What Did You Do This Weekend? Oh, You Know, Got Married!

After six years together, Wilhelm Van Luyn and I got married in my parent's garden today. My friend Dara (whom I've known since the 1st grade) officiated the inter-faith ceremony. My best friend, Mint, was my Matron of Honor and Wil's brother, Dan, was his Best Man. It was very small, mainly family and a few of our close friends. I am happy to report that my entire family are now Fader-Van Luyns!

Before we got to the main event, we had to get ready first:

Here's Cordy doing my hair, and Ari helping. Donna was stuck in traffic with vegan

wedding cupcakes, but when she got there she finished flat ironing and curling my hair. She also did a killer job on my make-up.

I would like take a moment to thank Uncle Mike AKA "The Baby Whisperer" who held, fed, and calmed Samara before and during the ceremony.

Francesca was our flower girl, and Ari was our ring bearer. This was his second time doing the job, the first go-around was at Mint and Mike's wedding. He did a great job this time. He handed the rings directly to Mint.

**Edit Wil tells me that Ari did NOT hand the rings to Mint, but rather dropped them on the grass and Uncle Dan had to retrieve them. WHOOPS! Guess I wasn't paying attention!

My dad "gave me away" while my mom, my brother and my uncles held the chuppah.

Wil and I each lit a unity candle. While we were lighting the candles, Ari got his hands on the matches and started playing with them. Thankfully, Uncle Dan stopped him before he burned down the house.

Then we read our vows. Donna sent me these "vow libs" to fill out. They were really helpful! Essentially you just fill in the blanks (like in mad libs) and create your vows! I thought I was prepared, but when Wil took out his vows and began to speak, he almost made me cry. He's usually not very loquacious, but his vows were so honest and real. When the ceremony was over, I told him that his vows blew my vows out of the water.

We exchanged rings:

We were almost married...

Then it was official!

We're married! YAY!