Our wedding took place in the little white church across the street from my grandparents house. It also happens to be the same church my mom and dad got married in. It’s a beautiful church with big windows and wooden pews and it’s a special place for our family. With under twenty guests our ceremony was so intimate, very genuine and extremely raw. I mean, we didn’t even have a dress rehearsal, so of course there were a few funny hiccups along the way. Including my sister walking down the aisle after me for some reason? Hehe. Things were a little mixed up but it helped lightened the mood and gave us a few good laughs.
The pastor who did our wedding is a long time family friend. He and his wife, Léa were so kind to be a part of our special day, and at such short notice too. Léa was our photographer. She’s so amazing and talented and has a calming presence that really put Dave and I at ease. We really felt like we were able to just enjoy ourselves throughout the wedding and we knew that she would just snap away and get some great photos. Léa has a beautiful eye and she truly captured all the precious moments throughout the day. She crept her way around the ceremony and she got all sorts of photos from all different angles. As you can see, the photos are just spectacular. I’m so grateful for her hard work.
What was really special about having a small intimate wedding was that we decided to write our own vows. This was something we originally did not want to do, but after giving it some more thought, we figured, hey why not make it our own? I loved reading my promises to Dave and I loved hearing what he had to say to me. We also had our family members speak over us, they read Bible verses and prayed blessings for our marriage.
My Poh Poh read 1 Corinthians 13:4–13. These verses are beautiful, they talk about love. She is the epitome of these verses and it only seemed fitting for her to read them. She’s so cute, isn’t she?
Like I said in the Morning Of Our Wedding post, I cried through the whole entire ceremony. I was filled with so much emotion, I really didn’t know how to respond but with just a floodgate of tears. All tears of joy, gratitude and excitement, of course! I wish I wasn’t such a crier but it was beautiful and to be honest, the crying felt good.
When I was 13 my parents gave me card and a ring to give to my future husband. Dave didn’t know about the card so during the ceremony, I decided to read it out loud to him. At one point while I was trying to read the card to him, words would not come out of my mouth, just tears from eyes, and Dave sitting in the pews said, “Go on Mel! You got it.” And you see? This is why I had to marry him. He may be a coach by profession but he is truly my life encourager.
I really need to give a huge thank you to Léa again, who helped edit out the teary eyed make up in the photos. Brides and future brides listen up, when you’re searching for a photographer, make sure you choose one that is willing to go above and beyond what you ask for. You’ll be thrilled with the end result. I never even expected Léa to edit out my messy eye make up but seriously, I’m so glad she did!
At the end of the ceremony, it was so much fun when we finally got to kiss for the first time as husband and wife before the eyes of Christ. What a happy moment! And what made it even more special was that we played one of Dave’s favorite songs, “You’ll Never Walk Alone” from the soccer team he supports (Liverpool). How did I ever get sucked into agreeing to that one? Hehe. Just kidding, I’m a fan of the song too!
All photos were taken by Léa Jones.