We Start Today: The Ceremony Part 2

Mr. Castle and I had just finished our vows. Next it was time for our rings.

All Photos by the amazing Palos Studio

 I was still wiping away tears from the vows

At this point Mr. Castle made me aware of the fact that pieces of tissue were stuck on my face. Apparently the mixture of airbrush makeup, cheap tissues, and tears is not ideal. Mr. Castle to the rescue! 

 Thanks Mr. Castle for making sure I look good :)

Father Geoff had asked for our rings from our Best Man and Maid of Honor. They brought them forward and he blessed them saying, "May these rings remind you always of your vows and the love that has joined your two lives."

Mr. Castle went first. "Miss Castle accept this ring as a sign of my love and commitment."

"Mr. Castle accept this ring as a sign of my love and commitment."

After we exchanged rings Mr. Castles sister was invited up to begin her reading.

"Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created.


In the art of marriage the little things are the big things...

It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.

It is never going to sleep angry.

It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years.

It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives. It is standing together facing the world.

It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.

It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude 
of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.

It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is not looking for perfection in each other. It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.

It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is finding room for the things of the spirit. It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.

It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.

It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner.

It is discovering what marriage can be, at its best."

- by Wilferd Arlan Peterson

The final portion of our ceremony was the most religious. It started with a nuptial blessing from Father Geoff.

"Holy Father, may your fullest blessing come down upon Mr. Castle and Miss Castle as they begin their life as a married couple.  May they find strength and joy in each other’s embrace, may their friends console them and all people live at peace with them.

Bless them with children and help them to be good and loving parents. May they live to see their children’s children living in an abundant and peaceful world

And, after a happy old age, grant them fullness of life with the saints in heaven.

We ask you this through Christ our Lord.  Amen"

And lastly Father Geoff said a closing Prayer

"Heavenly Father, hear our prayers for Mr. Castle and Miss Castle, who are newly united in marriage.

Grant them the vision and grace to faithfully and lovingly live out the promises they have exchanged today.

Grant them your blessing and protection as they journey together through life together.

We ask you this through our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit.    Amen."

After the closing Prayer Father Geoff said something like, "This concludes the marriage ceremony of Mr. and Mrs. Castle..." But as you will see from my face bellow all I was thinking was, "OMG we're MARRIED!"

At some point he told Mr. Castle he could kiss his bride.

And then as my first wifely duty, I made sure to wipe the lipstick off my husbands face.

There are no words to describe how happy I was. We were married!!!!

Miss a recap? Check it out below!                         

We start at the end with a surprise wedding video!                                            

We rehearse                                                                                                      

Our rehearsal luncheon                              

We start the day with singing, dancing, and an earthquake

I get my hair and makeup done

We arrive at our venue and Mr. Castle asks for some makeup

With the help of my Mom and bridesmaids I get into my dress!

I take some solo shots of me as a bride

My handsome groom and his men 

Some family shots and first look regret

Photos with my Bridesmaids!

I get a three generations photos with my Mother and Grandmother

Ceremony details

Waiting for the ceremony to start AND how our amazing vendors saved the day!

The Processional and my walk down the aisle 

The Ceremony Part 1

We Start Today: The Ceremony Part 1

Father Geoff began our ceremony with an opening reflection.

"What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they joined together to strengthen each other in all labor, to comfort each other in all sorrow, to share with each other in all gladness, to be one with each other in the silent unspoken memories?"
All Photos by Palos Studio

"Today we gather to celebrate the love and union of Mr. Castle and Miss Castle in marriage" 

After Father Geoff's opening words he read First Corinthians 12:31- 13:8. I'm sure most of you are familiar with it. "Love is patient; love is kind..."

I couldn't help but make faces at Mr. Castle as Father Geoff was speaking.

Someone noted after looking through our pictures that we looked like two kids on Christmas morning, which is also a great description of how we felt. We were both so excited.

After the reading Father Geoff spoke a bit about love and and marriage.

Then he began the community affirmation. He spoke to our guests and asked,

"Will you who are present here today, surround this couple in love, offering them the joys of your friendship? Will you support this couple in their relationship? At times of conflict will you offer them the strength of your wiser counsel and the comfort of your thoughtful concern? At times of joy will you celebrate with them, nourishing their love for one another?"

Our guests responded to each question, "We will!"

Next it was time for us to give our consent.

"Have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?"

Our answer was of course, "Yes!" Which was made SURE to say at the same time!

 Mr. Castle trying to make sure our "Yes" was in sync.

"Will you love and honor each other as spouses for the rest of your lives?"

I was really into making sure we said, "Yes" at the same time.

Mr. Castle found this hilarious.

"Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your hands and declare your consent before these witnesses."

Mr. Castle and I joined hands but then realized we couldn't hold hands while reading our vows from our note cards...

Mr. Castle began his vows,

"Sharon, Five years ago today..." 

Then getting emotional he paused and said, "This is going to be harder than I thought... 

Five years ago today we declared our intentions to each other and we haven't looked back. Almost immediately you fearlessly followed your dreams to New York City. For the next 2 years and 8 months, we survived on phone calls, Skype and far to infrequent weekend visits. It wasn't easy but we knew we had something good, something worth fighting for and we made it through."

"There isn't enough I can say about how amazing you are, especially since we want to keep the ceremony under 25 minutes. Your laugh fills my heart with a joy I didn't know was possible. I see pure love and honesty in your green river eyes connected by your nose bridge."

"I promise to try to make you laugh everyday. I promise to be there with a hug when you've had a hard day."

"So today as I take you to be my wife I look forward not only to the adventures and wonderful times to come, but also to the challenges. There will be tough times, but as our relationship has taught me, sticking through them reaps great rewards. And I believe together we can work through anything."

"Together we are strong. Being with your makes me stronger. It makes me strive to be a better person."

"I promise the best years are yet to come. We are two people in love, and we start today!"

I want to pause here and talk about some feelings that we going on. Of course there were tears while listening to Mr. Castles vows, but there was also a lot of laughter. There were some inside jokes that I'm sure no one else understood but that didn't matter because those vows were meant for me and no one else. I was so incredibly happy. Mr. Castles vows really gave me the strength I needed to get through my own. When I spoke this voice came out of me that I wasn't expecting. It's hard to describe. One thing I can say is I was a lot louder than I expected myself to be!

"Jeffrey, The first time I saw you I knew there was something special about you. I thought it was just because you were so incredibly talented, but little did I know I was looking at my future husband."

"I am so excited to be your wife. I have need been more excited for anything in my life. I think back to the person I was before I met you and I can see the difference you have made in my life. I am a better person because of you."

"You fill my life with laughter. You point things out to me that I never would have noticed before. You cheer me up when I'm in a mood. You encourage me, you inspire me, and you make me happier than I ever imagined was possible. I love your creativity, your passion, your humor, your perfectionist nature and most of all I love your spirit."

"Today and I take you as my husband, I promise to always stand by your side through whatever life throws at us. Good or bad I will always be there. I promise to take care of you when you are sick and comfort you when you are sad. I promise to do my best to show you how much I appreciate you everyday. I promise to support you and make your goals my goals. I promise to fill our lives with laughter and humor."

"And most important I promise to love you forever times infinity!"

"I can't think of a better way to continue this journey than with you by my side. I love you so much."

We made it through our vows! There were tears, there was laughter, and there was still more to come! Next up we finish our ceremony with rings and a reading by the sister of the Groom.

Did you write your own vows. Were you nervous you wouldn't be able to get through them?

Miss a recap? Check it out below!                         

We start at the end with a surprise wedding video!                                            

We rehearse                                                                                                      

Our rehearsal luncheon                              

We start the day with singing, dancing, and an earthquake

I get my hair and makeup done

We arrive at our venue and Mr. Castle asks for some makeup

With the help of my Mom and bridesmaids I get into my dress!

I take some solo shots of me as a bride

My handsome groom and his men 

Some family shots and first look regret

Photos with my Bridesmaids!

I get a three generations photos with my Mother and Grandmother

Ceremony details

Waiting for the ceremony to start AND how our amazing vendors saved the day!

The Processional and my walk down the aisle 

"The Lovers the dreamers and me..."

Do you recognize those lyrics? It is from one of my favorite songs and the song I've decided to walk down the aisle to, "The Rainbow Connection."

Youtube

Why such a random, non-traditional song you may ask? Because I love it, and when I told Mr. Castle my idea, I think his eyes welled up with a happy tear or two. It's one of those songs that to me, is hopeful and magical. When I was a little girl I used to sing it for auditions. It reminds me of my childhood, and all the good things in this world. Now although I love Kermit the frogs version, I will not be walking down the aisle to his voice... I'm thinking something more like this...

Youtube

Two of Mr. Castle's groomsmen are going to be playing it on the guitar. I can't wait to see Mr. Castles face. I hope our guests enjoy our selection as well!

For our other ceremony music we decided to put one of our dear friends vocal talents to work. When our Grandmothers and parents enter he will be singing this:

Youtube

We are such Disney nerds, right? "Castle on the Water," is another one of those nostalgic songs for Mr. Castle and I. It's a perfect fit for our family members walk down the aisle.

Time for a non-Disney selection, as our bridal party enters he will sing this:

Youtube

For those of you who are not familiar, this song is from the musical The Music Man. A lot of people know it from The Wedding Singer. It's the song that the little old lady sings at her anniversary party. I have always loved it but I definitely wanted a more up beat version for our ceremony. The Beatles version of the song is the perfect fit!

OK one more nerdy Disney moment. For our recessional this will be played.

Youtube

So that's our ceremony music. I'm excited! What kinds of music are you using for your ceremony?

Side Note: I notice that sometimes youtube videos don't show up on peoples posts. If this is the case I provided the links to the videos on youtube under each video. :)

Who will Marry us?

In a previous post I mentioned something kind of important that we have yet to accomplish. We do not have anyone to marry us. Not only is finding someone from across the county difficult, but finding the specific type of person we want is also proving to be tough.

I was raised Catholic and always assumed I would be getting married in the church. Then I met the love of my life who is not Catholic and has no desire to get married in the church. I would never force my fiancé to get married somewhere he did not feel comfortable, not that he is uncomfortable in a church, that kind of a setting just didn't feel right to him. And it doesn't really feel right to me either. I still consider myself Catholic, but I'm not a very good practicing Catholic. I don't go to mass every Sunday, I haven't been to confession in years, and I don't see this changing anytime soon.

When I imagined where our wedding would be, I imagined someplace that represented us as a couple. We have gone on many outdoor adventures together and I knew we wanted something outside surrounded by nature. And that's what we found and I couldn't be happier. But now who will marry us?

When you get married in the church, they assign a priest to your wedding and that's it, decision done. But for us we have to search for the perfect person. My parents and I liked the idea of still having someone affiliated with the Catholic church to marry us. But those of you who are Catholic know a priest can't marry anyone outside of the church, but a retired priest can marry a couple anywhere they want.

With that information, we set about our search. Thanks to wedding wire, I came across a guy who seemed perfect for us. He is a retired Catholic priest, who left the ministry to get married. He now officiates weddings all over Southern California, and he will  make your wedding as traditional or non traditional as you want. He had a review that said the bride and her family were Catholic and the groom and his family were atheist, and both families loved the ceremony that he created for them. He sounded like a winner to me.

So I called him to inquire about his services. We played phone tag a bit, but last night we finally got in touch with each other. He was nice, funny, talkative, easy going, he was great! He told me how he had done a wedding a block away from Kim Kardashian's this past weekend and his poor bride had to deal with three helicopters flying over her ceremony. He told me his background, about his kids, his marriage, and then he told me his price...

Image via Flickr

$1,200. This includes; a ceremony planning session, his travel to the wedding, (he would be coming to LA from Santa Barbara, about 125 miles) the ceremony itself, and filing our paperwork after we are married. He sounds so perfect for us, but his cost is more than my wedding dress.


At the same time, the wedding is about the ceremony right? The most important part is when you say your vows, and who conducts your ceremony is an important component. With that said, I think $1200 is too much. I think we need to shop around and explore other options.


Many people have asked me, why don't you have a friend marry you. We've thought about it, but we really can't think of anyone who is close to both of us who we would like to bestow that responsibility on. Maybe we'll change our minds and think of someone, but at this point that doesn't seem likely.


So I will continue my quasi-quixotic quest for our perfect officiant. Or maybe I will cave and pay the $1200...probably not.


Who will be marrying you? Did you have any trouble finding someone?