The weekend of our wedding began with Stella's arrival from Panama on Thursday. Stella and Ki
mberly have been friends since there time together at Purdue more than a decade ago. Kimberly and Stella spent most of the day finding shoes to go with Stella's dress for the wedding and taking care of last minute preparations for the favors. That day also saw the arrival of Dr. L. Anne Browne, a family friend of Philip's who drove out from the east coast. Philip had a nice chat and a cup of tea with her that evening.
Then on Friday, Kimberly's maternal grandmother arrived in town from East Texas. The bride's brother and his family joined the happy couple, Grandma Schoomer, and Stella for dinner at Kimberly's mom's house and had a wonderful time reacquainting ourselves with one another.
Saturday morning Kimberly got up early and drove to the florist to check on the flowers. Then we packed up both the truck and the car and drove to Philip's mother's house to pick up the remainder of the decorations to take to our venue. Stella had rented an SUV so we made a last minute change of plan
s to pack it with what we had planned to take in my truck. The three of us then drove down to Southern Dunes where we met Julie, the Maid of Honor, and started setting up. Her sister Jackie, our officiant, also joined us early to help out, and it wasn't long before all of the decorations were in place.
Everyone having arrived for the rehearsal, we ran through the ceremony and worked out the positioning for the readings. With such a small group we elected to, instead of having each reader come to the front, have them stand and read from their seat. This gave us the opportunity to turn and face the small group of friends and family several times during the ceremony, which was delightful.
After the rehearsal, we all headed back up to the north side for the rehearsal dinner. There the mother of the groom presented a semi-factual slide show about us. It was very sweet. The unusual confluence of people found us each pulled in opposite directions nearly the entire evening. Exhausted at the end of the night we said our goodbyes and headed home.
With a bit of luck we managed to not see one another the night before and the morning of the wedding. Kimberly got up much earlier than Philip and after getting everything ready went out to pack the truck to leave. Unfortunately, upon stepping outside it was obvious that the truck was not there. It was still at Philip's mother's house.
After some momentary panicking and some swift thinking a new plan was formed. Kimberly packed Philip's car with all she had intended to go into the truck. Then she locked herself in the car with a blanket over her head and called Philip. Philip then came out and drove her to the truck which was still parked in front of his mother's house. Upon arriving, she deftly covered Philip with the blanket and moved her wedding gown and various necessary items to the truck. After the last bag was moved she gave him a 60 second warning and rushed off to drive away before he unfurled himself.
Kimberly then drove up to her mother's house where everything was re-packed in Stella's rental car and the 4 ladies headed down to the wedding venue.
Meanwhile, Philip went back home to finish getting ready, later returning to his mother's house for breakfast. Jeremy, the best man, picked him up when it was time and delivered him to the wedding venue.
Arriving slightly behind schedule the bride began getting ready as quickly as possible while the maid of honor decorated the outside staircase and various friends helped make other final preparations. The groom and bride each had some quick photos taken separately before the ceremony and all too soon the pre-wedding music began to play.
Philip and his best man seated all of the guests while Kirsten, friend of the bride, made sure everyone who needed a boutonniere or corsage was thoroughly pinned.
Finally it was time. The officiant entered to Purcell's Trumpet Tune followed by the mothers of the bride and groom to the Vitamin String Quartet's rendition of All You Need is Love. The mother's lit the tapers for the unity candle and were seated. The Black Watch's version of Highland Cathedral started and Julie, the Maid of Honor Entered. Kimberly was supposed to wait for the third swell of the music to enter but by the second one she turned to her brother and said, "let's just go."
Kimberly says:
We spent many hours writing our ceremony together and it turned out beautifully. Jackie welcomed our guests and then our rings were sent around the room in a small wooden box. This gave each of our guests an opportunity to pray or think happy thoughts over our rings as they passed them around the room.
Next we had a couple of readings. Our friend Crystal read A Poem by Neil Gaiman and then Philip's sister Rachel read The Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton. At this point Kimberly started crying. When they turned around after the reading Philip slipped her a tissue.
After some more lovely words by our officiant we lit our unity candle, accompanied by Enya's Marble Halls.
Afterward Elyse, a friend of Philip's family, read from the I-Ching. Then Kimberly's maternal grandmother spoke the Ogden Nash quote Kimberly always hears her give at weddings..
Philip and Kimberly love tea and so incorporated a tea ceremony into their wedding. Many cultures incorporate the drinking of a liquid in their traditional wedding ceremonies, so there is a lot of ancestral symbology that can be assumed by the pouring and drinking of a shared cup of tea. As we drank our tea we listened to the Virginia Glee Club sing All the Things You Are.
Our friend Kirsten had the final reading after that, a very long poem called Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog by Taylor Mali. Philip's oldest friend, Jess, then presented the rings back to the best man and maid of honor, bestowing her own blessing upon them.
Philip and Kimberly exchanged rings and vows and signed the marriage license as well as the Ketubah. The wording for the vows was taken from the Ketubah they wrote and designed themselves. While we signed we listened to The Book of Love by The Magnetic Fields.
We were then presented as husband and wife and took our first walk together to Vince Guiraldi's Linus and Lucy.
mberly have been friends since there time together at Purdue more than a decade ago. Kimberly and Stella spent most of the day finding shoes to go with Stella's dress for the wedding and taking care of last minute preparations for the favors. That day also saw the arrival of Dr. L. Anne Browne, a family friend of Philip's who drove out from the east coast. Philip had a nice chat and a cup of tea with her that evening.
Then on Friday, Kimberly's maternal grandmother arrived in town from East Texas. The bride's brother and his family joined the happy couple, Grandma Schoomer, and Stella for dinner at Kimberly's mom's house and had a wonderful time reacquainting ourselves with one another.
Saturday morning Kimberly got up early and drove to the florist to check on the flowers. Then we packed up both the truck and the car and drove to Philip's mother's house to pick up the remainder of the decorations to take to our venue. Stella had rented an SUV so we made a last minute change of plan
s to pack it with what we had planned to take in my truck. The three of us then drove down to Southern Dunes where we met Julie, the Maid of Honor, and started setting up. Her sister Jackie, our officiant, also joined us early to help out, and it wasn't long before all of the decorations were in place.Everyone having arrived for the rehearsal, we ran through the ceremony and worked out the positioning for the readings. With such a small group we elected to, instead of having each reader come to the front, have them stand and read from their seat. This gave us the opportunity to turn and face the small group of friends and family several times during the ceremony, which was delightful.
After the rehearsal, we all headed back up to the north side for the rehearsal dinner. There the mother of the groom presented a semi-factual slide show about us. It was very sweet. The unusual confluence of people found us each pulled in opposite directions nearly the entire evening. Exhausted at the end of the night we said our goodbyes and headed home.
With a bit of luck we managed to not see one another the night before and the morning of the wedding. Kimberly got up much earlier than Philip and after getting everything ready went out to pack the truck to leave. Unfortunately, upon stepping outside it was obvious that the truck was not there. It was still at Philip's mother's house.
After some momentary panicking and some swift thinking a new plan was formed. Kimberly packed Philip's car with all she had intended to go into the truck. Then she locked herself in the car with a blanket over her head and called Philip. Philip then came out and drove her to the truck which was still parked in front of his mother's house. Upon arriving, she deftly covered Philip with the blanket and moved her wedding gown and various necessary items to the truck. After the last bag was moved she gave him a 60 second warning and rushed off to drive away before he unfurled himself.
Kimberly then drove up to her mother's house where everything was re-packed in Stella's rental car and the 4 ladies headed down to the wedding venue.
Meanwhile, Philip went back home to finish getting ready, later returning to his mother's house for breakfast. Jeremy, the best man, picked him up when it was time and delivered him to the wedding venue.
Arriving slightly behind schedule the bride began getting ready as quickly as possible while the maid of honor decorated the outside staircase and various friends helped make other final preparations. The groom and bride each had some quick photos taken separately before the ceremony and all too soon the pre-wedding music began to play.
Philip and his best man seated all of the guests while Kirsten, friend of the bride, made sure everyone who needed a boutonniere or corsage was thoroughly pinned.
Finally it was time. The officiant entered to Purcell's Trumpet Tune followed by the mothers of the bride and groom to the Vitamin String Quartet's rendition of All You Need is Love. The mother's lit the tapers for the unity candle and were seated. The Black Watch's version of Highland Cathedral started and Julie, the Maid of Honor Entered. Kimberly was supposed to wait for the third swell of the music to enter but by the second one she turned to her brother and said, "let's just go."
Kimberly says:
It's more difficult to see through a single layer of tulle than you might think, especially since i had decided not to wear my glasses underneath the veil. Be that as it may, all i could focus on was Philip.
We spent many hours writing our ceremony together and it turned out beautifully. Jackie welcomed our guests and then our rings were sent around the room in a small wooden box. This gave each of our guests an opportunity to pray or think happy thoughts over our rings as they passed them around the room.
Next we had a couple of readings. Our friend Crystal read A Poem by Neil Gaiman and then Philip's sister Rachel read The Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton. At this point Kimberly started crying. When they turned around after the reading Philip slipped her a tissue.
After some more lovely words by our officiant we lit our unity candle, accompanied by Enya's Marble Halls.
Afterward Elyse, a friend of Philip's family, read from the I-Ching. Then Kimberly's maternal grandmother spoke the Ogden Nash quote Kimberly always hears her give at weddings..
Philip and Kimberly love tea and so incorporated a tea ceremony into their wedding. Many cultures incorporate the drinking of a liquid in their traditional wedding ceremonies, so there is a lot of ancestral symbology that can be assumed by the pouring and drinking of a shared cup of tea. As we drank our tea we listened to the Virginia Glee Club sing All the Things You Are.
Our friend Kirsten had the final reading after that, a very long poem called Falling in Love is Like Owning a Dog by Taylor Mali. Philip's oldest friend, Jess, then presented the rings back to the best man and maid of honor, bestowing her own blessing upon them.
Philip and Kimberly exchanged rings and vows and signed the marriage license as well as the Ketubah. The wording for the vows was taken from the Ketubah they wrote and designed themselves. While we signed we listened to The Book of Love by The Magnetic Fields.
We were then presented as husband and wife and took our first walk together to Vince Guiraldi's Linus and Lucy.