The best part of the day, when we said "I Do."
Our Ceremony was seriously picture perfect and our officiant was absolutely amazing. I think everyone was in tears (especially me- per usual) because of how great Mike Rinehart was. I highly recommend him for a ceremony that is full of laughs, tears, and a whole lot of love.
My favorite part was when Mike asked the couples in the audience to hold hands and renew their vows to one another as we said ours for the first time. I loved the idea of sharing our love and so many people came up to us after saying how much they needed that.
We also had Mike read "The Art of Marriage" during the ceremony and it was a perfect fit for the ceremony. You can read it below:
The Art of Marriage
The little things are the big things.
It is never being too old to hold hands.
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day.
It is never going to sleep angry.
It is at no time taking the other for granted; the courtship should not end with the honeymoon, it should continue through all the years.
It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.
It is standing together facing the world.
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice, but in the spirit of joy.
It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.
It is not looking for perfection in each other.
It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and above all, a great sense of humor.
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.
It is finding room for the things of the spirit.
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.
At the end of the ceremony, Mike had our mother's give us each a white rose. Then he asked us to exchange the roses and give them to each other. In the past, the rose was considered a symbol of love and a single rose always meant only one thing - "I love you." So it was appropriate that our first gift - as husband and wife - was the gift of a single rose.
That ceremony was the most meaningful 30 minutes of my life, because we stood in front of our friends and family and God and committed ourselves together in a ceremony and commitment of love.
Photos by the amazing Lees. You can view their blog and photos here: http://theleesphotography.com/