Alison and Heather Real Wedding is a week long series about their wedding in NJ. This is blog post 4 of 5. Ceremony –Euphoric
All photos by Jen Cleary Photography
Where do I even begin…the ceremony was hands down my favorite part of the day. Heather and I put so much effort into the composition of our ceremony that it set the tone for the rest of the wedding. There is something to be said about reciting the same words that millions of couples have recited over thousands of years-and to a certain extent we did want to maintain a piece of that nostalgia. Though, as we studied hundreds of variations of ceremonies, our main focus turned into “marrying” if you will traditional ideas with unique wording that was tailored to who we are as a couple. So, one afternoon I researched hundreds of websites containing ring exchanges, sand ceremonies, civil unions, you name it. I came across the reading, “Union,” by Robert Fulghum, and with that as a guide I took on the task of writing the ceremony from scratch.
We decided to write our own vows and not share them with each other until the ceremony. I wasn’t too keen on this idea but I’m glad Heather talked me into it, totally worth the wait. Our good friend Elizabeth is a writer and had moved across the country right before the wedding, so we had her write a reading for us in her absence. Adding all of those little personal elements really enhanced the emotion of the moment and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. We worked really hard to make sure everyone needed a tissue by the end…
A twist on an old tradition-In lieu of a unity candle, we had a sand ceremony but we wanted our guests to take part in this as well. Each guest was given a small stone and all were asked to bless their stone during the ceremony. At the cocktail hour we asked everyone to place their blessed stone in the jar on top of our combined sand. When times get tough we always have a visual reminder of the love and support we have from our friends and family.

All the little things that made the moment “us”-Yes, that’s an olive you see in Heather’s bouquet…Other noteworthy/eclectic highlights: I had to sneak through the kitchen so no one would see me before walking down the aisle-avoiding the lettuce and old shrimp scattered on the floor, I lost my contact in the middle of the ceremony and our offciant had to crawl around to find it, we marched down the aisle to the Mary Poppins soundtrack, Heather got to wear her Pumas, and I shouted “OF COURSE!!” when asked if I were entering this union on my own accord.
So to tie up this post here is a brief and understated recap of the hour:
There were a few laughs
There were a lot of tears
And there was a HUGE grin plastered on my face the entire time
All and all; awesome, awesome, awesome
Now on to the partaay!