Family Connections...Part II

As I mentioned in a previous post, we shared a photo slide show with our guests at the reception and it was very well received. I think our families enjoyed seeing childhood photos of both of us as well as photos of themselves (we had a photo of almost every single guest). After the historic and childhood photos we moved on to photos of us with our friends and family during our courtship and finally some engagement photos. Enjoy!



Best friend, his wife and Mr. Onion



Mr. Onion, Mrs. Onion and dear friend on our first trip to Vermont in 2005



Momma and brother Onion



Mrs. Onion's Parents



Mr. & Mrs. Onion skiing



Mrs. Onion and bridemaid/best friend from college



Mr. Onion goof off at his college graduation with his brother



With the in-laws at Disney in Florida



With Momma Onion at my Litchfield Jazz Festival debut



Mr. & Mrs. Onion goofing off at Disney in Florida



BIL Onion and his girlfriend



Bridesmaid with Mr. Onion



With my bridesmaids at my bridal shower in August

I would highly recommend the photo slide show. It's very personal and a great break in the evening. We didn't have a "dancing hour" per se, so we showed the video while people were eating their cake toward the end of the evening. It was a great diversion. I narrated a bit as we went a long and it made people laugh. Deffinately on my list of "Things we did right!"

Family Connections

One of the best things that we did was put together a slide show of images to share with our guests at our reception. I wish I could share the video with you but we created it on my mother's MAC at her office because I thought that would be quick and easy. I began the project using a PC program called Photo Story on the recommendation of weddingbee readers. I think it was actually more flexible than iPhoto but I simply ran out of time and was home the weekend before the wedding and just HAD to get it done.

My brother and Mr. Onion were best childhood friends and boy scouts together -- this means Mr. Onion and I met when we were 5 and 6 years old! Here are the boys as kids (Mr. Onion on the left, my brother on the right):



We included historic photos from my family and Mr. Onion's family, photos of both of us as children growing up, photos of us with our family and friends during our courtship and finally our engagement photos. I set the slide show to a beautiful solo piano version of "There Is No Greater Love" (which a dear friend sang at our ceremony) performed by Bill Evan. It lasted about 10 minutes and everyone really enjoyed it.

In lew of the slide show itself, I thought I'd share some of the photos with you.

First, Childhood photos of Mrs. Onion:



My first birthday party with my mom



My first ride



When I learned to swim in St. Martin



A bit of mischief in San Fransisco



With my grandmother who I adored



With my mom at my grandmother's house



My favorite photographer of me and my father. This was on a trip to the south of France when I was nine

Next, Childhood photos of Mr. Onion:



Playing spaceship with his big brother



All dressed up for Easter



School Picture -- too cute



He didn't know it then, but he was getting ready for our honeymoon!

Up next -- the last part of the slide show: photos of us with our family and friends during our courtship and a few more engagement photos.

I am happy where you are...

"Near and far, near and far
I am happy where you are"

-- From the Tin Wedding Whistle by Ogden Nash

Our ceremony is something that I put a lot of time and thought into. I began very early searching websites for readings and knew I didn't want a cookie cutter ceremony. I also didn't want it steeped in religion as neither of us are particularly religious. Our minister gave us a typical ceremony that she uses and said we could modify it however we liked -- add our own readings, include music, write our own vows -- as long as it was "us" she was happy. Because she gave us so much freedom I think our 30 minute ceremony was really personal and touching. Everyone who greeted me afterwards commented on how lovely, how personal, how enjoyable the ceremony was.

And now -- on with the pictures!



Last minute adjustment from a bridesmaid



My dad walking me down the isle -- Photo: Daria Bishop



A dear friend singing "There Is No Greater Love" with our guitarist Brendan Burns.



One of my beautiful bridesmaids walking down the isle -- great shot of the earrings and flowers



Exchanging rings



Reading my vows -- getting a little emotional



You may now kiss the bride!



Yea, so happy!



Outside the church after the ceremony -- getting ready for a group picture will all 45 of our guests!

For those of you who are working on your ceremony and program order, here is what appeared in our program (it was all lower case as was all our stationary -- invitations, place cards, menus etc. Very e.e. cummings):

prelude
selected solo guitar music

processional
sleeper's awake (wachet auf), bach

bride’s entrance
barcarolle from the tales of hoffmann, offenbach

introduction
minister

reading
marriage advice from 1886 by jane wells
read by mother of the groom

reading
tin wedding whistle by ogden nash
read by mother of the bride

homily

musical response
there is no greater love
by isham jones and marty symes
friend of the bride, vocal
brendan burns, guitar

declaration of intention
minister

pledge of support by family and friends
minister and the congregation
answer together “we do with joy!”

prayer

wedding vows

exchange of rings

musical interlude
"better together" by jack Johnson

blessing of the hands

announcement of marriage

apache blessing

recessional
“wouldn’t it be nice” by the beach boys

How did you plan your ceremony? Was it traditional? Did you use non-religious readings? What poems did you choose? Did you write your own vows? The ceremony is possibly the most important part of your wedding -- I'm sure other readers would be eager to hear your experiences.

Informal "Formals"

One of the things that led me to our photographer, Daria Bishop, was her photojournalistic style. Now I know that is a phrase that is so over used these days (much like bridezilla) it's all but lost its meaning. But Daria is really a photojournalist -- she free lances for the Burlington Free Press. We didn't fill out any "must take" photos list, we didn't have to sit for endless posed portraits, it was great. In fact, we were running late before the ceremony and took all the family/wedding party photos in 10 minutes then it was off to the church!

That being said, I only have a few photos from Daria so I'm going to also share some more photos taken by our family and friends.



Beautiful Bridesmaids



Handsome Groom with his Groomsmen

Photos above by Daria Bishop



Mr. Onion with his parents, grandmother and brother



Mrs. Onion with her parents



Mrs. Onion with her new in-laws



The entire wedding party



Mr. Onion with the girls!

The Rehearsal and the Afro-Wig!

Our rehearsal began and I was a little nervous as I didn't have every detail of the ceremony planned (who would stand where etc). Our minister quickly put us all at ease with her great sense of humor and we started walking through the ceremony. I have no idea HOW I didn't notice but suddenly our minister looks at Mr. Onion's brother who was one of our groomsmen and just couldn't keep back a laugh.




He was wearing an Afro-Wig, a gold tooth, a dollar sign necklace and a belt that read "PHAT." So freakin' funny! Note the look on my father in law's face -- is it fear or embarrassment? I'm not sure. It's a good thing I have a sense of humor and have had almost 3 years to get used to my brother in law!

The rehearsal went pretty well but I still wasn't 100% sure we'd all remember everything but I had faith that our wonderful minister would keep everything running smoothly (which it did)! Here are some more pictures of the walk through (we even got to practice the kiss -- so fun)!







See how long my hair was? I had been growing it out for a year and it felt so great to get my hair cut on our honeymoon!

Next it's on to the pre-ceremony portraits...

Note: All the photos so far were taken by family and friends. Just wait -- they get even better! The only professional photos we have yet were included in my first wedding post, I *Heart* Daria Bishop.

A lot of spooning going on...

No no -- not that kind of spooning -- heads out of the clouds ladies! I mean good old fashioned spoons on your nose! Our rehearsal dinner was held the night before the wedding at Taste of Burlington overlooking Lake Champlain. The weather was perfect and we dinned on the patio and watched the sun set.




Suddenly I heard everyone burst into uncontrollable laughter. I turned around and saw this:





Looks like people were having a great time at the rehearsal dinner! It couldn't have been all the wine, could it? Apparently it started with me at a young age:



The rehearsal dinner went quite well even with a few bumps along the way. The executive chef is a great guy and quite a good chef, but not a fantastic manager. I was not informed until two days before that there would be another rehearsal dinner going on for 40 people inside, which meant we had to be on the patio. It worked out, but if it had rained it would have been a huge disappointment. Our guests had no idea so it worked out, but it was unnecessary last minute stress for me. If we were the only event that night I'm sure it would have been smooth sailing!



Getting ready for dinner as the sun sets



With my bridesmaids



A Charming Bridesmaid and Groomsman

Up Next....the rehearsal and the afro-wig (you can't wait now can you?!)