the ceremony - i now pronounce you...

Saying our vows was the best part to me :) I got to say everything I wanted to pledge to Ryan for the rest of our lives. There's just something about getting your whole heart out there, not just to Ryan, but to everyone.

After we said our vows, we were almost done! It was time to light the unity candle while Ben & Jeanine sang "The Prayer":

I think at this point Dr. Jon said a few more words and we had a congregational hymn, "How Firm a Foundation." We picked this hymn because it pretty much encapsulated our whole relationship, especially the time of engagement when Ryan was out of a job. We just had to keep trusting in God as our firm foundation and continue to build on Him, because nothing else was sure or strong.



One other detail - we had grandparents who couldn't be there because of sickness, distance, or having passed on in earlier years. We had a rose for each, white for those who had passed and pink for those who were unable to be there. It was good to honor and remember them!


And the moment we were waiting for...Dr. Jon "I now pronounce you man and wife":


Ryan is relieved that it's over! He says it's because he was hot. Riiiight!


Walking back down the aisle, this time together as Mr. & Mrs. Ryan Duckworth!

the ceremony - vows

Alrighty...now with everyone in the sanctuary, it was time for my daddy to walk me down the aisle. Notice his traditional Filipino formal dress, the barong tagalog. So stylish!

Although we had already seen each other before the ceremony, it's an entirely different feeling when you hear the church bells ring, the doors open, and your groom waiting for you at the altar! Wow. Took my breath away! I can only hope Ryan felt the same way, and judging from his smile, I think he did :) (Music: God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand)







You can't see it, but our ceremony opened in prayer, specifically "The Lord's Prayer" recording of my Nana when she sang it at my mom's wedding.

Dr. Jon with the charge and message:

Holly on flute, Jeanine on vocals and Mrs. JoAnn on piano with "O Perfect Love"
We did traditional vows and the we read vows that we had written ourselves. I memorized mine and Ryan read his. He made me laugh :)

My vows:

As God created Eve as a help meet for Adam, so I promise to be your helper in everything we endeavor. I promise to support you, to affirm you, and to put my whole heart into building up our family.

As the church submits to Christ as head, so I promise to submit to your authority. I promise to honor and respect you, and I pledge you my loyalty and love.

As God showed us the ultimate love through His Son, so I promise to strive for that kind of sacrificial love in our relationship. I promise to pray for you daily. And I promise to continue to be your best friend, to stick closer to you each day, and to stay with you through all adversity.

We have already come through so much, and I know with God's help we will stay strong and finish strong. This is my covenant with you.

Ryan's vows:

I am glad that I don't have to imagine another day in my life without you. Proverbs 18:22 says "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." I stand here today, ready to take you as my wife, knowing that I have more than a good thing, I have my best friend.

God calls on the man to be the spiritual head of the home. I promise to lead you forward, growing in our love and knowledge of Christ, from this day forward. I will make sure we are active in our Church, community, and life.

I promise to keep things interesting, to never forget how to have fun. I will help keep our sense of adventure, and always try new things.

I promise to always be a calm, patient husband, not sweating the small stuff, and work through anything that troubles us. I promise to put your needs first. I promise to always be there for you, and love you until the day I die.

the ceremony - processional

Ok! We are making progress :) Ryan has finished writing his thank you notes and he just needs two stamps and they'll be off in the mail! Together, we've blogged all the way up to the actual ceremony. So here goes...the biggest moment of our lives!

At this point, Ryan was waiting up front with Dr. Jon. I was waiting in a room off the front foyer with my bridesmaids. I was nervous & quiet, if only because I was trying to remember my vows.

First - the lighting of the unity candle by our parents:



Seating of my aunt Debbie (our reader), grandmother (Ryan's - MeMe), and mothers
Music: Great is Thy Faithfulness


I love this photo of Ryan's mom. You can tell how proud she is of him and what an emotional, momentous time this is!

I love this photo of my Uncle Bub escorting my Mom. His tie just radiates awesomeness! Mom looks like she's having a grand ol' time too :)


And then the groomsmen & bridesmaids. Some are more photogenic than others :)
Music: Sheep May Safely Graze, Bach





I love this picture of our siblings. You can tell they're both beaming at Ryan and excited for what he's about to see.

And the littlest members of our wedding party, the adorable Sands girls, Emily & Catherine, and Jaden.

the wedding par-tay

Here's Ryan & I by our lonesomes:


Here are some of our favorite pictures of the whole wedding party. After the ceremony:
Before the ceremony in the neat box pews:
In front of the big red door:

girl time

While Ryan had a good time cutting up with the guys, we girls had fun being sweet...
L to R - Ashley (friends since 2nd grade, went to GT & pledged same sorority), Beckie (friends since kindergarten), Lauren (friend & co-worker), Holly (my sister & best friend), Meg (sorority sister), Lindsay (college friend & roommate)

And a little sassy :) Think Beckie wins for most sass here:


A long, long time ago I posted about gifts. Well, now you can see what I got the bridesmaids! A former co-worker of mine, Jen, makes jewelry (yes please studio) and she agreed to custom make pearl necklaces. I wanted something classic, and I love pearls. So pearl necklaces seemed obvious. But I didn't want to have just pearl necklaces. So Jen came up with the perfect idea of a pearl flower on a silver piece. She also made earrings to go with them. They turned out so cute and I was sad that I didn't order a set for myself!


While on the subject of girly things, I really loved how our flowers turned out. Ladybugs did our wedding party flowers and they could not have done a better job. Very reasonable pricing for the quality and beauty that we received, plus great, friendly service. Being located right around the corner from my parents' home was also really nice & convenient :) If you couldn't tell by our old website and our save the date cards, my favorite flower is the stargazer lily.

I also love daisies, and these complemented the pink in my lilies so perfectly:

Cutting up with the guys

So sometime before the actual ceremony we had the opportunity to take some pictures with our wedding party. Below are some of my favorites:

Me and all of the groomsmen
From the left - Danny Karnik, Ryan Russell, Matt Duckworth, myself, Jon Straub, Matt Ward, Jonathan Ferro

My brother and me

The guys from Ferro's wedding (2 of which I've known for... nearly 20 years, and Danny since middle school (only because he just moved to GA))

College roommate Ryan - we love to goof around... a lot

Another college roommate, Matt (and I've known him for 20ish years too)

Uh, how does this go again?

Honorary groomsman (also usher) William Welch, who I've known since high school.

gifts to each other

You may have noticed that in some of the previous pictures, I had a necklace on and then some of them, I don't have a necklace on. That's because at some point, we went inside and exchanged our gifts to each other! Welcome respite from the heat. So you already know that Ryan got me a beautiful necklace. Funny story...I had been at Windsor a couple wks before and was looking for a gift for him. And at the same time, I had realized that my pearl necklace was the wrong shade of pearl for my dress. So I wanted a new pearl necklace and found just the perfect one. And I thought...I could just buy it or...I could hint to Ryan about it. Well you can guess what I did :) He went, I think that same weekend, with his mother and looked at the necklace. And lo and behold, it ended up around my neck on our wedding day! Isn't Ryan wonderful? :)


So what did I get Ryan? Silver cufflinks engraved with his initials. I took Ryan with me to Windsor so I could at least get a good idea of what he liked since this would be his first set of cufflinks. He picked out a couple different ones, but I ultimately made the decision so he would be at least a little surprised on our wedding day!



We had talked beforehand about gifts and we both wanted to do something timeless and classic. Something we would still have and use when we are old and gray. I think both gifts fit that criteria and also are a pretty good reflection of who we are as a couple.