wedding wednesday: his turn
I have a confession to make. I went out of order. Hubby actually said his vows first. One of his friends was kind enough to shoot a little video on her camera during the ceremony. There was a clip of each of our vows and I remembered that Hubby was trying to hold his paper and microphone when he started reading. Yeah, that wasn't gonna fly with me. First, I wouldn't have been able to coordinate it all. And second, that would mean we wouldn't be touching at all during the vows. Luckily, our religious figure grabbed the microphone and all was well.
A tip to folks out there who are writing their own vows... If you want your significant other to hear them for the first time during the ceremony (which we did), you may want to have a third party read them both beforehand. Pick someone you trust. Someone who will say, "Yeah, those didn't go together at all. This one was too short, that one was too funny, this one wasn't sappy enough." My Matron-of-Honor had the, uh, honor of reading them. She thought they went together fine and suited both of our personalities. Here are his:
"As an engineer, I'm always looking for the right combination of inputs that can lead to the best outcome. Finding the perfect qualities in a spouse for a long and happy life together is perhaps the most important decision I've had to make.
"In searching for my ideal wife, I was simply looking for a woman that was:
beautiful
intelligent
kind
delicate
artistic
caring
thoughtful
sensitive
young at heart
able to laugh at my jokes
fun to be with
...
I could go on, but you get the idea.
"I found that woman in you, cjh, a true gem. You have greatly enriched my life. So for you I developed the 4 C's. Cherish, Collaborate, Comfort, and Celebrate. These vows begin and end with cjh.
"Cherish. I vow to cherish my time on this earth with you and protect you all my life, forsaking all others, and putting you first in my life.
"Collaborate. I promise to collaborate with you, to work as a team and tackle all of life's challenges. I don't know what may lie ahead, but the challenge of busy work schedules, hurricanes and medical woes has not and will not keep us apart. We are stronger together and can surmount any difficulty.
"Comfort. Life can toss out many obstacles. I vow to support you and be the one to turn to for strength in the face of adversity, to console you and to lift you up. I want to assuage your suffering and provide support when needed.
"Celebrate. I will celebrate life with you. I know we will take advantage of all the opportunities available to us, including:
exploring new places together
meeting new people together
making new friends together
raising children together
raising pets and vegetables together
strengthening our relationship together
growing old together
and drinking in the riches of everyday life to the fullest with you.
"cjh, I will Cherish, Collaborate, Comfort and Celebrate life with you. These things I vow."
Huh. Those were good. First time I've read them since the day I heard them. Yeah, he's a keeper.
One funny note--Hubby is known for throwing out a big word or two every now and then. Matron-of-Honor noted that there was one word she had to double-check the meaning on. During the ceremony, when Hubby said "assuage" I turned around and looked at MoH and she nodded. Pretty funny. That's the sign of a good friend...inside jokes during your marriage vows.
We're almost done with the ceremony. I think there was something to do with rings and kissing...
(Pics by Monique Montoya.)
A tip to folks out there who are writing their own vows... If you want your significant other to hear them for the first time during the ceremony (which we did), you may want to have a third party read them both beforehand. Pick someone you trust. Someone who will say, "Yeah, those didn't go together at all. This one was too short, that one was too funny, this one wasn't sappy enough." My Matron-of-Honor had the, uh, honor of reading them. She thought they went together fine and suited both of our personalities. Here are his:
"As an engineer, I'm always looking for the right combination of inputs that can lead to the best outcome. Finding the perfect qualities in a spouse for a long and happy life together is perhaps the most important decision I've had to make.
"In searching for my ideal wife, I was simply looking for a woman that was:
beautiful
intelligent
kind
delicate
artistic
caring
thoughtful
sensitive
young at heart
able to laugh at my jokes
fun to be with
...
I could go on, but you get the idea.
"I found that woman in you, cjh, a true gem. You have greatly enriched my life. So for you I developed the 4 C's. Cherish, Collaborate, Comfort, and Celebrate. These vows begin and end with cjh.
"Cherish. I vow to cherish my time on this earth with you and protect you all my life, forsaking all others, and putting you first in my life.
"Collaborate. I promise to collaborate with you, to work as a team and tackle all of life's challenges. I don't know what may lie ahead, but the challenge of busy work schedules, hurricanes and medical woes has not and will not keep us apart. We are stronger together and can surmount any difficulty.
"Comfort. Life can toss out many obstacles. I vow to support you and be the one to turn to for strength in the face of adversity, to console you and to lift you up. I want to assuage your suffering and provide support when needed.
"Celebrate. I will celebrate life with you. I know we will take advantage of all the opportunities available to us, including:
exploring new places together
meeting new people together
making new friends together
raising children together
raising pets and vegetables together
strengthening our relationship together
growing old together
and drinking in the riches of everyday life to the fullest with you.
"cjh, I will Cherish, Collaborate, Comfort and Celebrate life with you. These things I vow."
Huh. Those were good. First time I've read them since the day I heard them. Yeah, he's a keeper.
One funny note--Hubby is known for throwing out a big word or two every now and then. Matron-of-Honor noted that there was one word she had to double-check the meaning on. During the ceremony, when Hubby said "assuage" I turned around and looked at MoH and she nodded. Pretty funny. That's the sign of a good friend...inside jokes during your marriage vows.
We're almost done with the ceremony. I think there was something to do with rings and kissing...
(Pics by Monique Montoya.)
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