Our Ceremony

Our ceremony began at 11:00 with Matthew getting on the stage and thanking all of our guests for coming.

He then opened the service with prayer.

Dad and I eagerly awaited behind the hedges.

Our cue....Matthew had written a song for my entrance, played it on his dulcimer and recorded it for the wedding.  I knew he was writing one special for my entrance, but he had kept the song a secret until that day.  I heard it the first time as I walked in.  He did an amazing job.  It was beautiful!

Seeing Matthew for the first time!

Walking in on Dad's arm...awe..! Precious moment.

Matthew seeing me for the first time....

... he raised his eyebrows at me and had me chuckling on my way in!

My handsome fella waiting for me!

So happy!

Dad officiated our wedding and he did a wonderful job!  We weren't sure if he was going to be able to hold it together, but he was amazing.  He had some very tender things to say to the both of us as we stood up there together.

Holding hands...

Saying our vows...

Lighting the unity candle was hard because I couldn't get the lighter to work.  The wind wasn't cooperating with us either.  But after a few attempts, we finally got both lit!

Praying together....

Dad not only had to officiate, but since I didn't have any attendants, he also held my flowers for me, fixed my dress, held the rings...you get the idea.  He was the officiant, ring bearer, flower girl, and maid of honor all rolled into one!  LOL!  He did a great job of it by the way!

Matthew and I each wrote promises to each other besides our vows that we kept secret until the moment we said them to each other.

Me reading mine to him...

Placing the ring on his finger.  On the inside of his ring I had inscribed: 

M + K ALWAYS AND FOREVER

When it came time for Matthew's promises, his brother Caleb brought up Matthew's guitar!  My sweet husband-to-be had written out his promises in a song to sing to me.  What a sweet surprise!

He did a beautiful job!  What a sweetheart!

Placing the ring on my finger...

Matthew had special designed my ring to have a heart shaped diamond in it with a gold weave band.  It's absolutely lovely!

At the end of our promises Dad prayed and then said, "Matthew and Kelsey, I now pronounce you husband and wife.  You may now kiss your bride."  At which point Matthew took a step forward and swung me up into his arms and ran me off stage!!!

Both Matthew and I had kept ourselves pure for each other and since we had never hugged or kissed before, we had both decided ahead of time that we wanted to share our first kiss in private.  That way it cut down on the awkwardness of "doing it right" and it also gave us the privacy to enjoy and remember our first kiss.

The first embrace

Dashing away to the Rye Patch!

For those of you disappointed that you didn't get to see "the first kiss", stay tuned for the next post to see pictures of our "first public kiss".  ;-)

(All photos taken by David Russell Photography)