May Day!: Getting Hitched

Mr Goodlaff and I joined our hands together, and Houdini began:

***

Miss Goodlaff...

Mr. Goodlaff...
I am so glad you are both here.
Thank you for including me on your special day.

Welcome, family, friends, and loved ones. You have been invited here this afternoon to share in the celebration of Miss Goodlaff and Mr. Goodlaff's marriage.

By stating their vows to one another in the presence of friends and family, Miss Goodlaff and Mr. Goodlaff have chosen to share their promises to one another with you. You are their community—the people who have played an important role in their lives, and the people who they hope will be a part of their lives in the years to come. Today, we honor them by sharing in their public expression of their commitment to one another. Your presence here today is a demonstration of your love for Miss Goodlaff and for Mr. Goodlaff, as well as your support of their decision to marry.

Miss Goodlaff and Mr. Goodlaff, please take a moment to turn and look upon the faces of the friends and family who have gathered here to spend this day with you.

This group of loved ones may never be all together in the same place again. Many have traveled great distances for the sole purpose of being here today to witness your union. Take some time to think about how they have touched your lives, and appreciate that they are here with you today.

As you acknowledge those gathered here today, let us also take a moment to remember those that could not be with us. Even though they are not present in body, we know that they are present in spirit and send you their blessings.

Miss Goodlaff and Mr. Goodlaff have chosen a reading to be read by the Maid of Honor, Sister Goodlaff.

The first reading is an excerpt of a book by British novelist Louis de Bernieres:

"Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part.

Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has           burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two."

Thank you, Sister Goodlaff.

*****

I have to tell you, much of this ceremony was directly lifted out of Mrs. Hot Wings' ceremony as shown on Weddingbee.  I was so incredibly happy that we took the time to turn around and acknowledge our guests and look out over the crowd, because it's true: none of those people would ever be in the same place ever again. 

As for the reading, I just fell in love with it.  Mr. Goodlaff and I sorted through dozens of potential readings, and this one was one of the two that won out in the end. Although, to say that we had selected Sister Goodlaff to do a reading wasn't entirely truthful.  Mr. Goodlaff an I are somewhat on the slacker side of ceremony writing, and didn't finish putting together our ceremony and readings until about six days before our wedding. Given the late hour, we figured Houdini would just do the readings, because we didn't want to spring it on someone at the last minute. 


Houdini, however, had other ideas.  At our rehearsal dinner he managed to talk Sister Goodlaff and Groomsman M into doing a reading at the wedding that was less than 24 hours away;  Sister Goodlaff still doesn't know how she let Houdini talk her into it.  Still, she did a great job.

Up next: we vow...

Miss something? Catch up here:


Here Comes the Bride
First, We Walk
An Interlude
The First Look that Almost Wasn't
It's All About Me
Sharp Dressed Men
Girls, Girls, Girls
My Chariot Awaits
Dress Success
Beginning the Bridal Transformation
Painting Faces
Perfectly Coiffed
Calm Before the Storm


All photos by Niki Ross Photography