Wedding Day Part Two: The Ceremony

Now, where was I? Oh right. We were pulling into the chapel and my hands were sweating and my heart was racing.
As the limo came to a stop in front of the chapel, Tenie told me that the groom and his party were standing outside on the steps of the historical chapel. Mr. K's sister was looking for her husband and two kids as they were standing up for us as well. My dad hopped out of the limo-I think he was a bit nervous-and Tenie went to look for the two little ones. We were informed that the flower girl and ring barer were not there yet and were probably caught on the bridge crossing from the States to Canada. That didn't make my racing heart situation any better. It was only 4:15 though and the ceremony was not scheduled to start until 4:30 so we had some time. As we waited Tenie, who had jumped back in, told me about the different guests trickling in. Eventually the ring barer and flower girl did arrive with their Grandma, Mr. K's mom, and the little flower girl was lifted up into the limo with us. She was wearing a little white dress with lacy gloves that went to her wrists. We had an extra jewelry set as one of our bride's maids had dropped off of the face of the planet a few months back and she wore that as well. She was absolutely precious. We waited a few more minutes to ensure all of the guests were present and then, at 4:35,  one of the groom's men shouted up that they were heading in. Hence the girls began unloading and I was carefully stuffed through the vehicle's door. As my five inch heels touched the damp pavement below, the sun poked out in full force and we all cheered. At least it would be sunny for the pictures after the ceremony.
The seven of us-three bride's maids, one maid of honour, one flower girl, one ring barer and one bride-made our way up the chapel steps, Tenie and Carmen carefully guiding me and my gigantic dress through the door. As we entered we realised that S had already started singing the girls' song and Tenie had just enough time to unbustle me and hand me off to my dad before she too had to race down the aisle. We had a bit of a rough start with the ring barer not wanting to go up the aisle and although I'm not exactly sure how the rings arrived up at the front, I do know they got there and Mr. K's other sister rushed him back out the doors in order to keep his crying from interrupting the ceremony. S did a wonderful job of singing "What a Wonderful World" as the girls walked up the old chapel's aisle. We had decorated the intricately carved pews with pew bows that had orange Gerber daisies and dragonflies glued to them. Purple and white ribbons held the bows on.
When Tenie reached the front of the chapel S switched songs and our friend pounded out the first few chords of "At Last" on the keyboard. I heard everyone stand up and realised that they were standing for me. I had completely forgotten about this tradition.  S began singing and after waiting for the first verse to close, my dad and I stepped out of the little foyer into the chapel.
I don't really remember much about the walk, just that I kept smiling and that my old swim coach said quite loudly,
"Atta girl." As I walked by. That made me smile even bigger. I carried my bouquet of three Gerbers and some kind of grass stuff in my right hand, the purple ribbons blowing slightly as I moved. My dad walked on my left. Originally I had thought I would have Glacier be a part of our ceremony, but he only listens to me and with the giant dress there is no way I would have been able to keep him under control.
As my foot hit the top of the three steps at the front of the chapel, S sang out a line about being in Heaven and everything seemed right. Dad handed me off and left by giving me a kiss on the cheek. He told me later that up until that moment he was fine, but that kiss made him a bit teary.
Mr. K's friend officiated our ceremony. He did a fabulous job. I won't relay the service word for word. For one thing it would be quite long to write and for another I can't remember everything perfectly. I do remember I was shaking like a leaf and even though I had practised my vows that I had written, when it came to my turn to speak, everything flew out of my mind and I mumbled something about our relationship being unique, that I was thankful for Mr. K and his willingness to help me follow my dreams, that I wanted to support him in his journey through life and that I loved him.
Mr. K went next and when he was done there was not a dry eye in the house. He got choked up and told everyone that he was thankful he had gone blind because if he hadn't, he would have never met me. Our officiator took our hands and put them together and Mr. K realised just how badly I was shaking. Our friend began playing the keyboard again. A table was placed between us and we poured our two different coloured sands-orange for Mr. K and purple for me-and then the table was removed. I was impressed at Tenie's sneaky repositioning of my train so I could move to allow the table to be put between us and how easily she took my bouquet out of my hand as I reached it back to her. We hadn't even practised or talked about that, but I guess when you've been friends for over twenty years you just know what is needed.
As the song continued to softly ring through the chapel, the officiator read a Native Canadian blessing. It's called a blessing, but it is quite neutral and just talks of how we have each other now and that life from now on is about working together. It was beautiful and ended perfectly with the piece our friend had been playing. We exchanged rings and despite me having to jam Mr. K's over his knuckle, it went smoothly.  The officiator closed by telling us we could finally kiss and Mr. K finally caught a glimpse of my dress when he put his arms around me; albeit just the back. :) We were announced and everyone cheered and stood up. I heard my swim coach use his oh so familiar whistle and I couldn't help but grin again. Our little party walked out to S singing "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" and Mr. K and I waited just inside the front doors to greet everyone as they left the chapel. We held hands and Mr. K commented on how he thought I was going to fall over I had been shaking so badly. Everyone leaving hugged us both and told us how great the ceremony was. There was just the right amount of humour and seriousnes and it was short and to the point.
When our officiator had asked me,
"Do you take this man to be your husband?"
I had replied "I do, for the second time."
When were announced for the first time, the officiator made it sound like he was announcing a Royal Rumble.
There were Mr. K's beautiful vows and the blessing to balance it all out.
All in all it was beautiful and I couldn't have asked for anything more.
The photos were taken outside of the chapel with the sun shining and our bouquets ribbons blowing in a light breeze. We posed for many pictures and even got one of Mr. K holding his banjo standing beside me. At one point  my pencil heels did sink into the soft ground and everyone rushed to catch me as they thought I was falling, but I reassured them that I was just getting more firmly anchored.
After my uncle was satisfied with all of the pictures, we piled into the limo where Tenie slid in first and helped me in, Carmen stuffing my dress in behind me. Everyone else climbed in and we were off with most of the wedding party partaking in the home made wine that was waiting for us. I refrained because knowing my luck, I would have spilled all down the front of me. We arrived at the Portuguese Hall in style and mingled around outside waiting for the stragglers to get into the Hall before we entered to "Jungle Bougie." There is never a dull moment: I feel like I've said that before. :)
Alas, we have come to the end of Part Two. I hope you have enjoyed it and I will get Part Three up soon. There are a few other details I'd like to tell you about, but left them for the end as I actually didn't witness them.
First of all, I would like to thank my dad's co-worker who came to the chapel and played classical guitar at the entrance of the chapel while the guests got seated. I unfortunately missed this as I was stowed away in the limo.
Also, I would like to thank our pianist for playing the theme song to the Muppet show for the guys to walk down the aisle to. Again, I missed this due to my location, but I am quite sure it was very humourous. :)