Well, here it is, kids! THE ACTUAL WEDDING! Since this was the most important part of the day, please excuse for the gratuitous amount of photos (by Rochelle Mort, obviously!). After we had our first look, we took photos with our families, and then I went back to the bridal suite and took some pics with just us girls. We then sat around, chatted, and drank champagne. Tory’s dad stopped by to give me a hug. We tried to console Jocelyn with peppermints after she took a face plant.
This is what the guests saw when they entered. The ceremony area:
The ceremony programs that we labored over:
And then…..it was time! Please note, I have no idea what time it actually was. I have asked several people after that day: “did we start on time?” Seriously you will probably lose your inner clock (not that I ever had one) on your wedding day. I still don’t know what time the wedding started.
Here we are walking up toward the Ceremony Gardens at Newcastle Wedding Gardens (a gorgeous wedding venue if you’re looking in the Sacramento area!).
The guys, including Tory came out to ‘The Long and Winding Road‘ by the Beatles.
His parents were seated…
Next it was the ladies, who walked to ‘Something‘. We had a bit of a Beatles theme throughout the day, in case you were wondering. Tory and I actually bonded over the Beatles back in the day, way before we started dating, when we both worked at Safeway. He was amazed that I knew the lyrics to Don’t Pass Me By from The White Album.
First came Tory’s sister Jessica, and her daughter, Jocelyn (this photo was taken by family friend, Jennifer Bishop):
You can really see poor Jocelyn’s banged up chin (she tripped on a paver and fell face first onto another) in this photo:
This is my lovely seester, Liz, who came all the way from Mississippi!
And my Maid of Honor, Sandra, who came all the way from Germany! (Well, originally, anyway).
I was so freaking excited waiting to walk down the aisle with my mama! I was just brimming with joy and every other emotion that you can think of, I could hardly stand it. Right before we started walking, my mom looked at me and said “Erica, you are the most beautiful thing that I have ever seen.”
And then, I heard my jam. Surprisingly NOT a Beatles song; it was Coldplay’s ‘Till Kingdom Come‘. If you’ve never heard this song; even if you don’t consider yourself a Coldplay fan, do yourself a favor and listen to it. It’s beautiful.
We both had a hard time holding back the tears as we walked down the aisle. It was so amazing to see all of those loving and supportive faces there. And of course, the most wonderful man in the world was waiting for me at the end of the aisle. Wow.
We included a rose exchange in our ceremony. Tory presented a white rose to my mom, and I gave one to his mom as a token of gratitude for their love and commitment, and to symbolize our two families becoming one.
Tory and I worked with Judge Tom Cecil on our cermony and vows. We wrote the vows ourselves. Tory went first.
I’ll never forget the first time I kissed you. The world held still for that brief second when our lips first touched. Little did we know that it wasn’t the world stopping; it was our lives unlocking. Our hearts and minds opening to a flood of each other’s being. You could say that was a life-changing event. Life-changing in ways I never thought would change. You have opened my life to things I never thought possible. It allowed me, perhaps, to believe in someone utterly completely for the first time in my life.
The time between then and now has been like a beautiful sculpture. It started out simply as a thing. But slowly it has grown and taken shape. More and more it transforms from a piece of rock into something that has meaning. It begins to take its shape a little more. Each moment I spend loving you is like a flake of marble. It’s one tiny piece of something bigger. And each day the sculpture becomes a little more detailed, a little clearer. Today is a little different, because the sculpture has a little more detail than it has in all the days before. It has been made with blood, sweat and tears; with love and loss; and it is duty neither of us can accomplish singularly. It’s going to take a tremendous amount of hard work to finish it.
But today is not for working; today is for promises. Today I pledge myself to you fully. I promise to provide for you everything you deserve as my wife. I promise to honor your family as my family. I promise to love you unconditionally as long as I live. But finally, and most importantly, I promise to finish the sculpture. With you.
And then I read mine.
It was very emotional and I had a hard time getting words out between sobs, but I somehow I managed.
Tory, I love you. In you I have found my equal, my partner and my best friend. You have brought so much joy and laughter to my life, and from this day forward you shall not walk alone.
I cherish and respect the person you are today, and the person you will become. I promise to be a true and loyal companion to you as we experience both the happiness and sorrow of life together. May my heart always be your shelter and my arms be your home. May you feel deeply loved, for indeed you are.
I will support your dreams, and stand beside you offering encouragement and strength when you need it most. Tory, my love for you is pure and unshakeable, and I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life.
And here I am drying my happy tears…you’ll notice that Tory is laughing at me 
Meanwhile, the flowers (by Martha Andrews) were providing a gorgeous backdrop:
And so were these girls…
Getting ready to exchange our rings.
We had a ring bowl made by Paloma’s Nest that had our ring vows inscribed:
With all that I am
With all that I will become
With this ring, I marry you.
We exchanged rings.
I had a hard time getting Tory’s on.
And then our lovely cousin, Marisa did a reading for us.
It was Edward Monkton’s A Lovely Love Story. It’s a wonderful, whimsical children’s book and love story.
The fierce Dinosaur was trapped inside his cage of ice. Although it was cold he was happy in there. It was, after all, his cage.
Then along came the Lovely Other Dinosaur. The Lovely Other Dinosaur melted the Dinosaur’s cage with kind words and loving thoughts.
I like this Dinosaur thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. Although he is fierce he is also tender and he is funny. He is also quite clever though I will not tell him this for now.
I like this Lovely Other Dinosaur, thought the Dinosaur. She is beautiful and she is different and she smells so nice. She is also a free spirit which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.
But he can be so distant and so peculiar at times, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. He is also overly fond of things. Are all Dinosaurs so overly fond of things?
But her mind skips from here to there so quickly thought the Dinosaur. She is also uncommonly keen on shopping. Are all Lovely Other Dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on shopping?
I will forgive his peculiarity and his concern for things, thought the Lovely Other Dinosaur. For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.
I will forgive her skipping mind and her fondness for shopping, thought the Dinosaur. For she fills our life with beautiful thoughts and wonderful surprises. Besides, I am not unkeen on shopping either.
Now the Dinosaur and the Lovely Other Dinosaur are old. Look at them. Together they stand on the hill telling each other stories and feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.
And that, my friends, is how it is with love. Let us all be Dinosaurs and Lovely Other Dinosaurs together. For the sun is warm. And the world is a beautiful place.
And then we kissed.
And then we were married!
Unbelievable, huh?
