Lemur L'amour: Husband & Wife

We were officially husband and wife! Now it was time to celebrate with our loved ones. Because of the way our venue was set up, it was as simple as walking to the end of the aisle and turning around. Then it was hugs all around.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

Ok, so maybe the guys went for more of a handshake.

I really love this next picture.

This one is especially touching, because I'm hugging my sister's boyfriend, who usually is not a hugger. In fact, after the hug he told me "Ok, that's your hug for the year." Definitely the most real hug I have ever gotten from him, and it was super special to me.

Next it was the mothers' turn.

We didn't have a formal receiving line, but we were able to greet a lot of our guests as they made their way to the tables. This was one of my favorite moments of the wedding. My pastor and his wife were thrilled for us.

This girl got married last weekend! I had the huge privilege of driving out to Philadelphia to see her and her soldier tie the knot.

This girl went secret ring shopping with me months before Mr. Lemur and I got engaged. Love her. Plus, her dress was fabulous.

People were starting to find their seats. It was almost time to eat! How did you transition from ceremony to reception? Did you do a receiving line?

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony, then we said I do.

Lemur L'amour: I Do

Our officiant warned Mr. Lemur one more time that this was his last chance to run...

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

Thankfully, he decided to stay.

We decided to use traditional vows—I honestly don't remember exactly what we said. We repeated after our officiant, and I think they went something like this.

Me (crying again): I, Miss Lemur, take you Mr. Lemur, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

Mr. Lemur: I, Mr. Lemur, take you Miss Lemur, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.

As I continued to fight back tears, we began to exchange rings.

The twenty-five dollar ring I bought for Mr. Lemur off Amazon slid on perfectly—and looked great!

We both had our rings on, so there was only one thing left to do...

Did you write your own vows or stick with traditional ones like we did?

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony.

Lemur L'amour: Love Never Fails

After my father walked me down the aisle, it was his turn to do a reading. Although our ceremony was not in a church, we wanted a way to express the importance of our faith, and we were able to do that through readings and a song. The first reading was from Ephesians 5.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—for we are members of his body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."

After my dad finished reading, my mom, Mr. Lemur's mom, and two of Mr. Lemur's sisters sang "O Wondrous Love," a song about the love of God. I still cry when I hear this song played because it reminds me of standing there with Mr. Lemur's arm around me listening to some of the most important women in my life sing about our faith.

O wondrous love that will not let me go 
I cling to You with all my strength and soul 
Yet if my hold should ever fail 
This wondrous love will never let me go

O wondrous love that rushes over me 
I can’t escape this river’s glorious flow 
You overwhelm my days with good 
Your wondrous love will never let me go

Finally, Mr. Lemur's dad read from I Corinthians 13, the chapter of the Bible commonly known as the love chapter.

"If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails."

Our officiant shared a few words of encouragement and admonition.

To which we apparently listened very intently.

And all too quickly, it was time for vows.

How did you choose readings for your wedding? What personal elements did you choose to include?

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle...

Lemur L'amour: Walking Down the Aisle

A tradition we hung onto was the seating of the grandparents and mothers. Although we didn't have "seating" for the ceremony—as in there we didn't have bride or groom sides—we did reserve the front row for family members and my sister's boyfriend and brother walked the our grandmothers and mothers down the aisle.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

My sister's boyfriend is a serious usher professional. Perfect form as he walked Mr. Lemur's mother down the aisle!

After the grandmothers and mothers were seated, it was time for my sisters and Mr. Lemur's brothers. We debated how to do this part, and ended up with just a quick casual walk down our very short aisle. Possibly the shortest aisle of all time. Within a few moments of the first chords of Canon in D, everyone was in the front except me.

My dad asked if I was ready to go and before I even knew it, I was walking down the aisle. I was completely blindsided by the fact that I started to cry. I was choking back tears for the eight steps down the aisle—maybe it's a good thing it wasn't longer!

None of that matters though, because I had this guy waiting for me at the other end.

Our officiant asked "Who gives this woman to this man?"

My dad answered "Her mother and I," and gave us a hug.

We were getting married!

What processional traditions did you hold on to? How did you do seating?

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony!

Lemur L'amour: It's Go Time

Pictures ended right on time around 10:30 and we started getting ready for the ceremony. The prelude started just minutes later, played by Mr. Lemur's two sisters and sister-in-law on the violin and viola and his father on the piano. They played a mix of classical music and modern hymns—I'm actually honestly not sure what all was played! A few months earlier, I had given my now father-in-law a list of song preferences and told him he could do whatever he wanted with the rest of the music. One less thing for me to worry about and of course it sounded fantastic.

All photos by Niki Marie Photography.

Guests started arriving. This picture is one of my favorite moments—my aunt meeting her sister's granddaughter for the first time. She's such a cutie!

I didn't follow the tradition of staying hidden until the ceremony began. Instead, I used the precious moments before the ceremony to greet guests and mingle with the our guests. I wouldn't have missed this time for the world.

As the time for the beginning of the ceremony got closer, I realized that almost everyone was there except for two families from my church back home who had made the 16 hour trek down to be there for the wedding. So we had two problems: 1. Each family has five kids for a total of ten children under the age of 12 entering the ceremony late and 2. The doors to enter the room were on either side of the front fireplace, which means there was no sneaking in to the ceremony late! My dad called them and discovered they were about fifteen minutes away.

To be honest, this is something you just have to be ok with if you choose to have a kid-friendly wedding. For me, there wasn't even a question. We would delay the start of the ceremony until they got there. It was important to me to have them there as we said our vows and I also didn't want the rest of our guests to be disturbed by commotion as they came in. Everyone seemed content sitting and chatting so we just hung out for another ten minutes.

Finally it was time to get in position. We gathered near the back and prepared for the shift from mingling to processional. Judging by my laugh, my sister's boyfriend was entertaining us while we waited.

Then, just as if we hadn't been waiting all day for this moment, it was go time.

Did you have any hiccups that delayed the start of the ceremony? What were your emotions leading up to the processional?

Also, check out this cute graphic Mrs. Armadillo made for me! Need to catch up?

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony!

Lemur L'amour: Everyone Together

I'm pretty sure our family pictures will be boring to most people, so how about we cruise through these? I do want to include them though as a tribute to both of our amazing families who traveled from all over the country—and world—to be with us!

All photos by Niki Marie Photography.

My parents—don't ask what tie my dad is wearing... I have no idea!

My family.

My family with spouses and boyfriends added—missing one—we don't fit!

My sweet grandparents!

Both sets of parents—this is one of my favorite of the family pictures.

Mr. Lemur's family is even larger than mine!

And last but not least, Mr. Lemur's grandparents.

I had given our photographer a list of the pictures I wanted, and she did an amazing job of getting all the groupings quickly and accurately. In less than fifteen minutes, we were done with pictures and people were arriving. The ceremony was about to start! Or so we thought...

Did you have family pictures at your wedding? Did they go quickly?

Lemur L'amour: Our Bridal Party

After finishing couples pictures, it was time for pictures with our bridal party—also known as four of our siblings! Miraculously, we were still on time and cruised through these pretty quickly.

I have the most gorgeous sisters in the world. We're one and a half years apart each and still get mistaken for being the same age—or asked who's oldest. I was so thrilled to have them standing next to me on my wedding day.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

Those ones are the serious posed ones. But these next ones are my favorite...

Then it was the guys' turn, while the girls went inside to get warm. Seriously. So cold. 

No guys, pose for real...

Better.

Awh. 

Then we headed up the hill to snap a few pictures of all of us together. See Mr. Lemur's youngest brother on the left and my oldest sister on the right? I don't have a single picture of both of them smiling together. I have several with my sister smiling and several with his brother smiling though...

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Right on schedule, we headed inside for family pictures in front of the huge fireplace.

Who did you have stand up with you on your wedding day?