Vow Renewal/Wedding Recap–The Ceremony

I’m not going to lie and say that Philip and I have a perfect marriage. As a matter of fact, our first year of marriage was very difficult for both of us. We got married, moved to a different state, went from two incomes to one, had a very difficult pregnancy, and were adjusting to life much different than most Navy families are accustomed to. I was trying to get used to him being home all the time and so was he. It was like we were starting an entirely new relationship with each other.

Well, we survived the first year and then the second, much more aware of the needs of our marriage and of each other. So when we decided to renew our vows in front of family and friends, it was emotional for the both of us and I’ve got photos to prove it

Our ceremony was held in a large field under a large oak tree. We really wanted to have an outdoor wedding ceremony especially since the weather is so nice during Florida “winters”. Guests sat on white benches with colorful fabric streamers lining the aisle.

The songs:
Processional: “Hello” by Lionel Richie
Walk Down the Aisle: “Falling Slowly” by Glen Hansard
Recessional: “Lucky” by Jason Mraz

I started to cry the moment “Falling Slowly” started playing and so did he. We couldn’t keep it together the rest of the ceremony.

We decided to write our own vows. I could hear my poor bridesmaids start to sniffle when I started to read mine. Then when Philip read his vows, the girls started crying. Maybe it was the fact he got so choked up that he could only read two sentences before he had to hand the reigns over to his dad. We were a mess.

Despite all the tears, there was a lot of laughing. We couldn’t help but poke fun at ourselves for crying so much. We are not the “emotional” type, so it took us both off guard that there were so many tears. Happy tears.

We were both relieved that it was time to kiss and head to the reception. I couldn’t be happier that our photographers caught all the emotional and very special moments on camera. It was perfect.

More details to come! Have you missed the other posts? Find them here:
Part I: Pre Ceremony Details
Part II: The Bridal Party