th, arrived on the 29th (their time) and just got back late Saturday  night.

Our trip there was hell. Coming back was great.

We stayed here- the Nepean Country Club. It  looks MUCH nicer in the photos.

Which is where I circled and pointed to with the arrow. It's about 1 hour and 45 minutes outside of Melbourne. We also stayed a night in Melbourne, and went to Phillp Island (both are circled).



I will update more as I get back on a better schedule. My sleep schedule is sooo outta whack! It's only 2:30pm and I am already dying fast.

We are still waiting on photos from our photographer (he said 2-3 weeks)...