"I brushed my teeth, and I don't have cooties." An August DFTW and Disneymoon TR

[MeghanEmily]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! Enjoy your time with loved ones...and your turkey comas.

I'm heading into the homestretch of this first term of my masters, and just working on keeping my head above water.

Dependent on how my studying and assignments go, I'm hoping to get through the wedding ceremony updates quickly so this part of the TR doesn't drag on too much...but with how unproductive I've been lately I can't make any promises! Be back soon! ...maybe.​

 

[MeghanEmily]

WEDDING DAY: Ceremony
Disney Day 3 - Part 5

Looking at all the photos, I've decided that my photos and the official wedding photos overlap a lot in terms of content, so I'm just going to use mostly the DFAP official photos for these posts, and pepper in my own where needed. So here we go with the ceremony...

The ceremony got underway, and Samantha told the bridesmaids, and then my mom and I, when to walk down the makeshift "aisle." I remember two major things about this experience: my mom and I hadn't discussed whether we'd link arms, hold hands, etc., so we kinda did a little shifting around for the first bit of the walk and awkwardly laughing about it. I also distinctly remember not actually hearing any of the music. I had put so much thought into what pieces I wanted the violinist to play for the processional, and I'd settled on "Go the Distance" from Hercules for the bridesmaids, and "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan for me. And yet, in the moment, I remember being almost angry because I didn't think the violinist was even playing them! It turns out that he absolutely was, and I can hear it now when I watch our amateur GoPro video, but in the overwhelming moment it was like I'd gone completely deaf.

But I do remember seeing N at the end of the way!

(I almost asked RevKev to tell people to put away their electronic devices and just live in the moment—and seeing N's mom photobombing this gorgeous picture above with her pink phone case almost makes me wish I had!—but in the end I didn't bother because I knew how much my photo-crazy family would feel itchy not being able to document the experience as it happened.)

When my mom...released me?...I dunno...I'm obviously not a wedding aficionado. RevKev had us turn around to face our family and friends while he thanked our parents for us for bringing us to this point in our lives.

After addressing thanks to the parents, RevKev had us turn to face each other, and hold each others' hands for the duration of the ceremony. At one point in the ceremony we actually got confused and started to drop hands, and RevKev got this anxious look in his eyes and kinda silently gestured to our hands until we got the message and grabbed hold again! Hands were important!

His motto, as I mentioned in my PTR, was two hands, two (something? I've already forgotten! hearts? eyes? Probably eyes!), and two kisses. Again, I already forget where the second kiss happened...but I digress.

He addressed us as a couple and talked about entering into a commitment of marriage.

We delivered our vows to each other...at least the first half? Because apparently ring vows are different? At least sometimes? Again, there is a reason I don't call myself "wedding people." I love that some people are super interested in wedding planning, but I'm not particularly tied to some of the traditional structures for the typical wedding. Anyway, we chose our vows from a selection that RevKev had for us, and here's what we vowed to each other:

I ___, promise to love and cherish you, ____,
To give you my strength,
To help you in good times and bad,
To respect your individuality,
To make our home one of love and understanding.
I give you all of my trust,
All of my tomorrows,
All of my life.

I really liked these vows. Even just reading these now is reminding me that I already need to go back and work on some of these things again. Sometimes relationships, and being a good and generous partner, can be a challenge! I also liked that our vows were a nice balance of traditional vs. modern.

Next, we had readings by family members. First we had Nathan's mom and dad each read some scripture for us.

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited." —Romans 12:9-16

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgement: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." —1 John 4:16-18

I was used to hearing the same bible passages over and over again at weddings, and I wanted to choose something a little different for our wedding to be sure they were meaningful to us and or guests and people didn't just tune them out...so I vetoed your typical "Love is patient, love is kind..."

We all love this next picture because N's dad is known for breaking down in tears when he gets up to speak at every single big life event, and Amanda captured it beautifully:

Then my grandmother came up and read a passage. This was meaningful to me because after my grandfather died my grandmother used to care for me every day until I was school-aged, and then she still kept me after school, and she read aloud to me constantly. We went to the public library every week and came home with grocery bags full of books, probably 10 a week? Whatever the limit of books per visit was. And we'd sit in her lazy-boy and she'd read them to me, or I'd read them to her. We've also always been very close—almost as close as I am to my mom. She was honoured to be part of the ceremony. I asked her to read a passage from the lyrics of "Promise," the "leaving song" at the end of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.

Every evening brings an ending.
Every day becomes a legacy.
Every sunset leads to morning
With the promise of opportunity.
We can reach
For the stars we find along the way,
Dreaming as we learn
To love everyday.
Promise you will take my hand
As tomorrow comes.
We’ll go on.

We’ll go on growing closer through the years.
Moving on through the good times and the tears.
Ever on, another thousand circles round the sun,
If two can be as one, we’ll go on.

There is music, if you listen,
In the rhythm of each breath we take.
Destinations undiscovered,
Revelations from every choice we make.
And I know
There are diamonds dancing in the sky.
All we have to do
Is open our eyes.
Promise we’ll walk side by side
As a new day dawns;
We’ll go on.

We’ll go on growing closer through the years.
Moving on through the good times and the tears.
Ever on another thousand circles round the sun.
A new life has begun, the two of us as one.
And we live to keep the promise–
We’ll go on.

I got this idea from @missjackiemcg, who I think got it from another Diser. Illuminations actually became a bit of a theme strung through our wedding and Disneymoon, and it became very meaningful to me.

She also was very particular about what folder she put the passage in and made a little "wedding themed" folder for it, which you can see in the pictures.

...continued in next post due to photo overload...​

 

[MeghanEmily]

...continued due to photo overload...

RevKev is kind of known for a passage he reads about hands and how he relates them to a marriage, but we found it didn't really speak to us as much, so we opted out when we put together our ceremony with him. (I only wanted to include what was important to us because we didn't want anyone sitting or standing in the heat any longer than necessary! ) Next we moved on to ring vows.

He prayed over the rings, and then we said our vows...

RevKev prayed to bless our marriage...

...and read a scripture blessing (which I would have included in our readings if he hadn't, so I was pleased with that!)

The verse was:

"Entreat me not to leave you or from walking beside you; for where you go, I will go, where your home shall be so shall my home be, and your family shall be my family, your friends shall be my friends, and your God shall be my God." —Ruth 1:16

We did the whole "kiss the bride" deal...

And then...we were done!

"Woah, we did it!"

Apparently then this is where the second kiss came in, because he pronounced us for a "second time," which included a second kiss. (It's all coming back to me now!)

And then we all got the heck outta' there!

Whew! That was a crazy update! But here's the shocking thing...it all took place over about 15 minutes! The rest of the hour at Canada Pavilion coming up soon...!! ​

 

[Neverland_Girl]

Love all of your ceremony pictures!! Totally feel you on not wanting to use "Love is patient..." it's been used in every wedding I've ever been to. I love the ones you chose instead.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Love all of your ceremony pictures!! Totally feel you on not wanting to use "Love is patient..." it's been used in every wedding I've ever been to. I love the ones you chose instead.

Thank you!! Yeah, it's a lovely passage, but I've heard it soo many times that I don't know that I even really think about what it's saying anymore. I was glad we could find a few different verses that we liked better! Nathan's parents are both very involved in their church, so they were happy to read for us

 

[afwdwfan]

Also, more news possibly to come soon...

The changes look like they were made for the best. Still hope that things open up for you and you can get them FP for FoP!

I'm the kind of person who usually organizes and controls things myself, so I had been experiencing an underlying level of stress not knowing all the details of how everything would come together. I kept waiting for something to fall apart or for someone not to show up, because I felt I wasn't given much information about how everyone would know where to be and when, or when I should expect to see certain people, etc. But Samantha and DFTW had everything under control, and everything went off without a hitch, so my advice to future DFTW couples would be not to worry too much unless your vision is very specific, because they do these kind of events literally all the time.

They're pros. They only do this every. Single. Day.

You can tell how humid it is in some of their photos because their camera lenses fogged up...

No... you can tell how humid it is because it is Florida in August.

Nathan's sisters got settled in, and I suspect my grandmother harassed them for this photo...

Somebody has to be sure to document everything! The Disney photographers might miss something!

I'm heading into the homestretch of this first term of my masters, and just working on keeping my head above water.

Good luck!

And yet, in the moment, I remember being almost angry because I didn't think the violinist was even playing them! It turns out that he absolutely was, and I can hear it now when I watch our amateur GoPro video, but in the overwhelming moment it was like I'd gone completely deaf.

It's that kind of out of body experience you seem to have going through those major moments in life. I can relate.

But I do remember seeing N at the end of the way!

That's good. Otherwise, this update was going to suck.

Even just reading these now is reminding me that I already need to go back and work on some of these things again. Sometimes relationships, and being a good and generous partner, can be a challenge!

Nobody ever said it is easy.

I asked her to read a passage from the lyrics of "Promise," the "leaving song" at the end of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth.

Wow... that's really appropriate! I guess I didn't even realize there were lyrics and/or hadn't paid close enough attention.

Apparently then this is where the second kiss came in, because he pronounced us for a "second time," which included a second kiss. (It's all coming back to me now!)

Ah... makes sense.

Whew! That was a crazy update! But here's the shocking thing...it all took place over about 15 minutes! The rest of the hour at Canada Pavilion coming up soon...!!

15 minutes... that's about right! I think it was great that you cut out the excess and kept it short and sweet. Much more enjoyable for everyone!

 

[HumblePie]

Awww! So lovely. Congratulations

 

[paradesintherain]

You are just so stunning!

Canada pavilion is a beautiful wedding location! I don't think I've ever seen one there before (not that I follow weddings closely) but I love it!

So cute! Can't wait to hear more about your wedding and Disneymoon!

 

[kastoney]

Wow, I just caught up on all the wedding day activities and I'm just about speechless. Absolute perfection!!!!!

 

[amalone1013]

Beautiful photos! I love your readings. I get wanting things that meant something for you guys and not wanting to keep everyone in the heat! I had certain things I cared about with planning, and things I really didn't and when people asked I'd be like oh... hadn't given that much thought...

That passage from illuminations was perfect

 

[MeghanEmily]

That time I said there may be more news coming soon...it may or may not have something to do with this screenshot...

More on this (and also some replies!) as soon as I get through the next quiz without failing...​

 

[pkondz]

Hi, again! While I'm still working away on an update, here are some cute pictures I took last week of a cute baby!

All great, but...

... I like that one the best!

There's not much text required for this update, so I'm just going to mostly do a big ole' photo dump!

Loved all the photos!

That's where we lost "Matt

Tragic.

It worked perfectly! And it also meant we were slightly less sweaty in these photos than we were when we left the ceremony a couple of hours later.

Smart thinking!

I reached a point of serious slippery-leg-under-the-giant-dress-swimming-in-sweat situation! Too much information?? Never!! I give you all nothing but the 100% truth!

Thanks for all the details.... I think!

The overspray from the waterfall was so dreamy.

Agreed. Beautiful shot.

"Excuse me sir, but do you know where your hand is?"

Love this!

Wow... Just...... breathtaking.

Then she opened up a gate, and we were allowed to actually for real walk around in the quaint garden area that's blocked off for guests!

No way!
And I love the shots with the water reflections.

 

[pkondz]

Once we were finished with pictures, we were escorted into the entryway of the Le Cellier restaurant, where we met our wedding coordinator, Samantha, our officiant, Reverend Kevin (RevKev), and a couple of other members of Samantha's team who were facilitating various events.

"As well as a bowl of cheddar cheese soup and a filet mignon for each of us!"

I was almost feeling a little surprised that they were all there where they were supposed to be!

I know this feeling.

We took one last selfie, which we would deem our last ever unmarried selfie:

Awww...

#thecouplewhosweatstogetherstaystogether

We made it very clear that if they missed the shuttle, they would miss the ceremony, no exceptions.

Whoa! Harsh... yet... no one can say "But you didn't tell me!"

You can tell how humid it is in some of their photos because their camera lenses fogged up...

Ah, Florida.

It was perfect as it was, and we saved some cash!

No need for more. It's beautiful just as it is!

You'll notice above that the cake table (the rectangular one) is empty. That's because our cake was an allergy-friendly cake by Erin McKenna's, and the frosting, which contains coconut oil, melts very quickly at/above room temperature. And it was definitely above room temperature!! Samantha's solution was to have someone set up the cake quietly during the ceremony to keep it cool as long as possible. If it was a distraction to anyone, I never noticed.

Smart!

...but it was a nice perk that he's attractive and photographs so nicely!

 

[pkondz]

Wayyyyyy too many photos to comment on, but rest assured I loved all of them!!!
Thank you so much for including so much!

my mom and I hadn't discussed whether we'd link arms, hold hands, etc., so we kinda did a little shifting around for the first bit of the walk and awkwardly laughing about it.

And then she wound up just carrying me because I was a hot mess! Literally and figuratively.

I also distinctly remember not actually hearing any of the music.

I am soooo familiar with this.
"They played this as I walked down the aisle."
Me: "They did???"

in the overwhelming moment it was like I'd gone completely deaf.

But I do remember seeing N at the end of the way!

Awww....

Love that shot.

When my mom...released me?...I dunno...I'm obviously not a wedding aficionado.

More like "Finally got rid of me. Now the house is all mine!!!"

At one point in the ceremony we actually got confused and started to drop hands, and RevKev got this anxious look in his eyes and kinda silently gestured to our hands until we got the message and grabbed hold again! Hands were important!

No letting go!!!

His motto, as I mentioned in my PTR, was two hands, two (something? I've already forgotten! hearts? eyes? Probably eyes!), and two kisses. Again, I already forget where the second kiss happened...but I digress.

Just a blur, huh?

I ___, promise to love and cherish you, ____,
To give you my strength,
To help you in good times and bad,
To respect your individuality,
To make our home one of love and understanding.
I give you all of my trust,
All of my tomorrows,
All of my life.

Very nice.

Sometimes relationships, and being a good and generous partner, can be a challenge!

It doesn't stop.
27 years... still have to work at it.

She also was very particular about what folder she put the passage in and made a little "wedding themed" folder for it, which you can see in the pictures.

Aw, that's cute.

Congratulations!!!!

And then...we were done!

"Woah, we did it!"

You did it!!!

Not too upset to have two beautiful women on his arms.

That time I said there may be more news coming soon...it may or may not have something to do with this screenshot...

More on this (and also some replies!) as soon as I get through the next quiz without failing...

Well, hello there WestJet booking screen.

 

[amazingact21]

Man, I'm mad at myself for falling behind because I am loving all the wedding updates. However! I played catch up so as not to have missed anything.
Beautiful photos from the MK and Canada Pavilion. I think blue was the perfect color choice. I don't know why, but it just goes so gorgeously with the MK buildings.

Your ceremony sounded wonderful. I love that you had family members read a few Bible verses and the Illuminations song. I can't believe I've never really listened to the words. They are actually quite beautiful and make perfect words to ponder. Will it be completely lame to say I teared up reading that part? I think it was a combination of the lyrics and the backstory behind your grandmother and how close you are with her. Made that moment seem really special.

Loved how you keep casually mentioning how blessed hot it was that day. Wedding dresses are heavy things and add layers of makeup to that equation, and you must have been suffering! Obviously it was all worth it, but whew! Florida doesn't cut any breaks for couples on their wedding day.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Awww love the details on the ceremony. I love how your bm dresses match the accents in your bouquet. So coordinated!
Stunning pictures of you both!!
The picture of Nate's dad tearing up is so sweet! And I love how you incorporated Illuminations into your ceremony! It's just perfect!!

 

[MeghanEmily]

They're pros. They only do this every. Single. Day.

Absolutely! I had to keep reminding myself this. For some reason I was worried our wedding would be the one case where they forgot to do something, or where I'd missed something I was supposed to be responsible for, and something would go awry. No such bad luck! Everyone was incredibly impressed with how smoothly everything went.

No... you can tell how humid it is because it is Florida in August.

Truth. Touche!

That's good. Otherwise, this update was going to suck.

Yeah, probably good he showed up!

Wow... that's really appropriate! I guess I didn't even realize there were lyrics and/or hadn't paid close enough attention.

Right!? Yeah, I vaguely knew there were words being sung as we pushed our way out of the park after Illuminations, but I'd never really paid much attention to them. Then I heard someone else had used them in their wedding, so I really appreciated them for the first time. It was a perfect fit! Super appropriate for starting a life with someone! My grandmother also really liked it, which helped.

15 minutes... that's about right! I think it was great that you cut out the excess and kept it short and sweet. Much more enjoyable for everyone!

Agreed! I'm all for the short ceremony!! I was recently at a friend's wedding where they were in and out of the ceremony in under 15 minutes, and a few people were kind of complaining about how short the ceremony was, and I was thinking, "Really? You wanted them to make you sit there for half an hour when they could have accomplished everything they wanted to in half the time?" I think it worked especially well for us because we spent the whole hour with our guests at the Canada Pavilion, but we had lots of other things going on after the ceremony, so they didn't feel like we were in and out too quickly to be worth being there, but they also didn't have to sit for a long time.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Awww! So lovely. Congratulations

Thank you!!

You are just so stunning!



Canada pavilion is a beautiful wedding location! I don't think I've ever seen one there before (not that I follow weddings closely) but I love it!



So cute! Can't wait to hear more about your wedding and Disneymoon!

Thank you so much! The Canada Pavilion really is a fabulous spot. I was surprised it was so easy to get our preferred date there, but it doesn't tend to be super popular for weddings. I guess most people want the wedding pavilion at the Grand Floridian, and having an in-park wedding means a really early ceremony time which isn't ideal for everyone. But it was perfect for us!

Wow, I just caught up on all the wedding day activities and I'm just about speechless. Absolute perfection!!!!!

Thanks, Kari! It was SUCH a wonderful day

Beautiful photos! I love your readings. I get wanting things that meant something for you guys and not wanting to keep everyone in the heat! I had certain things I cared about with planning, and things I really didn't and when people asked I'd be like oh... hadn't given that much thought...

That passage from illuminations was perfect

Thank you! It's funny how some things about the planning process become super important, and some things you couldn't care less about. I loved how appropriate the Illuminations song was for us!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Tragic.

Rest his soul.

"Excuse me sir, but do you know where your hand is?"

Haha that wasn't the intention of the photo, but it's absolutely how it turned out!

Wow... Just...... breathtaking.

Thank you!

No way!
And I love the shots with the water reflections.

I know! So cool!
I have a feeling we'll be spoiled now and the next time we go we'll be hopping the fence! When security comes we'll tell them not to worry, that it's actually our garden now, and we have pictures to prove it.
And yes, they made for beautiful shots. It's a great effect!

"As well as a bowl of cheddar cheese soup and a filet mignon for each of us!"

Gotta start a wedding day with a hearty breakfast!

Whoa! Harsh... yet... no one can say "But you didn't tell me!"

Yep! We were thoroughly warned about this by our coordinator, so we passed on that whole fear-of-god thing to our guests. If they turned up 15 minutes late for the bus or they tried to get there themselves, there would have been nothing we'd be able to do. They got the message! They seemed to like us enough to want to make sure they'd be there.

And then she wound up just carrying me because I was a hot mess! Literally and figuratively.

It was definitely a possibility...

More like "Finally got rid of me. Now the house is all mine!!!"

Something like that!

Naw, I'd moved out for school years ago, then had a brief "return to mooch" phase for a year, then moved back out again a couple years ago. Nathan had also been sharing my 2-bedroom apartment and contributing for almost a year at that point. So people kept asking my mom how she was handling things "losing me," etc....and she kept laughing at them and telling them that, in her opinion, nothing was really changing except who I'd be filing my taxes with! And I think it holds true—doesn't matter how married I am now, there are still some situations where my mom is my first phone call. And she's always my second at the very least.

Not too upset to have two beautiful women on his arms.

He didn't seem too hurt over that arrangement.

Actually, awkwardly enough, there was once a situation between him and one of my bridesmaids where one was interested in the other at a time when neither of them were available, and it didn't go over well with the uninterested party.... Fortunately they were both able to put that history aside for our benefit and there were no issues.

Well, hello there WestJet booking screen.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Man, I'm mad at myself for falling behind because I am loving all the wedding updates. However! I played catch up so as not to have missed anything.
Beautiful photos from the MK and Canada Pavilion. I think blue was the perfect color choice. I don't know why, but it just goes so gorgeously with the MK buildings.

Your ceremony sounded wonderful. I love that you had family members read a few Bible verses and the Illuminations song. I can't believe I've never really listened to the words. They are actually quite beautiful and make perfect words to ponder. Will it be completely lame to say I teared up reading that part? I think it was a combination of the lyrics and the backstory behind your grandmother and how close you are with her. Made that moment seem really special.

Loved how you keep casually mentioning how blessed hot it was that day. Wedding dresses are heavy things and add layers of makeup to that equation, and you must have been suffering! Obviously it was all worth it, but whew! Florida doesn't cut any breaks for couples on their wedding day.

No worries there! I've been updating in little blasts of productivity, so I seem to be kind of working in an all or nothing kind of method...makes it easy to get behind!

The words to the Illuminations songs are surprisingly thoughtful and lovely! I had never paid much attention either, but now I really tune in to them. Thinking back to that moment and re-reading the lyrics makes me a little misty, too. I feel very grateful to have my grandmother—she's still very active at just under 70 and loves to travel and spend time with us. She's the last living grandparent I have, and Nathan's grandparents have all passed away, so I don't take for granted how lucky I am! She also likes Nathan, which is high praise!

Oooh yeah...it was toasty! I was shocked at how well I managed the heat. The first day we rolled across the state line and it was about 102 degrees...I figured the whole trip was going to be impossible! I get sick and have a hard time tolerating Canadian summers where we rarely get a day hotter than 85 degrees. But Nathan and I both handled it really well! I had a figurative and literal meltdown once the ceremony was over though! Cold shower and tank top were immediate priorities!

Awww love the details on the ceremony. I love how your bm dresses match the accents in your bouquet. So coordinated!
Stunning pictures of you both!!
The picture of Nate's dad tearing up is so sweet! And I love how you incorporated Illuminations into your ceremony! It's just perfect!!

Thanks so much, Su-Lynn! I loved the blue color for the dresses, so I was so glad Disney also had a bouquet that matched and that I liked equally well!

It's such a sweet picture of Nate's dad. We went home for a post-wedding shower/celebration at their church a week or so ago, and Nathan asked his dad if any of the men in their family had ever gotten up to speak and not broken down in tears! ...And then, of course, his dad did all over again at the shower!