Back in the room there were just a couple more things to take care of before the ceremony. Our minister, Rev. Christie Olsen, arrived. We decided to go ahead and take care of the marriage certificate before the ceremony (is that even legal!! haha).
So- Seph’s brother Mark came up and signed as a witness as well as my sister.

Then, both the girls and the guys prayed together with Christie. It was a really nice moment to quiet ourselves and remember why we were there. My sister added a prayer as well. I was lucky I didn’t cry! Instead, as you can see, I had a huge smile. I was excited!



So, I was feeling pretty relaxed at this point and ready to go. The nerves I had experienced earlier in the hotel parking lot and in the car with my sister were gone. As we stood talking, Kayte caught one of my favorite pictures:

Teresa came up to say it was time. She took the girls down the stairs to get ready. I stayed up with my dad. Now- I DID feel the nerves kicking in. I was seconds away from getting married!

You can see my hands going wild up there at the top of the stairs (the girls are below). I think we might have been talking about our honeymoon plans. My dad was clearly trying to distract me- but I think he jus made me more nervous! At my sister’s wedding I heard him say “there’s still time to back out” to her. I think he thought better of this the second time around. It might have made me laugh though!

I wasn’t the only one that was nervous. Here is Seph waiting to come out for the ceremony:

I like to tease him about how nervous he looks in this photo, but to be fair- he is all smiles in the photo before this one. This was taken the moment his brother slapped him on the bag. So maybe instead of “nervous groom” we should label this one “annoyed older brother.”
Allright- here we go!
The guys went first- I love this shot:

Then my amazing bridesmaids:

And finally- my dad and me!

One small annoyance I had with the site layout was that I couldn’t walk straight down the aisle. I love weddings in churches where they open the big doors and there is the bride – straight down the aisle from her fiance, who is staring lovingly at her. I couldn’t do that at the Beach Club. I had to enter from a door to the side of the aisle and do a 90 degree turn before I was facing Seph. So…the picture above is me trying to see him and see if he can see me. I was desperate to have that “first look” experience.
Once we did turn down the aisle, we locked eyes. Guests have told me I had a “determined” look coming down the aisle.

I think the expression was a result of wanting to keep my eyes on my soon-to-be husband (he was so handsome in his tux!), not wanting to look around at everyone (that is a personal pet peeve, those brides that start looking around at their guests and even saying hi to them), and that dilemma of wanting to smile but wanting to be solemn as well. Whatever it was- that was my coming down the aisle look.

(I like this photo because you can see Tony taking it in the professional shot I posted above it!)
Up next- the ceremony! (Finally, right?)