Getting Hitched: The Ceremony!

We are thisclose to the weekend! Can you taste it?! I can . . . sort of. There's really no such thing as weekend in my world. I basically just write and work and teach yoga any and every day. Sometimes Dan and I will realize that we've worked for, like, 16 days straight and we decide that we need a day off and we'll go scamper around the city flinging glitter and eating jam straight out of the jar. 

Anyway! I've finally picked some photos of our wedding day ceremony to share with you! Above is evidence of the gorgeous blue-sky day we had - that view is of lower Manhattan seen from Brooklyn Bridge Park, with the bridge itself on the far right there.

Since most people came in from out of town, we had everyone gather in front of the restaurant so Dan could walk them through the park together to the ceremony site.

Old brick warehouses covered in cool graffiti are a pretty common sight in DUMBO - plus bicis. Lots and lots of bicis. 

Dan gets his tie fixed by his best man (and college roommate for all four years!), Dave. This is just about the cutest thing ever. Squee.

Those stairs are where our guests sat - kind of awesome, kind of weird because we couldn't cordon off any area of the park just for ourselves, so there were plenty of strangers gawking, as well as like, five other weddings taking place in other parts of the park at the same time. 

ME! BRIDE! With my dad and my sister waiting to walk down the aisle - our judge was running late thanks to traffic on the bridge (sigh, NYC).

Exchanging the rings! The ceremony was my favorite part of the day. The judge was fantastic - she said such lovely things and was so kind and honestly happy to be there. We chose to write our own vows, which made me a bit nervous at first but I'm really happy that we did - it's such a wonderful memento of the day.

The kiss! We kissed! 

A funny thing about this moment was that I had no idea Dan was going to raise my arms like that (I don't think he did either - we were both just kind of swept up in the moment), and I was scared for a second that I hadn't shaved my armpits in the shower that morning. Isn't that ridiculous? It only crossed my mind for a second, but still. 

Bubbles! Sunshine! Flowers! Happiness! Love! Hooray!

There are approximately 700 iterations of this photo floating around Facebook, and I love every single one.

The entire bridal party consisted of myself (obvs), Dan (obvs), my sister Jenn (who was my Maid of Honor), and Dan's buddy Dave (who was Best Man). Keeping it small worked so much better for us - it just seems like a lot of work to coordinate people who live in all different places (Jenn came in from Providence, Rhode Island, and Dave flew in from Chicago) and Dan and I generally just try to keep things as simple as possible in all areas of our lives, so why should our wedding be any different? 

Also, Jenn and Dave are ballers.

The Euro friends! Every single one of the people standing here flew in from the Great Continent to be with us on our big day. All of these folks now live in either Berlin or Paris, though no fewer than seven countries are represented by the eight of us standing there. It's like a mini U.N. and I'm Ban Ki-moon.

Dan and Dave posing on the pier! I'll have you know that I made those boutonnieres myself, and I was very proud of them.

Posing with my family! I also made my own and my sister's bouquets, and Jenn did a fantastic job creating most of the centerpieces with flowers that I bought the day before the wedding, while I took an extremely necessary nap. WTF else are Maids of Honor for if not to complete tasks that the bride simply, utterly cannot stand even one more second of? I rest my case.

Totally necessary shoe shot. I love those shoes. It's hard to tell here, but the entire back and heel are sparkly blue glitter. Everyone asked me if I brought flats to change into for dancing, but I have hobbit feet thanks to years of standing in heels working in retail. Really, I could climb Mordor with nothing but a banana in my knapsack and a smile on my face. My feet feel no pain. Also, that was the first time I wore those shoes and woke up the next day with blister-free feet. It's like a superpower that I have.

Posing with Dan's family! They introduced me to the phenomena that is Farkle. If you've never played, you've never lived. I'm only sort of kidding about that.

If you can't tell, I was getting a little tired of smiling by the time this photo was taken. I can't help that the natural curve of my face is this sort of half-frown. I have these baby cheeks man, and they're heavy to hold up. Dan looks effortlessly handsome, as always. He's absurdly photogenic. I love him.

This photo is super cool. I love the grittiness of the chain link fence and the heavily stickered Do Not Enter sign contrasted with us in our wedding finery. We had a wonderful photographer - her name is Nancy McKay, and aside from being my real-life friend, she does some of the most beautiful still lifes I've ever seen. Very dreamy photos. Visit her Etsy shop here, or read about the inspiration behind each picture on her blog. 

That's all for now kittens! I've got a freshly made bagel with scallion cream cheese that's just calling my name. Bye!