Every girl wants to be Cinderella on her wedding day. Let's be honest, its about the groom too, but its not Prince Charming’s story; its Cinderella’s. It’s all about the bride and her fairytale wedding.
https://www.wonderfullywed.com/post/huston-and-jordynn Photos: Craig Tomeny (Craig Paul Studio)
A few years ago, I had the privilege of attending a pi themed wedding on pi day: 3/14/15, and only having been around wedding coordinating a few months, I wondered if I’d be able to experience a wedding in the same way as before.
As we sat in the pew and the ceremony began, the wedding party came in one by one. They seemed unsure of exactly where they should stand as if they had not rehearsed the ceremony before. The officiant was directing them at the front of the church and telling them where to go. However, the ceremony proceeded as normal until only one person was missing: the bride.
As the opening chapel doors cued us to stand, I turned in the opposite direction to see what every girl would want to see on her big day.
https://www.wonderfullywed.com/post/javi-and-cassie Photos: Westy Peck Photography
The groom standing there astounded, his eyes immediately filled with tears, and his mouth broke into a huge smile comparable to the grin of a small boy on Christmas morning. It was a sweet ceremony about the never-ending number of pi and how in the same way the secret for unending love in also incalculable. However, when it came time to exchange vows, it got a little comical.
The officiant (who was also the bride’s father) told the groom to “Repeat these words I will give to you now.” To which the groom replied, "I will give to you now.” There was momentary silence in the chapel until the bride burst into laughter and explained that those weren't the words he was supposed to say. Then it was her turn. And It wasn't until after she vowed “To love and laugh at you for the rest of my life,” that she caught her mistake and the whole church erupted in laughter. Once the ceremony concluded, we made our way to the reception hall to wait while the family took pictures. This process took a little while because the bride’s father had the job of looking for the family members needed for each picture.
When a wedding doesn't have a coordinator, the running around falls on the next highest power possible. In this case it was the bride’s father who ran around finding people for pictures, talking with the bartenders about when to serve what and all the other jobs of a coordinator, instead of getting to enjoy his daughter’s wedding. However, the only reason I noticed him running around was because I was looking for it and the reason he was doing so was because of his love for his daughter.
This could not have been more evident than in the daddy daughter dance. As Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Cinderella” came on, he met his little girl in the middle of the floor and taking her hand, began to lead her in a dance so sweet that I was ugly crying by the time it was over. Tears welled up in his eyes as they twirled to the precious tune and upon turning, the bride’s face too was revealed. With soft tears streaming down her face, her expression was one of radiant joy, thankfulness and love. Before burying her head in his shoulder, she managed to get the words out, “I love you so much daddy.”
Photo: Shaie Williams
That’s when it hit me. Every girl wants to be Cinderella on her wedding day, but they forget a critical point of the story: Not even Cinderella had the perfect ball. She ran out early, lost a shoe, and I never even heard anything about a cake. Shoot, without the fairy godmother, who knows what would've happened. But when all is said and done, Cinderella’s ball was magical, she got the guy, and they lived happily ever after. In the same way, it's very unlikely your wedding will go off without some funny incident taking place, especially if you don’t have a fairy godmother there in the form of a wedding coordinator. But in the end, a wedding is so much more than a Pinterest board brought to life; it’s a celebration of lifelong commitment, happiness, and the incalculable amounts of love you have for one another.
https://www.wonderfullywed.com/post/brandon-and-mary Photos: All Heart Photography Team