The Wedding
Kristy and Tom were married in a small ceremony at 5:30pm on Saturday, April 7 2007 at Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, in Oak Park Illinois.
We were attended by Tom’s sister Julie, the Best Woman, and by Kristy’s good friend Lura, who stepped in for her friend Joe when he was (for entirely legitimate, if sad reason) unable to be with us. Our good friend Aysha rounded out the party and also served as “puppy wrangler.” Musical selections were performed by CD, with assistance from my sister’s fiancé Andrew.
You can click on the program (above right) for more details.
In addition to the party as mentioned above, we had four people help us out with readings. You can find the text of our readings here.
We found some text online that we really loved and personalized it into the following declaration of intent, which preceded the readings:
And, knowing us, we of course had to write our own vows. Our officiant, Rev. Alan Taylor, helped us buff them up a little bit.
To be no other than yourself,
Loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know.
I promise you my love and my partnership for life.
I am honored to be here before you.
I want us to make a home together,
to grow old together,
and to make a difference in our world,
living consciously and deliberately,
surrounded by those we love.
I respect you as an individual, my partner and my equal.
I will support you and accept your support.
I will encourage you and tend your dreams.
I will celebrate your triumphs and mourn your losses.
I pledge to embrace your history, your family and your friends.
I promise to be tender with you when you’re troubled,
laugh with you when you’re funny,
and conspire with you when you’re mischievous.
I will always adore, honor and encourage you.
You are my best friend, and I will love you always.
Kristy found a tradition called “ringwarming” that we really liked–after we retrieved our wedding rings from the dogs, who were the cutest ringbearers you can imagine, we passed the rings around to all the people in attendance with the request that they think kind thoughts, etc. Although we had a slight bobble with the wording of the ring exchange during the ceremony, we quite like what we came up with:
Because I may need to be reminded of these things, I accept your offering.