A Napa Fairytale: Ceremony, Part 2 of 2

As dusk fell on Napa, Dr. Houtz finished his sermon and it was time to exchange our vows. I love the traditional Christian wedding vows and neither Mr. Barrettes or I felt a strong urge to write our own. I would have most certainly blubbered though mine and my groom would have simply said, "I love you, you're beautiful." We were much better off exchanging the following:

I ____, take you, ____ to be my wife/husband;

and I promise,

before God and these witnesses,

to be your loving and faithful husband/wife;

in plenty and in want;

in joy and in sorrow;

in sickness and in health;

as long as we both shall live.

When I opened my mouth to speak, I heard a strange voice. It wasn't the me that was loud and outgoing. Suddenly, speaking those words, I could barely raise my voice above a whisper. I was afraid I would burst out in tears if I found my outside voice. This low voice was calm, sure, and steady. Mr. Barrettes flashed me a sweet smile when I was finished.

Next we exchanged our rings. The best man handed them to Dr. Houtz and he opened his palm to reveal one tiny purple circle and one big blue circle. Mr. Barrettes slipped mine on first and then I followed, saying:

_______, I give you this ring,

as a sign of our constant faith

and abiding love,

in the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit.

The string trio began to play Air in G, as the flowered curtain was pulled aside and we stepped back to light our unity candle.

We joined hands again as Dr. Houtz said a Pastoral Prayer and led the congregation in the Lord's Prayer.  I remember our hands being really sweaty. Actually, they were sweaty throughout the entire ceremony. We kept squeezing eachother's hands throughout the sermon during messages we liked, like it was a secret code that only we shared while everyone was looking at us.

The Announcement of Marriage was made as the reverend said:

Before God

and in the presence of this congregation,

B and R have made their solemn vows to each other.

They have confirmed their promises by the joining of hands

and by the giving and receiving of rings.

Therefore, I proclaim that they are now husband and wife.

Blessed be the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit now and forever.

The congregation joined him in saying:

Those whom God has joined together let no one separate.

All that remained was the Charge and Blessing. Dr. Houtz reminded us that forgiveness was one of the most powerful tools of a strong marriage and charged each of us, and those who watched, with showing forgiveness to each other, often and gracefully. 

We bowed our heads for a final prayer, the reverend placed his hands on ours, said something lovely I'm sure, but then all I heard was "B and R, you may now kiss eachother.

Hooray! We were married! John handed me my bouquet and we walked back down the aisle as husband and wife.

We had a quick moment together by the fountain and then all I remember is lots of people hugging me. After being joined by our wedding party, we had a quickie photo-op on the bike, I kissed my husband goodbye, and I headed back to the bridal nook with John and Amy in tow to help with my costume change.

(photos by Luke Snyder Studio)

I was happy to be wed in my mother's wedding dress, but I looked forward to re-joining our party in a little sumethin'-sumethin' more my style! It was time to let loose and thanks to my killer man of honor, I had the perfect dress for the occasion!