We also paused for a moment of love and laughter as John spoke words of remembrance about Mr. P's father, who passed away when he was 14. He mentioned that his father would have loved me and also would have loved celebrating with the food and drink at the wedding. We were later told that during this short remembrance, a mockingbird landed right behind John at the altar. As soon as the moment of remembrance was over, the bird flew away. Coincidence most likely, but coupled with the fact that as I stood at the steps about the walk down the aisle, a pair of geese (who mate for life) flew overhead, it seemed that nature was throwing out it's love and support of our marriage.
We started the ceremony off with the readings. We gave Kara and Claire free reign to compose whatever they chose, with or without the help of other authors. What they both gave us was better than I ever could have imagined.
Kara, Mr. P's cousin, spoke first. We had traveled across country together two summers ago, and we had all gotten to know each other incredibly well during that time. We shared hotel rooms, monuments, unclean rest stops, and many, many Fiber One bars together over those five weeks.
She had all of us enraptured as she spoke about Mr. P's and my differing views on fate. While I am not sure that I completely believe in it, I find it more than coincidental that a girl from Idaho chose a college in DC out of fifteen or so that I'd gotten into, and just so happened to meet Mr. P there. Mr. P is a strong advocate for total choice and is pretty convinced that destiny and fate are irrelevant.
Kara's reading centered around how to define the love that Mr. P and I share. Though I don't have her speech, I'll paraphrase the best I can.
She kept circling to what makes us right as a couple- what defines us, what speaks to what we have. She read a couple of quotes, searched in her favorite musical artists, poets, and authors. She told us and our guests that in the end, she could not find anything more perfect to explain the how and why of us than the mere fact that WAS us- Mr. and Ms. Pencils. To know us, she said, is to know why we were right together.
We were laughing one moment, crying the next. It was the perfect way to kick off the ceremony.
Our second "reader," Claire, my roommate from Baltimore, got up. She grappled with the question "what is real." Claire perfectly encompassed what makes Mr. P and I so different. If asked that question, Mr. P would turn it into a philosophical debate, questioning what reality is anyway. If you asked me, Claire said, you'd hear me talk about all the things that are really possible and begin to plan and take action on these real things.
As if that wasn't enough, she then read from "The Velveteen Rabbit"- the moment when the bunny asks the rocking horse how to become real. In sum, the horse replies that when you have been loved, you become real. Thus, because Mr. P and I loved each other, that, simply, is what made us, and our love, real.
Claire left nary a dry eye in the house. Case in point, below.
Our "readers" words were so perfect for our intimate ceremony- we wanted our ceremony to really be about us, who we are as a couple. We have had a large number of guests tell us that our ceremony was so wonderful because of how personal it was. Many felt that they now knew us better, individually and as a couple, because of our ceremony. I think that started with Kara and Claire's words and I cannot thank these women enough for their part in our wedding.
All beautiful photos are copyright and courtesy of amazing B. Scott Photography.
Something Good: My gift to him.
Something Good: A cello was given.
Something Good: Guys got dressed.
Something Good: We beautified.
Something Good: Quality time with my friends.
Something Good: We rehearsed.
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