After we had finished up taking [intlink id=”6419″ type=”post”]portraits[/intlink], everyone, including Charlie, got ready to walk down the aisle!  The Atlanta Woman’s Club had an upstairs room for dressing, which was very useful.  Charlie, our best man, our officiant, our honor attendant, the hubby and I all waited there while our guests arrived.  I’m very much in love with this photo of Charlie in his bow tie!

charlie getting ready
{Jessica Claire}

I’m waiting to walk down the aisle in these shots.  They are some of my favorite because you can see some of the most beautiful elements of our venue – the beautiful staircase and the chandeliers.  The dress is Melody by Peter Langner.

atlanta womans club weddingwimbish house wedding
{Michael Norwood}

vintage-wedding-bride
{Michael Norwood}

We lined the aisles with 18″ pillar candle holders, purchased from Michael’s.  Big thanks to my mother who collected Michael’s 40% off coupons each week and scouted these out!

candles-in-aisle-wedding
{Jessica Claire}

Detail of the ceremony arch.  Side note: I actually didn’t like my arch – the fabric was very white, the flowers too tightly clustered and there weren’t any flowers cascading down the sides of the arch as I had wanted.  The ballroom at the Woman’s Club was so naturally beautiful that if we hadn’t needed the screen you see on the wall I probably would not have used an arch or other structure for the ceremony, which would have been a big budget saver.  It goes to show you can’t control everything, no matter how hard you try!

floral arch detail
{That Wife}

The order in which we walked down was: Officiant, Best Man, Hubby, Charlie, Honor Attendant, then myself.  You’ve already read a little bit about my [intlink id=”5672″ type=”post”]ceremony music[/intlink] in this post.  The men (including Charlie) walked down the aisle to Jeff Buckley’s version of Hallelujah, and my sister and I walked down to Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.  Both were performed by our acoustic guitarist, Ches Eaton.

dog ring bearer
{Jessica Claire}

I stopped halfway down the aisle to give Charlie a little kiss.  :)  This is a favorite photo for lots of reasons.  Love the lighting, the expression on L’s face, my shoes peeking out, just everything.

walking down aisle
{Jessica Claire}

Speaking of things I love… SUPER big thanks goes to Simply Cinematic for compiling this awesome video of Charlie for us.  You can see a little bit more of his mad dash down the aisle to see his daddy.  :)

atlanta-womans-club-wedding-ceremony
{Michael Norwood}

wimbish-house-wedding-ceremony
{Michael Norwood}

As Julia pointed out recently, I haven’t ever mentioned WHY we decided to renew our vows.  Well, in short order, we were married very young by a Justice of the Peace.  We were wild, spontaneous, and impulsive.  :)  But over the years, going to all of our friends’ weddings, we continued to be sad that we never properly celebrated with our friends and family.  So… after a lot of deliberation, we decided to hold a ceremony on our 10th anniversary.  Planning it was one of my favorite life experiences and it meant the world to us to have everyone who was near and dear to us there.

acf3de2
{Jessica Claire}

I’ve included the text of our ceremony here, in case you are writing yours and it gives you any inspiration!

—————————————————————–

Welcome friends and family. Spending the last and first moments of each year with their closest friends is a tradition that is very important to S. and A., and they are honored that you are all here tonight to witness the renewal of their marriage vows and celebrate the beginning of a new year. Each of you plays a special part in their lives and without your love and support they would not have grown into the couple that stands before you today.

S. and A. have chosen to have two loved ones read excerpts that are representative of their relationship.

{First reading – an excerpt from A Farewell to Arms}
{Second reading – an excerpt from The Velveteen Rabbit}

S. and A., do you promise to continue to:

Appreciate and respect each other
Encourage and support each other
and
Love and protect each other

{“We do”}

A marriage is not created in one day, or in ten years. It is an evolving entity that must be carefully guarded. Do you promise to continue to:

Grow and change together
Recognize that love is about giving and receiving of yourself
and
Hold to your relationship with each other above all else

{“We do”}

May you always find happiness and contentment with one another, and never forget how you feel at this moment. S. – you may kiss your wife!

—————————————————————–

We grabbed Charlie on the way out.  Here’s our little family!

wimbish house wedding ceremony atlanta
{Jessica Claire}

The programs were a fun and easy DIY project.  I made the booklets using the same method and materials as the Area Information booklets in my RSVP packets {click here for instructions} and the final size was 6×8″.  The “La Ceremonie” was written by Laura Hooper and goccoed onto the front of the booklet using the Gocco hand stamp kit.

ceremony-programs-on-chair
{Jessica Claire}

In the program, I included:

* a note from the hubby and I to our guests
* the order of the ceremony
* the music choices and order
* text of the readings
* text of the music
* a request for no flash photography and for the guests to remain seated for the full processional

All of the headings of the pages were in French, echoing our subtle theme.  I included our full program PDF here if you are interested (I hope that all of the fonts, etc show up correctly!).

Any questions?  Anything I left out or that you want to hear more about?

PS – Later this week, my favorite part of the event – the cocktail hour.