a is for amor: wedding - the ceremony

i loved our ceremony so much. it was perfect for us and beyond what we could have ever imagined. it was personal and intimate and so full of love. as most wedding ceremonies are. we just happen to think it rocked because it was ours. one hour to profess our love. one hour to profess our commitment. one hour to give feet and a future to ten years together. one outstanding hour.

the gang of twenty-two

he's the cutest

and so is she

i mean, are these girls the best or what?

last moments as a bender family of five.

pondering love and life. or watching the street performers just beyond the window. not sure.

let's do this thing!

i still get butterflies in my stomach when i look at this image. partial nervous and partial omg can't wait!

i was so emotional at this moment.

our sisters read for us which meant the world!

a word about our priest, father hubert. divine intervention number three. we communicated with him via email for the months leading up the big day. he had way of putting us at ease from the moment we said, "hey, any chance you can make this thing a reality?" he was kind and patient and so laid back. we met him for the first time just seconds before walking down the aisle. i was in tears and nervous and anxious and just generally a wreck. he said, "do not hold back the tears. not once during this ceremony will you hold back the tears." he glanced over our documents saying we were legitimately ready to get married. when i asked if we needed a, b, and c document that we didn't have, he grabbed our hands and said, "do you love each other? do you want to spend the rest of your life with each other? that's all you need." from there, i truly knew this is where we needed to be. this was the man that needed to marry us. there was a universal/divine/godly purpose.
his homily was down right hilarious. he made personal connections like he had know us for years. we were all laughing and crying from the welcome to the kiss at the end. and then he took a selfie with us. yep. got his cell phone from the lectern and asked my sister to take our photo with him. when it was blurry, he decided to just take a selfie.
finally, before we walked out of the church, he grabbed both of our hands and said, "you two brought me so much peace today. thank you."

father hubert, we could never thank you enough for what you brought us. you were truly the presence of God that day. like my dad said on the drive back to resort, priesthood is a vocation for fr. hubert. it's not just a job. it is a divine purpose. thank you for blessing our lives on december 23 and every day we spend together thereafter.