Hello lovelies, Claire here.
So, it’s getting close. Marko and I are getting pretty excited. Since I returned from my weekend trip, I have noticed that something has changed. The countdown has officially begun.
Marko and I have the most bizarre, giddy mood. While there are a few small tasks to complete, we feel too excited to think about logistics.
This is my Real Bride’s Diary (I would have said penultimate, but I won’t be leaving for a little while!) Today, I will share with you a little about our wedding ceremony. It’s the only part of the day which still makes me feel sick.
Not because I fear something will go wrong but because I am afraid I won’t make it through without ruining my makeup.
July 13th: Only Two Weeks and two Days Left
My obsession at the moment: I am monitoring a new pimple breakout by the hour.
Marko’s current obsession is DIY Confetti. The stuff is all over our floors.
– We’re mostly Excited.
Marko and I decided about six years ago that we would like our friend Dan as our officiant.
Dan is one of our most articulate friends. He works in theatre, so he understands how to get an audience to support him. Dan means a great deal to us both. We asked Dan to be the celebrant as soon as we were engaged. Before we even picked a venue and set a date.
He said yes, and we were delighted!
We wanted Dan to be there because he set the tone for our ceremony. It won’t only be Marko and me making it official, which we will do with a civil wedding a few days earlier. Instead, we want all our family and friends to witness it.
The Structure
Dan suggested that we need a moment of unity early on in the ceremony to make everyone feel at ease. This is especially true for our relatives who may be attending their first wedding outside of a church.
We’ll have a small club initiation so that everyone knows they are in our “wedding gang,” and we’re thrilled to have them.
We’ll then have music and readings (which I will get to later) before we reach our vows. They’re not vows, but they are a close second. Marko and I will exchange rings after we each give a brief speech on what makes the other so special.
With this ring, I promise always to be your friend and family.
This is the line we came up with together. We thought it pretty well sums up what we wanted to say.
I don’t hold out much hope for the mini-speeches. I haven’t yet been able to get through my own without crying.
The Setup
The decor post has more details, but I will say that our ceremony will take place in an old outhouse/milking stall in Kilruddery, which no longer has roofing.
Most of our guests will be standing. We’ll provide some chairs and hay bales for the immediate family and older guests.
The only thing that will really make a difference is the backdrop, which I’m going to make from painter’s drop cloths (an idea I stole from a real wedding), and then garland draped over it.
On arrival, we’ll serve ice cream and handkerchiefs to those who cry (like me). We’ll have ice cream on arrival, with clothes for the criers (like me!
We are worried that our space will not be large enough for all of our guests. If that happens, we can easily move to a bigger area outside.
If it rains, we have a place under cover that we can retreat to if the weather is bad.
The Music
Celina, Brendan, and Sean, three of our talented friends who I wrote about in My music post, will provide the music for our wedding.
Celina and Brendan are going to sing “A Waltz For a Night” by Julie Delpy from the movie Before Sunset. We love the song and film, and we think that the waltz rhythm is ideal for a procession.
Brendan will perform a cover of High Love, a song by James Vincent McMorrow, who we listened to on the night that we got engaged and whom we have seen live MANY times, as well as Sweet Disposition, sung by The Temper Trap, as which brings back memories of our travels.
Una Furtiva Lagrima, a beautiful song from L’elisir d’amore, is performed by our friend Sean.
We’ll sing a recessional song that’s upbeat, but I won’t reveal it just yet. There are still some surprises in store for our guests.
The Readings
Our close friends Naomi, Claire, and Alan will be reading three readings for our wedding. They are all beautiful speakers.
I will write about the entire readings in a separate post after the wedding. But I thought I would share one today.
The reading I chose was late, but I knew as soon as I read it that we had to include it. While it is a bit goofy, I knew Marko would love it.
This is a story that I found on Humans Of New York. It was a two-part post about a couple who had just gotten engaged and shared the sweetest proposal story. ).
They shared the following story…
I was asked to read her a story before she went to bed. I began telling her a long story about Finnegan, the Moose.
Finnegan, a very respectable moose. One day, a goose called Reginald sat on his head.
Reginald was an exciting goose. She would always make bold statements and suggest crazy adventures. Her tongue was hanging out.
Finnegan always did what Reginald said. He would pretend to understand her, even when she was not making sense.
Finnegan was bored before Reginald fell on his head. It wasn’t bad. It was just a normal life for Moses.
He had not yet met his best friend. He didn’t know that she was even out there.