Our ceremony was magical! Not to say that everything went perfectly as planned (it did not) but the things that were out of our control made it so much more special.
A little back story: as a pretty liberal (but spiritual) couple, we tossed around the idea of a religious ceremony for about 2.5 seconds. Instead, we wanted someone to officiate who knew us and would saturate the ceremony with personal details. We asked my dad, a smooth talker and the sweetest, gentlest man to lead things for us. As it turned out, Tennessee is one of the only states that does not recognize those ordained to perform wedding ceremonies online. We considered looking for a replacement at the last minute but by that time I was pretty sold on the idea. We moved forward with our plans to be married by my dad and compromised on a tiny (Ainsworth, Lorelai and I + a minister and a stranger witness) civil ceremony at the courthouse the day before our "wedding". Even though it wasn't what I had spent years dreaming of, getting married before our wedding was one of the biggest gifts. We were able to be fully present and calm on Friday and when Saturday rolled around all of the stressful details fell away. What could go wrong? We were already married!
We shrugged off any chance of late summer rain in the weeks leading up to our wedding day and continued with our plans full steam ahead. The hours leading up to our outdoor ceremony were peaceful, a few sprinkles here and there but nothing that discouraged us from exchanging vows beneath a pretty little chuppah that would provide little shelter. The second my dad and I left the cover of that sweet house however, the clouds rumbled and it began to pour. Rain fell our entire way down the aisle and it continued to drizzle all the way through our ceremony (which was cut short because our vows began to bleed together and my dad’s script was wrecked). There was something so peaceful about the rain, almost as if all the fear, nerves and other feelings were washed away. It was the universe’s way of saying, “Look, even when things aren’t perfect and even when it storms you are choosing each other.”
After all was said and done, Ainsworth and I exchanged traditional vows at a record speed. My dad's script bled in the rain and we rushed through a short introduction and skipped the readings altogether. It was so unconventional but it was so us!
