A long time ago , I wrotte a report on my wedding and promised pictures : here they are !!!! I cut and paste the the report , in case you guys wanted to relive it abit. I am happy to share it with you !
http://picasaweb.google.ca/gelinas.antoine/MarriageChoix?authkey=jMvXSo8rT-Y
Last spring , I announced that I was going to get married in august and promised a report so here it is !!!!!
A few things you should know about civil marriage in my province is that , it does not need to be celebrated at the court house , and anybody , with permission of the ministry of justice , can celebrate a union. So we set out to get married in our backyard on august 26th 2006 , with our friend Ivan as celebrant, who introduced us 9 years ago.
Sylvain asked me to sleep at my parents place the night before the wedding and I accepted , worrying a bit about all the last minutes preparations. I woke up early , and at 2.30pm , a streach limousine parked in front of the house instead of my sister who was supposed to pick us up ! Nice surprise ! My parents and me left the house , got stuck in traffic , but managed to arrive at our house on time. I felt like a star, coming out of the limo with a photograph taking pictures and some friends waiting for me !
My mother was "walking me down the aisle" , as was Sylvain's mother. I entered the backyard as my friend Linda sang "Time after time , with my friend Martin harmonisized and played the guitar. I saw Sylvain with the corner of my eye , beautifull in his tuxedo ( I wore what is called a morning suit , wich is a grey tux , with a windsor tie , and the cuffs that my father wore at his wedding). We proceded under our pear tree from our different corners of the yard.
After our mothers got seated , my brother ( who was the mc for the event) explained to our guests how the afternoon would go , and presented a big box of kleenex , in case anyone would need it. We were then seated and my brother invited Sylvain to speak. Since Sylvain never really asked me to marry him ( I said yes without him asking when I saw the ring !) he wanted to explain to our friends and family why he wanted to marry me ( basically , he thinks I am the best thing since sliced bread !) There was not a dry eye in the yard.
We had asked my sister to prepare a lecture about family. The lawyer in her started by saying that the dictionnary definitions were at the same time precise and vague about familly and then proceded to explained what family meant to her , while using a part of a poem my father had written 43 years ago ! Was a crying then ? You bet ! She finished by saying that our house had been holding a family since we were living there , and that everyone entering this house was part of this family.
After that , it was my turn to go to the front because in secret I had prepared a song with Linda and Martin that I wanted to sing to my future husband. It is one of the most beautifull french love song that says something like: when i fall asleep against your body , I know that love still exist , even with wars , bombs , sickeness that kill love , love still exist ! ( It is one of Celine Dion french song calle "L'amour existe encore)This was one of the most difficult song I ever had to sing , but one of the most important as well. I had the support of Linda who was there to sing instead of me in case I choked, but I did it ! Again , kleenex time for everyone.
Then my brother invited Sylvain's brother to adress our guests , about being a couple. He told us about his 23 year strong marriage , and about his mother,s , who even after 35 years is stiff faithfull to her husband memory. Very touching !
Then it was time for actual marriage. Ivan came to the front and asked Sylvain and I to come sit in the front , beside him. He started by saying that same sex union was not a new thing , that , as an exemple , in Roman times , they were celebrated. These marriage were under the auspice of the god Mars and the Goddess Venus , and they would put a crown of laurel on people getting married head's. So Ivan aked Mars and Venus to crown us. My sister and Sylvain half brother came and crowned us with laurel. Ivan then said that in some pacific Islands, the lovers arms were tied togeter as a symbol of their unions , so he proceded to tie our arms together. He then asked us to stand , so he could read the texts from the law that he had to read to us, then asked us the question , to wich I almost screamed yes ant Sylavain did the same. He then told us , and our guest that , by the power the governement had given him , he declared us united by the bonds of marriage. Everybody stood up and cheered , but we had forgotten the rings ! ( Ivan was a bit nervous !
We wanted all of our guest to touch and "energize" our rings, so my goddaugter and Sylvain godson , took our rings to all our guest while Linda and Martin sang another french love song tilte "lucky we have each other"
Once the energized ring came back to us ( both are the same , titanium with a gold incert) , I had problem taking my engament ring off ( I had forgotten) and had to lick my finger in front of everyone. I put Sylvains ring on his finger and kissed it , and Sylvain did the same with mine.
The last part of the ceremony involved my now sister in law. She has asked everyone when they arrived to writte a wish for the newly wedds on a piece of paper. Now she proceded to burn these wishes. This way we would alway know were these wishes were , around us in the universe. We could never loose them. She did that while Linda and Martin sang "Whit a thousand sweet kisses" from Rent.
When all this was done , a waitress came in front of us with two champagne bottles and two flutes contaning one raspberries . Sylvain and I poped the cork , served the two glasses to our mothers and drank one big gulp directly from the bottles , declaring the celebrations open !
The waiters served champagne to everyone, with hors d'oeuvre !
Now everybody had a glass of bubbly.
I had given my recipes of everything we were eating to a frien whois a cook that I had hired for the day. On 3 tables set aroud the yard were big bowls of shrimp cocktail, mexican style. The waiters passed platter of procuito wrapped around cantaloup , figs and peach , little skewere of cherry tomatoes/basil and boconcini.
After a wile , we got seated to the tables set in the back of the yard. White table cloth and our table centers were home made: white daisies , red chili pepers and miniature apples set in little steel buckets.
The buffet was ready: a whole pig on the spit , stuffed with rosemary , apples and bacon had been cooking since 9 oclock in the morning. It was served with an heirloom tomato salad ( tomatoes , red onions, basil and balsamic vinaigrette) , roasted vegetable ( onions, carrot , leeks, parsnip) with olive oil and garlic, and rosemary roasted new potatoes. It was glorious. We had asked all our guest to bring their own wine and beer. Sylvain and I were drinking from beautifull etched wine glass my godmother had given me as an house warming gift when we moved to the house. The glasses were passed down to her by my grand-mother.
A lot of glass clinking and kisses and then my father rose. he had prepared a speach in wich he said , first that he never though that somebody would ask him to marry his son. He had said yes of course , but in doing so he had given something that did not belong to him. I had just been lent to him and my mother, to take care of until it was there turn to turn me to Sylvain , so he could take care of me , and that at the same time , Sylvain was only lent to me , to take care of ( I am oversimplifying here obviously , but my father is a terrific writter and again , not a dry eye in the yard)
It was now 7.30 PM: the cake arrived from the bakery , and so were about 20 other guests. The cake was breath-taking. It was a traditional french wedding cake ( french as in France) called a "croque-en-bouche". It is hundreds of creampuff filled with chocolate pastry cream , all attached togheter with hard carmel. The pastry chef had filled all the wholes with freh raspberry and drizzled some chocolate over the puff pyramid. Ivan had found two littles figurines, one bald and one with brown hair , just like US ! The cake was delicious. We served more bubbly to all our guest with cake !
Our porch turned into a dance floor : I had made mixed CD of disco, salsa , 80's and tacky french singers. Sylvains family went wild on the dance floor. A very nice party ! At around 10 oclock , big plates of Québec artisan cheese came out , in case people had not eaten enough.
The party was so fun , that the 3 waiters stayed for two hours after their shift was over ! The had never served at wedding that was , in their word , so beautifull and so fun ( I had worked as a cook with two of the waiters the summer before , so I knew them a bit !)
We went to bed at 3 in the morning , husbands , tired , and very very happy !
http://picasaweb.google.ca/gelinas.antoine/MarriageChoix?authkey=jMvXSo8rT-Y
Last spring , I announced that I was going to get married in august and promised a report so here it is !!!!!
A few things you should know about civil marriage in my province is that , it does not need to be celebrated at the court house , and anybody , with permission of the ministry of justice , can celebrate a union. So we set out to get married in our backyard on august 26th 2006 , with our friend Ivan as celebrant, who introduced us 9 years ago.
Sylvain asked me to sleep at my parents place the night before the wedding and I accepted , worrying a bit about all the last minutes preparations. I woke up early , and at 2.30pm , a streach limousine parked in front of the house instead of my sister who was supposed to pick us up ! Nice surprise ! My parents and me left the house , got stuck in traffic , but managed to arrive at our house on time. I felt like a star, coming out of the limo with a photograph taking pictures and some friends waiting for me !
My mother was "walking me down the aisle" , as was Sylvain's mother. I entered the backyard as my friend Linda sang "Time after time , with my friend Martin harmonisized and played the guitar. I saw Sylvain with the corner of my eye , beautifull in his tuxedo ( I wore what is called a morning suit , wich is a grey tux , with a windsor tie , and the cuffs that my father wore at his wedding). We proceded under our pear tree from our different corners of the yard.
After our mothers got seated , my brother ( who was the mc for the event) explained to our guests how the afternoon would go , and presented a big box of kleenex , in case anyone would need it. We were then seated and my brother invited Sylvain to speak. Since Sylvain never really asked me to marry him ( I said yes without him asking when I saw the ring !) he wanted to explain to our friends and family why he wanted to marry me ( basically , he thinks I am the best thing since sliced bread !) There was not a dry eye in the yard.
We had asked my sister to prepare a lecture about family. The lawyer in her started by saying that the dictionnary definitions were at the same time precise and vague about familly and then proceded to explained what family meant to her , while using a part of a poem my father had written 43 years ago ! Was a crying then ? You bet ! She finished by saying that our house had been holding a family since we were living there , and that everyone entering this house was part of this family.
After that , it was my turn to go to the front because in secret I had prepared a song with Linda and Martin that I wanted to sing to my future husband. It is one of the most beautifull french love song that says something like: when i fall asleep against your body , I know that love still exist , even with wars , bombs , sickeness that kill love , love still exist ! ( It is one of Celine Dion french song calle "L'amour existe encore)This was one of the most difficult song I ever had to sing , but one of the most important as well. I had the support of Linda who was there to sing instead of me in case I choked, but I did it ! Again , kleenex time for everyone.
Then my brother invited Sylvain's brother to adress our guests , about being a couple. He told us about his 23 year strong marriage , and about his mother,s , who even after 35 years is stiff faithfull to her husband memory. Very touching !
Then it was time for actual marriage. Ivan came to the front and asked Sylvain and I to come sit in the front , beside him. He started by saying that same sex union was not a new thing , that , as an exemple , in Roman times , they were celebrated. These marriage were under the auspice of the god Mars and the Goddess Venus , and they would put a crown of laurel on people getting married head's. So Ivan aked Mars and Venus to crown us. My sister and Sylvain half brother came and crowned us with laurel. Ivan then said that in some pacific Islands, the lovers arms were tied togeter as a symbol of their unions , so he proceded to tie our arms together. He then asked us to stand , so he could read the texts from the law that he had to read to us, then asked us the question , to wich I almost screamed yes ant Sylavain did the same. He then told us , and our guest that , by the power the governement had given him , he declared us united by the bonds of marriage. Everybody stood up and cheered , but we had forgotten the rings ! ( Ivan was a bit nervous !
We wanted all of our guest to touch and "energize" our rings, so my goddaugter and Sylvain godson , took our rings to all our guest while Linda and Martin sang another french love song tilte "lucky we have each other"
Once the energized ring came back to us ( both are the same , titanium with a gold incert) , I had problem taking my engament ring off ( I had forgotten) and had to lick my finger in front of everyone. I put Sylvains ring on his finger and kissed it , and Sylvain did the same with mine.
The last part of the ceremony involved my now sister in law. She has asked everyone when they arrived to writte a wish for the newly wedds on a piece of paper. Now she proceded to burn these wishes. This way we would alway know were these wishes were , around us in the universe. We could never loose them. She did that while Linda and Martin sang "Whit a thousand sweet kisses" from Rent.
When all this was done , a waitress came in front of us with two champagne bottles and two flutes contaning one raspberries . Sylvain and I poped the cork , served the two glasses to our mothers and drank one big gulp directly from the bottles , declaring the celebrations open !
The waiters served champagne to everyone, with hors d'oeuvre !
Now everybody had a glass of bubbly.
I had given my recipes of everything we were eating to a frien whois a cook that I had hired for the day. On 3 tables set aroud the yard were big bowls of shrimp cocktail, mexican style. The waiters passed platter of procuito wrapped around cantaloup , figs and peach , little skewere of cherry tomatoes/basil and boconcini.
After a wile , we got seated to the tables set in the back of the yard. White table cloth and our table centers were home made: white daisies , red chili pepers and miniature apples set in little steel buckets.
The buffet was ready: a whole pig on the spit , stuffed with rosemary , apples and bacon had been cooking since 9 oclock in the morning. It was served with an heirloom tomato salad ( tomatoes , red onions, basil and balsamic vinaigrette) , roasted vegetable ( onions, carrot , leeks, parsnip) with olive oil and garlic, and rosemary roasted new potatoes. It was glorious. We had asked all our guest to bring their own wine and beer. Sylvain and I were drinking from beautifull etched wine glass my godmother had given me as an house warming gift when we moved to the house. The glasses were passed down to her by my grand-mother.
A lot of glass clinking and kisses and then my father rose. he had prepared a speach in wich he said , first that he never though that somebody would ask him to marry his son. He had said yes of course , but in doing so he had given something that did not belong to him. I had just been lent to him and my mother, to take care of until it was there turn to turn me to Sylvain , so he could take care of me , and that at the same time , Sylvain was only lent to me , to take care of ( I am oversimplifying here obviously , but my father is a terrific writter and again , not a dry eye in the yard)
It was now 7.30 PM: the cake arrived from the bakery , and so were about 20 other guests. The cake was breath-taking. It was a traditional french wedding cake ( french as in France) called a "croque-en-bouche". It is hundreds of creampuff filled with chocolate pastry cream , all attached togheter with hard carmel. The pastry chef had filled all the wholes with freh raspberry and drizzled some chocolate over the puff pyramid. Ivan had found two littles figurines, one bald and one with brown hair , just like US ! The cake was delicious. We served more bubbly to all our guest with cake !
Our porch turned into a dance floor : I had made mixed CD of disco, salsa , 80's and tacky french singers. Sylvains family went wild on the dance floor. A very nice party ! At around 10 oclock , big plates of Québec artisan cheese came out , in case people had not eaten enough.
The party was so fun , that the 3 waiters stayed for two hours after their shift was over ! The had never served at wedding that was , in their word , so beautifull and so fun ( I had worked as a cook with two of the waiters the summer before , so I knew them a bit !)
We went to bed at 3 in the morning , husbands , tired , and very very happy !
hope everything went perfect.
)
Not mention how creative you are!
