the wedding ceremony

the wedding was almost four months ago and I have not yet made an effort to recap it. There was so much that transpired that day, so much emotion, details and events, all squished in 20 hours— it really does leave me without words…but I shall try.

now let’s time travel back to 2-ish pm on September 28, 2008 in an imaginary virtual Delorean…

daniel and I married in glorious sunshine of the garden of the Spadina House surrounded by our loving family and dearest friends. I remember walking down the terrace steps- stepped on my gown and tripped- and seeing my handsome fella looking back at me with such love and devotion. it moved me, overwhelmed me, and I felt so privileged to be called by my God to be that man’s wife.

my daddy, of course, walked me down the aisle, tall and proud. our mothers lit the unity candles. Pastor Steve Yuke married us. daniel’s dad gave the sermon. laura, maid of honour, read an excerpt from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Anne’s House of Dreams; my mum read a passage from scripture. karl, the bestman, made us laugh as he re-lit the wrong unity candles (because they were blown out by the September breeze) and stood staring at the candles with the most flummoxed expression. Aban sang Brooke Fraser's Hymn sweetly during the lighting of the candles. and she and colin, a groomsman, lead us all to sing a hymn of thanksgiving.

we exchanged our own written vows, first expressing love for the other and then making promises of “being a reminder of God’s unconditional love” and “eggos with peanut butter in the mornings” and “making you eat your vegetables”. daniel and I lit our unity candle, took communion together- all actions a symbol of our union, our willingness to serve one another, and our fulfillment of God’s will together.

though it had rained the entire day the day before, the grounds were completely dried and the sun shone brightly and cheerily. though the September previous weekends had been cold and gray, the air was warm on my wedding day; the men did not sweat in their suits, the women did not shiver beneath their shawls. I basked in the glory of God, Daniel’s adoration and the love of my friends and family, feeling nothing but warmth that afternoon. the weather was a dream, an answered prayer for all my girlfriends who had asked for sunshine, sunshine, and sunshine the night before.

many things did not go according to plan, though, in restrospect, not wrong. on the way to the ceremony site, my bridesmaids (along with my wedding dress) and photographers took a wrong turn and got stuck in traffic; while that normally the detour would have been a 10 minute delay, it stretched to be four times that as many city roads were closed for a city-wide marathon (and a book festival happening a few blocks south). for after the ceremony, daniel and I had rented an ice-cream truck as a for treat our guests, but the truck never arrived. the groomsmen rushed out to the nearest grocery store and bought boxes of popsicles for everyone. my dress’s corset back was not laced properly due to the hurry to get the ceremony started which affected how the dress look here and there and made it less comfortable; daniel didn’t notice the flaws and thought I was beautiful nonetheless, so I guess that was okay.

the ceremony was beautiful, and, of course, being the bride of it, I thought it was absolutely perfect.

(all photos courtesy of the fabulous duo behind lifeimages)