Our ceremony was one of my most favorite parts of the day and a huge part of the planning process for us. We really wanted to craft a ceremony that reflected Jon and myself — it was not traditional or religious, but it incorporated a lot of meaning, symbolism, and reflection.
Jon and I had planned our ceremony around an intimate circle seating arrangement — taking cues from the symbolism of unity that the circle represents. It was a beautiful moment having all of our friends and family surrounding us as we stood in the middle of them. I’ve included some of the lines from our ceremony in this post — I just loved the whole program we put together.
“Let this circle be a sign that love has a past, a present and a future. And that whenever there are sorrows, joy will come around again”
We had two officiants — a former priest (and my husband’s uncle), and then a close personal friend of my family who also happens to be a judge. They went back and forth speaking the words of Supreme Court Justice Margaret H. Marshall and Robert Fulghum, joining our hands in a handfasting ceremony, and helping my poor! nervous groom remember the words to our jointly written, alternating vows.
“Every time you take hands, you will feel that wedding ring on your partner’s hand and you will both be reminded again in turn. It will always be with you, visible, worn openly and with pride. It will say to the world that someone loves me enough to make me a promise to share a life.”
“Marriage is a shared relationship, not a matter of possession. It is a means of showing your commitment to one another, not a blind surrendering of personality. It is not an excuse to become limited in your outlook; but an opportunity for mutual growth”
“This wedding day is only a symbol, a celebration, a public recognition of what already exists in the silent places of your hearts. It is your marriage and not something created by the state or the Church – it is yours to define, yours to make real, yours to live.”
And with that… I got myself a husband!
* all images by Aaron Ingrao, edited by me