You Make My Dreams Come True: The Recessional

Sorry to leave you guys hanging! Like I said, this is one of my favorite parts of the entire day. I had looked and looked (with help from BM S!) for a fun recessional song that isn’t overplayed or inappropriate to play in a church. When I played the song I found for David his face lit up and he totally agreed that it was the one. 

(You may want to turn your volume up for the first part and then back down after our kiss – The talking is pretty quiet and the music is pretty loud. Sorry!)

We walked back down the aisle to ‘You Make My Dreams Come True’ by Hall and Oates, thus the name of my recaps! It’s upbeat, fun, and still has cute lyrics! We planned a kiss in the middle of the aisle, and thankfully you can see it on the video because our photographer didn’t catch it.

 

 

 

Literally as we were lined up for the processional a couple members of the bridal party asked if they could dance back down the aisle. I’m all for dancing and having fun so I said of course! Some of them did, some of them didn’t, but it was so cute regardless!

 

 

 

GM J took the dancing part seriously – I loved it!

 

 

Then came our sweet flower girls racing/dancing back down the aisle. I had to include a video of this part too – I wish the quality was better, but you’ll just have to believe me that they were so stinking cute! You can see the younger one, A, dancing at the end.

Next our parents and my grandparents were ushered back down the aisle.

 

 

And that was it! Our ceremony that we had planned, personalized, and dreamed of for so long was really over.

*All pictures in this post were taken by Brandi Coldwell of Lola Jo Photo Design*  

Need to catch up?

We started on Thursday.

We decorated Friday morning.

We rehearsed.

We got pretty!

I put on my dress. 

We had our first look!

The guys had their turn.

The girls stole the show. 

We got some fun bridal party pictures. 

We took bride & groom portraits.

We took care of the formal portraits.

We took pictures with the kiddos.

We spent time hanging out waiting for the ceremony to start.

The grandparents and parents were seated.

It was finally time for the processional.

A step back to the playing of the slideshow.

The ceremony started. (Part 1)

The ceremony continued. (Part 2)

The ceremony ended. (Part 3)

You Make My Dreams Come True: The Processional

While the grandparents and our parents were being seated, the bridal party was getting lined up.

 

Finally it was time to really get the ceremony started. The song that I had known for over a couple years that we’d use for the processional started and everything became so real. Definitely play the song as you look through the pictures!

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First was GM J, David’s friend since kindergarten, and BM S, my friend and roomie from school

Next was GM J, one of David’s best friends since preschool, and BM M, one of my best friends from high school

GM M, my ‘little’ brother, and BM R, my older sister

 

They looked so cute in both I couldn’t choose – This is David’s best man K, his younger brother, and my MOH A, my best friend

 

David’s other best man, his older brother J, and my other MOH, my older sister A, along with our ring bearer who insisted on walking with his mom and carrying a soccer ball – Hey, at least it went with our colors :) 

Our Jr GM M, my nephew, and our Jr BM K, David’s younger sister – He looks a little solemn because his arm that she’s holding was broken. Poor kid fell off a rope swing the day before our wedding and no one realized how badly he was hurt (and he never said anything!) He was such a trooper for our pictures and ceremony!

 

And lastly, our flower girls R and A made it ran down the aisle

It was finally my turn. The music had been timed perfectly. The moment I’d imagined of my dad and I coming through the door right as the music swelled was perfect. He looked at me and asked if I was ready, I smiled and nodded and that was it! I was off to marry the man of my dreams and my best friend.

(Be sure to go to 3:47 in the song to get the full effect for these next few.)

 

I had hoped so badly that David would cry. I figured I’d be crying the whole way, but it wasn’t until I looked at him from down the aisle and saw him biting his lip and his shoulders shaking.. Tears welled up in my eyes and I realized how insanely special that moment was. It was the moment we’d waited years for and a moment we’d never get to relive. 

 

 

This was it - We were in front of all of our family and friends finally about to publicly make a promise that we'd already made to each other years before. We were minutes away from becoming husband and wife!

Tip # 11: Go with the flow. Your ring bearer wants to walk down the aisle with your MOH and then screams when he can't follow her up to her spot? Oh well. He's adorable and no one will remember that with all of the other beautiful, touching parts of your day.

*All pictures in this post were taken by Brandi Coldwell of Lola Jo Photo Design* 

Need to catch up?

We started on Thursday.

We decorated Friday morning.

We rehearsed.

We got pretty!

I put on my dress. 

We had our first look!

The guys had their turn.

The girls stole the show. 

We got some fun bridal party pictures. 

We took bride & groom portraits.

We took care of the formal portraits.

We took pictures with the kiddos.

We spent time hanging out waiting for the ceremony to start.

The grandparents and parents were seated.

We've Reached a Decision

Well, it was actually more me, but ceremony music hasn't been one of the things David is too interested in. While my mom was here over the weekend we went through my song choices and I decided on almost all of the ceremony music (with the exception of the recessional). It's such a relief to have it done! I can hopefully start working on designing our programs now that it's finished.

We'll have music playing for about 30 minutes before the ceremony starts and we'll have a few of our songs in our slideshow, but I've already blogged about the majority of those.

For the seating of my grandparents (unfortunately David's have all passed away) and our relatives we'll play 'Canon in D'. I've always loved it, and I really wanted the song for our family to be something familiar that they'd recognize. 

For the seating of our parents and our moms' lighting of the unity candle, we'll be playing 'Love Never Fails' by Brandon Heath:

 

And then the bridal party (and me at the end!) will enter to 'Kisses and Cake' by John Powell:

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Right after our vows we'll light the unity candle, so I thought 'When I Say I Do' by Matthew West would be perfect here. The lyrics fit so well:

 

And as we (possibly) take communion and when we give the roses to our moms, our friends will sing 'The Luckiest':

 

The only thing left to figure out is the recessional, and I just can't decide on anything! I want something along the lines of 'Beautiful Day' by U2 or 'Love is Never Ending' by Brad Paisley - Both meaningful, beautiful songs. I'd just like it start out a little more upbeat. Anyone have any suggestions of songs that would fit the 'feel' of the other songs we've chosen??

How did you decide on your ceremony music? Was it a relief when it was chosen?

The Luckiest

I know I've mentioned a couple times that David and I are having 'The Luckiest' by Ben Folds sung during our ceremony. And I might have even mentioned that two of our good friends, Mikayla and Cooper, from high school will be the ones singing it. But I've got to give you guys more details than that - These two are incredible!

First and foremost, they're awesome people and great friends. 

They've also been playing together for years. Originally, it was for praise and worship in middle school, and then for praise and worship in high school.

Getting ready to play together on our senior trip

Now they play shows together whenever they're in the same city! Mikayla is actually in Nashville right now.

 

At a show last winter

And it doesn't hurt that they're both incredibly talented! Both are amazing guitarists, and Mikayla also plays the piano.

 

  

I can't find any recordings of Cooper's, but Mikayla has a myspace account with several of her songs that she wrote herself. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to embed any of the tracks here, so you'll have to follow the link to check her out, and then imagine her singing this song along with Cooper: 

I know it's going to be absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait to share the recording of it with you when I do my recaps! It's wonderful having such talented friends that will be making our day even more special.

Are you incorporating any of your friends' special talents?

When I Say I Do

Music is so powerful. There are certain songs that bring tears to my eyes every single time I hear them. I recently found the song "When I Say I Do" by Matthew West and it's definitely one of those songs. It would be so perfect to use at some point during our ceremony. You must listen: 

We're already using "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds (sung by two of our amazingly talented high school friends - more on that soon!) during the lighting of the unity candle, but I'd really like to incorporate this song somehow. How many songs are reasonable? And what would we do while it was being played? Help me out here!

Do you have special songs you're incorporating into your ceremony? What are they? And what are you going to be doing while they're sung/played?

I Will Be Here

Tonight I was talking to my mom about the music choices I blogged about and she had a couple additional requests:

Her first request was that we'd include a hymn somehow because my grandma loves them. I grew up in the Lutheran church, so I have a special fondness for them, too. I have quite a few 'favorites' so we'll definitely find a way to incorporate one of them somehow.

Her other request was so sweet. She said, "I have one more request. Remember the song I Will Be There? During the reception would be ok, but I would be happy if you could add it. I just think it is exactly how your marriage will be." Listen to/read the lyrics of this song, and you'll realize was a compliment that is:


source
I Will Be Here - Steven Curtis Chapman

In case you don't have time to watch and listen, I'll include the lyrics as well:

Tomorrow morning if you wake up
and the sun does not appear
I will be here
If in the dark, we lose sight of love
Hold my hand, and have no fear
'Cause I will be here

I will be here
When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind
I will listen
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to cryin'
Through the winning, losing and trying
We'll be together
I will be here

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I will be here
Just as sure as seasons were made for change
Our lifetimes were made for these years
So I will be here

I will be here
And you can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we're older
I will hold you
And I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here

I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the sun does not appear
I will be here
Oh, I will be here

I love it! I can't wait to find a way to include it as well. Thank you so much, Mom, for having always believed in me and for now believing in us. We both love you!

Did/will anyone have any special requests for your music selections?

Music... Makes the People... Come Together

Ha, sorry for the title - That's always the first song that pops into my head when I think of the word 'music.' Having seen posts here and here that talked about music ideas, I decided maybe I should post the music choices we've decided on for our ceremony. *That second post, on Random Reflections of a Perfectionist, is actually David and I's song and has been for the last several years! You might remember it from the DVD I made for his birthday in my slideshow post!*

I like to think our ceremony is going to be pretty traditional, although we're definitely incorporating details that will make it totally "us." Our faith is a big part of our relationship and of our lives in general, so we knew we wanted our ceremony to reflect that. My attempt at describing the feel for it is: a mix of traditional and contemporary with personal elements that will reflect our love for each other and our love for God, who is the reason we’re together.

Our music choices are definitely more contemporary choices. I'm not 100% sure about what song will be used for the seating of our parents and (my) grandparents, but it will be one of the only traditional songs we'll use and I'm leaning towards Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring:



The processional is by FAR the song I'm most excited about. All of my girl friends, my mom, and David have known for a long time what song I'd be using. (A few of them even have it on their iPods! How cute is that?!) It still gives me goosebumps every time I hear the part where I'll start walking down the aisle. The song is Kisses and Cake by John Powell:

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The bridal party will walk to the first few minutes of it, and then the doors will open and I'll come in right as the music swells at 3:47. :) That is hands down one of the parts of the day I'm most looking forward to!

We're having two of our good friends from high school sing The Luckiest by Ben Folds, as well. They're both incredibly talented and have grown up with us, so I'm so glad they'll be playing a part in our big day.



I'd really like to incorporate the song Your Love is Extravagant by Casting Crowns, but I'm not quite sure yet how. It's a beautiful song, though!



There are several songs that I LOVE and will be deciding between for our slideshow. One is True Companion by Marc Cohn, which is the song that I linked to above in Katie's post. A few more are:

Love is Never Ending by Brad Paisley:


Then by Brad Paisley:


I Have and I Always Will by Dave Barnes:
*I have no idea who these people are, but this was the only recording I could find of the song that wasn't a cover*


There are a few others, but I think any more options might be a bit overwhelming. As for our recessional, we have a couple ideas, but can't decide which we like more!

Everything by Michael Buble:
*Ignore the video part - ha*


What a Beautiful Day by Chris Cagle:


So many options! What do you think? I know it's a little overwhelming, so if you don't have time to listen to 10 songs (which is totally understandable), be sure to listen to Kisses and Cake - It's the most important. :) If nothing else, I hope it serves as inspiration for someone out there!

Were your music choices easy? Did you have a special song that you (and everyone else) knew you'd be walking down the aisle to?