Wedding Week: The Ceremony

When planning our wedding, my husband and I knew that we wanted our ceremony to be extremely intimate, true to our relationship and beliefs, as well as brief. My first idea was to have our ceremony in a cathedral chapel. After factoring the time constraints it would take our guest to maneuver from the chapel to the venue for the reception, we decided a venue that had an on site chapel would be ideal. We fell in love with the chapel at the Bell Tower. I love how intimate the chapel felt, as well as the glass wall that allowed lots of natural light to flow into the ceremony. My florist Dwight did an excellent job of bringing to life all of the details we discussed during our consultations of what I envisioned my ceremony to be. I entered the ceremony with the harpist playing Wagner's Bridal Chorus. My father and I are extremely close, and it was such a special moment having him walk me down the aisle. He did an excellent job at keeping me calm the entire time. Moments before walking down the aisle I felt extremely nervous, my father cracked a joke that immediately took away my nervousness.  We decided to have a sand ceremony instead of a traditional candle ceremony. The sand now has a special place in our home. The funny thing is I was absolutely opposed to jumping the broom (A tradition that is common in African American weddings, which symbolizes jumping into a new future). My mom however, felt it was extremely important, and she wanted to make our broom as a keepsake. I am actually happy I decided to listen to my mom and jump the broom, it is one of our favorite ceremony memories. The comedy in the whole broom situation is I actually "stepped" over the broom, while my husband flew over it. 

One of my favorite pictures, my parents watching my husband and I leave as husband and wife.

Photography: Collins Metu, Florals: DLWoodbury Designs, Harpist: Echo Shen, Brides Dress: Maggie Sottero, Brides Shoes: Jimmy Choo, Makeup: Brandi Holmes, Grooms Tux: Calvin Klein, Bridesmaid Dresses: Monique Lhuillier, Groomsmen Tuxes: Vera Wang

Tomorrows topic: The Reception