Legal Ceremony - 6/20/2008
Surrounded only by our closest family and friends, Andrea and I headed to Race Point Beach in Provincetown, MA on an absolutely gorgeous (albiet windy) June evening. We kept it quick and fairly traditional, but it was incredibly meaningful. The power and spirit behind the act moved me (and others present) in ways I never could have expected.
ps - for those confused as to why we took this extra step, MA and CA are currently the only states to allow same gender marriages. CT offers civil unions to same sex partners; however, Andrea and I opted out of getting a CU for the time being (we do not believe same sex/gender couples should have to settle for anything less than full equality. there is huge implications in a name and "civil union" will never equal "marriage").
**UPDATE** As of 10/10/08, CT legalizes same sex marriages and our MA marriage is recognized!! Makes me even more glad that we took this extra step!
I was a crying mess! Oy...
We are saving the ring exchange for our CT wedding, so we subbed in a beautiful hand ceremony that was absolutely wonderful. I completely lost it at "These are the hands that will hold your children..."
"I now pronounce you legally wed"
You may now kiss your wife!
Wedding Day! August 31, 2008
The most perfect day of my life.....
Pre-Ceremony Formals in Stonington:
Credit to Johnny Arguedas for the pro photos - he was wonderful!
It was an insanely gorgeous day!
Our beautiful girls....
Me and my MoH - love her!
My wife and her MoH - they are too cute :)
ps - those BM dresses were the bargain of a lifetime at Target!
We were driving to the ceremony/reception site and our awesome photog spotted this barn - he had to stop and we're so glad he did!
LOVE.THIS.PIC.
off to the winery....
Ceremony in the vines....Jonathan Edwards Winery:
My wife is Jewish so we included both Jewish and Christian elements in our ceremony. This is the blessing and drinking of the wine (ever so appropriate for a winery wedding ;)
Just when we thought everything was going to go off without a hitch...i dropped her ring in the grass!
Lets' pretend it was intentional comedic relief, shall we?
Okay, the ring is on - pressure's off!
What a fantastic feeling! I'll never forget it.
The recieving line was wonderful!
The only "must take" I gave my photographer was a pic of everyone; i love how it came out.
After the ceremony we did family portraits...I won't bore you with those because, well, you dont know my family and they pretty much look like all other posed portraits. I do have to share one of my grandma (nana) - she almost couldn't make it to the wedding for health reasons which would have been heart breaking. I was THRILLED to have her there :)
Guests went on to cocktail hour and we took a few sunset portraits at the winery....
A few of the details for my knotties....
The photo guestbook with our epics was a huge hit
LOVED our cake! Toria Dolce is AMAZING.
We were DIY maniacs: centerpieces, table name luminaries, menus, and truffle favors...
For our intimate group, we opted for a jazz trio over a DJ - it made for great atmosphere.
Boston Jazz Trio - great vendor!
Our candlelit reception - absolutely magical....
thanking our guests for coming....
Food was delish! Not that we had much time to eat it....we were way more interested in chatting :)
Our MoH's then gave speeches that were both hysterical and tear-jerkers! Another moment I'll cherish forever
Props to our florist Tracey at Mystic McQuades for the gorgeous sweetheart table garland - I was in.love. with it!
Onto cake cutting - which was painful...it was so beautiful we didn't want to cut it!
And then the night was over. It went by in the blink of an eye.
BEST night of my life. hands down.
No matter how many times I had invisioned the day and all the little details, I never ever could have pictured what the end result turned out to be. Having our family and friends around us made all those months (years!) of planning come alive in a way that is unimaginable. So much more important than the place settings, meal choices, or bridesmaid gowns, the look on the faces of our guests during dinner and the tears in thier eyes during the ceremony blew me away.
Having the opportunity to share that day and our love with them is a blessing I can't begin to describe in words.
Everything was so much more, and so much better, than I ever could have dreamed.