Building our Ceremony

For the last several weeks, it has been on my mind that we need to crack down and organize the content and flow of our ceremony. Other than the location of our ceremony at Southland Christian Church and choosing the minister to marry us (Todd Tyler), not much else has been planned.

That said, we have an open slate to build upon. A nice (but somewhat sobering) thought. Basic elements we need to determine in the next couple of weeks: choose ceremony musicians (anyone know a good mandolin player??); determine our readings (one is final...need to decide on one more); decide on wedding party formation on stage (16 attendants on the small chapel stage is no minor task); and meet up with Todd for lunch to tie it all together.

Other than those elements, we know that we want to incorporate a ceremonial element to the big day. While others choose unity candle lightings or sand ceremonies, I want something a little more original for the big day. Those are both nice touches to a wedding ceremony, but not what we are looking for. For a time, I was thinking about a rose (or in our case, lily) ceremony, but even that did not suit well.

Lately, my mind has been going back and forth on the element of a ring warming ceremony. Have you ever seen one of these? Neither have I, but the idea of it is quite intriguing. It is basically a time when the guests pass your wedding bands along, saying prayers and sending well wishes toward the couple. It might be done during a song or something. The officiant generally says a little something about it to kick the ceremony off and the rings are then passed along. If your crowd is small enough, you could have everyone pass the rings along. Or you could have the bride's ring passed among the bride's side and the groom's band passed along the groom's side. OR you could even have the bands passed among a select few guests (aka family members in the first two rows or something). The possibilities are endless!

Not gonna lie, this idea has been the most exciting to me. Now, if only I could convince Jacob!!

A day in the life...

So here is something that has been on my mind lately...hiring a videographer was never that important to me. Until recently. The more I think about it, the more I want someone there to capture our ceremony and key reception points on video (er...DVD).

But have you seen the cost of these videographers?! A little more than I would want (or even be able) to spend. Granted, I am sure they do excellent work (editing it all down, adding music, that sort of thing), but I really cannot see a way for that to work its way into our budget.

That said, I have been toying with the idea of someone, a friend or relative or friend of my mom's, to tape the event. Scares me a bit (they may have a shaky hand...or worst case scenario: something similar to what happened at my parents' wedding back in '83 may happen...my uncle was taping it and apparently forgot to put a tape in the camcorder...yikes!), but what other options do I have at this point?

What have you all done? Anyone actually hire a professional to tape your big day? Or have a friend tape it? How did it turn out? I really need some advice on this one...

Oh Hoppy Day

Do you think it would be possible to have Hocus Pocus (our pet lop rabbit) join in on the wedding day festivities? Initially, we (or at least, I) toyed around with the thought of having her hop down the aisle at the ceremony. Or at the very least, place someone in the wedding party in charge of getting her into the chapel to join in on the fun.

That idea has since been scrapped, as the church apparently frowns upon pets being included in services. AND Jacob thought it was a silly idea...which is probably for the best since Hocus is not a very big people person...and she does not like to be carried...and with our luck, something would happen and she would end up running wild through one of the largest churches in this part of the country. Not a good combination.

However, I am trying to convince Jacob into letting Hocus at least be a part of the photo session prior to the start of the ceremony...how cute would that be??! If we could figure out someone to pick her up at home/get her to the church/take her home again, it might be possible...

Our most recent "family" photo: