Our Wedding Day - June 25 (Part Two)

The grandparents and mums and dads were seated, and then we had our pastor give a Gospel message. While Pastor Tom talked, the bridal party (except for Ryan and his best man) waited downstairs. We just talked and waited until we could go into sanctuary. This was probably the hardest part of the day. What was the funniest thing was when I was waiting, I got the exact same feeling that I got when I competed in gymnastics and was waiting for the judge to salute me before I started my floor routine. I would jump around in place until the judge saluted me. Then once I got on the floor and started, I was fine. It was the same thing. I wasn't nervous, I just wanted to get started. :)

Finally, we all headed up to the double doors that lead into the sanctuary. Everyone walked in to Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire...the bridesmaids and groomsmen, my sister (who was my maid of honor), and the flower girls and ring bearer. Then me and my Daddy walked in to Allegro Maestoso. I headed down the aisle to meet my groom with a huge smile on my face. :) I hugged my Daddy and then headed up the stairs with my soon-to-be-husband. One of our groomsman led everyone in singing my favorite song, In Christ Alone, and then another groomsman read 1 John 4:7-19 and Ephesians 5:21-33. 

Then our youth pastor (Aaron), who was one of Ryan's groomsmen, began the "officiating." He gave a challenge to me and Ryan, and then we exchanged our vows: 

I, Ryan/Melinda, take you, Ryan/Melinda, to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband, I vow to continue to love and serve the Lord Jesus, I vow before God and these witnesses, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

We gave each other our rings, saying "I give you this ring as a symbol of my unending love. With this ring, I thee wed."

Then we lighted the unity candles, which was the scariest part of the whole ceremony. ;) Our friends, the DeVries family, played and sang "I Will be Here" (Steven Curtis Chapman). They did a lovely job. :)

Then Aaron pronounced us husband and wife, and for the first time, we kissed!

Our Dads came up and prayed for us, and then Aaron introduced us to everyone as Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Anderson. :) As "Go, Cubs, Go" started playing, we skipped back down the aisle as husband and wife.

We came back in, and dismissed everyone by row so that we could at least say hello to everyone. As everyone left, they were given bubbles to blow at us when we walked out of the church.

We took some more pictures at church, and then headed over to the reception at Aurora Christian. My sister-in-law had decorated it beautifully with flower, streamers, ribbons, and vases.

We ate a few things, cut the cake, and listened to the Best Man speech and the Maid of Honor speech. We played a slideshow of our lives, and my Dad give a little speech. We took some more pictures, and I tossed a bouquet. The time flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to change and head off on our honeymoon. We said goodbye to our family and began our drive to the Smokey Mountains.

It was an absolutely wonderful and unforgettable day! We pray that the Lord was glorified as we began our life as husband and wife!