Porcupines Pick Their Person- The Ceremony Begins!

*All photos copyright of Klose Photography

We lined up in our reception area as the ceremony was about to begin. As we all lined up I suddenly felt the desire to heave up my guts. I had an intense sensation of panic from the realization that everyone was going to be staring at me. It kind of freaked me out, especially since I had never been the girl who thought about her wedding. I then realized I was still wearing my engagement ring which is a no-no for a Jewish ceremony, since wedding bands are supposed to be simple and unbroken by any stones. I tossed it to my mom who put it on her own finger to hold for me, and I snapped out of my moment of insanity.

I kept it simple and had everyone, except me, walk in with the traditional, simple Pachelbel Canon in D.

 Our Rabbi and Canor came down first 

 Mr. P came down next with his parents

Our 14-person bridal party made their way slowly but surely 

I love the different blues coming down the aisle

Our adorable ring bearer and "feather girls" (they dropped peacock feathers instead of flower petals) made their way down like champs

They got some laughs when they came to the end in slight confusion on where to go next

The quartet changed up the music for my walk down the aisle. "Hey there, Delilah," a favorite of Mr. P.'s from the early days of our relationship.

 

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look 
• We take the formal pics 
• We get signed, sealed, delivered

Porcupines Pick Their Person- Signed, Sealed, Delivered

*All photos by Klose Photography 

After our formal shots we moved into a side room to sign the ketubah. A ketubah is, in essence, a Jewish marriage contract. It is the religious equivalent of a state's marriage license.

We just had our parents, the Rabbi, and my sister and Mr. P's brother who would be the ones to sign our ketubah in the room. Our Rabbi spoke a little, read through our ketubah in both English and Hebrew, and then we got to the signing.

You are my best friend, my hopes and future, my strength, my soul mate. Standing proudly beside you, in your eyes I see my love, and in your heart I see my dreams, and in our promise I see a union, true and steadfast, uniquely devoted to compassion, kindness and sincerity.”
- A piece of our Ketubah text via Ketubah.com

Our parents watched on as the Rabbi spoke of the meaning of marriage. 

 I have no idea why I'm laughing- maybe at our awesome peacock pen that Bridesmaid Kitty got us

After our Rabbi signed the Ketubah we were technically, sorta, kinda officially married

We took this time to also have our PA marriage license signed, which oddly does not ask for any witnesses to sign.

 

After we were signed, sealed, delivered it was time to line up for the ceremony. Our guests starting milling in, and signed some corks (our guestbook) as they took their seats.

 

I'm pretty sure I was hallucinating with some of that comma placement (don't judge- I had a monster zit pre-occupying me)

Did you have everything signed and ready to go before your ceremony? Or, did you have to squeeze in time for it afterward?

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look 
• We take the formal pics

Porcupines Pick Their Person- The Formal Shots

*All pictures by Klose Photography

It never rained, but it ended up being pretty cold the day of our wedding. This was after weeks of extremely mild temperature in March. It only presented a problem for picture taking with the limited space for everyone in the farmhouse to pose. I didn’t want all our pictures inside, but I also didn’t want my bridesmaids to turn blue. At the last minute my bridesmaids and I coordinated purchasing gray pashminas. I even brought along my own, but never ended up wearing it. Even though it was  chilly, after having the most annoying stomach ailment ever on no sleep, the brisk air was kind of necessary for me to live.

There is something about that weird overcast light that makes the sky look extremely bright. Our photographer even commented on how great pictures come out in this type of light, and they really did! I am sort of glad it wasn’t perfectly sunny. Sunny skies tend to wash me out completely since I am so pale. I don't need any extra light to remind me that my skin is partially translucent.

For family shots we moved it inside. Everyone was gathered in a small side room and took their turn stepping into shots. I can't even lie when I say that this is usually the part of recaps that I tend to skim. (No offense!!) So, I've picked just a few key shots.

 My parents and my sister

Mr. P's parents, brother & sister-in-law with their brand spankin' new baby making the best face ever

 

Best Man & Maid of Honor

My maternal grandparents who made the trip in the grandparent caravan from Brooklyn

(My dad drove all the grandparents, my sister, and her boyfriend in a mini van to the wedding)

My parents, sister, and 91-year-old grandma who danced the night away (legit)! 

I hope I inherited some of those genes!

 

Mr. P's grandma with all the grandkids (one being a GREAT-grandkid)

 

And, just because this may be my favorite picture of the wedding...

Our ring-bearer, Mr. P's cousin, one of the funniest, sweetest kids I know

I feel like the formal pictures flew on by. In honesty, I look back and realize there were a few shots we missed. Certain people milled in and out at different times. Some people were too late, too early, and time seemed to get away from us. Before we knew it, it was time to sign the ketubah so we could get the ceremony started on time.

The first few days after the wedding I was upset that I missed grabbing certain people for pictures, but in hindsight you can never have every single picture that you want. Being so caught up in the moment, taking pictures for hours, you're not thinking about all the pictures you want to take because you feel like you've already been posing for hours (and kind of really are). What matters is getting the shots that really matter, because there's only so many you can ever develop. There's only so many that can fit into a photo album.

Did you feel like you missed a few pictures on your wedding day? Are you worried about this happening at your wedding?

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look

Porcupines Pick Their Person - the Surreal First Look!

*All photography is by Klose Photography

Our first look wasn’t something I spent too much time planning. I remember thinking it would be cool to look over the banister of the balcony and have Mr. P look-up. So, that’s what we did…

 And, yes I waved. I like waving.

I can honestly say I have little to no memory of what was going on in my head at that moment. It was something like, “oh, weird. This is our first look.”

“Oh, weird, I am legit about to get married”

"Oh, lookie at my dress!"

I love this photo because you can see everyone looking out from the window, and our Suri Cruise look alike flower girl (Mr. P's cousin) watching on

Then it was off for our glamour shots. 

Did your first look feel surreal?

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed

Porcupines Pick Their Person- We Get Prepped to Wed!

*All photography copyright of Klose Photography, unless otherwise noted

First off, thanks for all the kind words about my plight the morning of our wedding. Luckily, I’m sort of used to gross stomach situations. I was that kid who always had a belly ache- and I guess, I still AM that kid. So, really, it sucked and I hated my life a bit, but I moved on and was able to have a wonderful wedding day.

When we got to the venue I wanted to jump into picture taking right away. One issue- there were no flowers! The flowers wouldn’t arrive for another hour (a slight timing snafu), and I spent most of that time freaking out that the florist wasn’t coming. But, thankfully, the flowers came and all was fine. While we waited for the flowers my awesomely punctual photographer got right to work.

Bridesmaid Kitty helping to zip me up

Curious flower girls

Many questions about my blue peacock shoes

*Photo courtesy of Bridesmaid Blondey

The girls waiting patiently, resting their very uncomfortable feet 

(Thanks for being champs with those heels!)

The guys have it so easy!

 Mr. P's grandma made these yamulkes by hand for all the groomsmen and immediate family
  

Finally, the flowers came, and it was time for a few more shots before the first look and formal pictures to begin.

 You don't even want to know how much we spent on umbrellas 

(and it didn't rain, but I had to get my umbrella shot!)

Were you a missing a vendor when you got to to your venue? 

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!