I was raised Catholic, then Episcopal, and Mr. Pencils attended a Protestant church until high school. I would classify myself as spiritual, and Mr. P...well, he's not sure what he believes. A church wedding was out, to say the least.
The question remained though: who should marry us? It took literally 30 minutes of being engaged to name one person: Mr. Pencils' uncle J. He himself has a quiet spirituality that we both respect, he loves us both for who we are, and he probably understands our relationship better than anyone else we know. J witnessed the P-meister and I in action as 18 year olds, two weeks after we met, and he has watched us become the couple we are today. We see him at least every other week, if not every week, and he is fun, intelligent, witty, and down right amazing. We were quick to ask J to be our officiant (as in, the night we got engaged!) because we knew he would be perfect!
J wasn't so sure though. He hemmed and hawed for quite a few months...until one Saturday he stopped by to show us his printed Certificate of Ordination from an online ministry. It was official and one of the biggest aspects of our weddings was in place! We are really excited for J to officiate our wedding because of his unique perspective and his ability to truly tell the story of us. He has a way with words and can manage to make even the hardest heart cry. For this reason, I can't wait to hear his marriage address and his thoughts on Mr. Pencils and I and our life together.
J's officiating won't look anything like this, but here he is playing around in Jamestown, VA last Thanksgiving:
*personal photo*
A few months later, we were in Oregon for Christmas and able to ask my uncle M, in person to also take part in our wedding. We had given this ask quite a bit of thought, as we knew we wanted my uncle (who is also my godfather) to be involved because he means so much to me. We didn't want to make it too much of a burden, given that he lives in Rhode Island (a long train ride away!), but we did want to make his part meaningful.
Inspiration hit when we considered what Uncle M loves: the Red Sox, helping people, Calvin and Hobbes, and Lord of the Rings. Aha! Uncle M shall be the Lord of the Rings for our wedding- the one true Bearer of the Rings (our wedding's Frodo, if you will, minus the death defying trip to Mordor)!
We asked M to bear our rings, offer a ring blessing, and help lead the ring ceremony during our larger marriage ceremony. Happily, he agreed! Here's Uncle M just days after he agreed to bear the burden:
*personal photo*
Me and Uncle M
Having J and M as such integral parts of our marriage ceremony completely lined up with our original vision of our wedding truly reflecting us and involving the people that so important to us. For this reason, Mr. Pencils and I both agree that the half hour we most look forward to on our wedding day is the ceremony itself- as it should be, right?
Are you involving special family or friends in your ceremony? What are you most looking forward to on your wedding day?
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