4 years ago today (the 4th), we had our rehearsal at the little church where we were getting married. We didn't get married at Josh's church because that's not how it's done, and since my church met in the auditorium of a school, we got married at my parents' church. It was the perfect size; we filled it with our 110 (ish) guests.
We had two pastors. The pastor (and my boss) of the church I'd been going to, who had married 50 couples. And the missions director of the church I went to through all of college (and that I considered my home church when I was in Turkey), who I considered to be my "second father.") He had been ordained months (or a year?) before, but this was his first wedding.
The rehearsal went smoothly. It was a very small party, which simplified things. Justin, my youngest brother, was almost 4, and he was the ring bearer. Don (pastor 1) worried that he'd misbehave, but Justin is an exceptional, amazing little boy, and always does what he's supposed to. Don put a small sticker on the floor to mark each person's spot, and Justin tried his hardest to make sure both feet were on that sticker. When Don had him turn towards us, he still kept those little feet on the spot. What a cutie!
Our maid-of-honor was my sister, and the best man was Josh's cousin. Joanna, my friend since infancy, was the pianist, and my brother Daniel played "The Wedding Song" on guitar.
After the rehearsal, we went to dinner at Josh's cousin's church, and she had an amazing dinner for us. She's a caterer, and judging by how good the food is, she does quite well for herself.
The next day, I went with Daniel to a little Chinese gift shop to kill time. The lady tried to get me to buy a dress. I went to Chinese for lunch with my parents and out-of-town family. I snuck in one email to Josh, finalizing details about the reception.
Katie (my sister) and I got my hair done by our neighbor, who was our hairdresser for years. The photographers (dear family friends) came and started taking pictures of Katie and I, and some of my family. They went to the church to get Josh and Brad (the best man) and the people as they arrived.
The wedding itself was very short (about 30 minutes). One song while we did communion, simple vows that we "wrote" (we decided on our vows, going from a number of options of others before us), and one scripture reading (read by Josh's sister Charity).
The reception was supposed to be outside if the weather was nice, but people pretty much stayed inside, where the snacks and cake was. The church was very crowded, but it was nice to be relaxed and just chat. No dancing, no table...just mingling and snacking and picture-ing.
We went to a hotel not too far away, where Josh locked the keys in the car. He had popped the trunk before he closed the door, so he climbed through the trunk (in his tux). The next day we went back to my parents' home for something we'd forgotten, and then to my brother's apartment so they could take us to the airport and we could skip paying for airport parking.
Then off for a week in NYC, seeing a Yankees game, exploring the city, museum, Central Park, eating Turkish food...and getting used to being "Mr. and Mrs. Virkler!"
No comments:
Post a Comment