Wedding Week | The Ceremony
Welcome to wedding week! Everyday this week I’ll be bringing you a post about our wedding, which took place in Anglesey on the 24th of June. I’ll be sharing all the little details with you, from the outfits to the venue to the party. Enjoy…
Today's instalment of wedding week is all about our ceremony. I think the ceremony was actually my favourite part of the whole day - it just felt so special and full of emotion. Let's pick up where we left off in this post...
The Ceremony
My Dad and I pulled up to the church right on time and the vicar and all my bridesmaids were waiting outside for me. After a quick, excitable chat we started to make our way round the side of the church to the back door where we would start our descent down the aisle.
Our little page boy, Hudson, stood dutifully at the gate, doling out a high five for each of us as we passed him - have you ever seen anything cuter?!
I can remember these few moments before we entered the church so vividly. I remember wanting to press pause on the moment and soak up the last few minutes of being an unmarried lady, while equally feeling desperate to race into the church so that I could see Sam waiting for us. The butterflies in my stomach were pounding aggressively at this point and I was so excited that the wedding and celebrations were finally about to begin.
I had one last photo with my bridesmaids and Hudson, and then it was time to make our way into the church..
Sam was already waiting patiently with his brother and best man, Tom, by his side. Amusingly, I think Tom actually looks more nervous than Sam - obviously he wasn't quite sure about having me as a sister-in-law!
As the music started, my heart rate began to quicken and I knew it was time! We walked down the aisle to Starálfur by Sigur Rós - it's such a beautiful piece of music and reminds Sam and I of our trip to Iceland a couple of years ago, where we listened to it on repeat. I'm pretty sure listening to it now will bring me to tears knowing that it's the sountrack to such an emotional moment!
My beautiful bridesmaids led the way and then it was time for my Dad and I to start our walk down the aisle. So many people had told me to try and soak it all in and focus on as many faces as I could and I really think I managed it. I would definitely recommend this to any future brides as I have so many lovely memories of locking eyes with my favourite people.
Although I definitely saved my most excited face for when I finally clocked Sam!
Our ceremony began with a brief introduction from the vicar, who welcomed everyone to Anglesey, and then our first hymn, Morning Has Broken. We chose this one because we have a personal little memory about it that always makes us laugh - Sam actually thought it was an original Cat Stevens song as opposed to a hymn!
Then it was time for the readings, which was one of my favourite parts of the ceremony. We had three readings and I loved them all!
First up were my little cousins, Darcey and Honey, who read a poem called On Your Wedding Day. The little people in our family are so important to me and Sam, so to have them involved in the ceremony was really special. I was bursting with pride watching them read together, especially when Darcey was helping Honey read the words she was struggling with. Too bloody adorable.
Next up was my beautiful Mum, who read 1 Corinthians 13. It's a biblical reading that is quite common at weddings but that's because it's so perfect for the occasion. As my Mum read the words out to us I really felt the weight of the commitment we were making to each other and how important and amazing it was that we were actually doing it.
And then finally, Sam's lovely Mum read A Vow by Wendy Cope. Wendy Cope is one of my all time favourite writers, and I loved the honesty of this poem - it felt a lot more real and more "us" than so many of the readings we came across and Diana read it beautifully.
Next up was the important bit - the vows! We both managed to get through this bit without any slip ups and I honestly think that saying those words out loud to Sam was one of the happiest moments of my whole life. I don't think either of us stopped smiling once!
And being announced as husband and wife for the first time was a very surreal moment too!
We sang another hymn and the vicar had recommended that we turn around and look at our guests during this one, which I'm really glad we did! It was so lovely to stand next to my brand new husband, looking out at all of our loved ones singing, and soak up such a special moment. We chose One More Step Along The World I Go for our second hymn - it's a lovely upbeat one which suited this part of the ceremony perfectly and the words were very poignant too.
Then it was time for the official bit - signing the register! Considering this is the legal element of the ceremony it literally took about two seconds...
And then all that was left for us to do was to leave the church as Mr and Mrs Airey!
We played Here Comes the Sun by The Beatles on the way out of the church as a little nod to my Nan. We played the same song on the way out of the church at her funeral, and just like on that day, we were greeted by blue skies and bright sun after a very grey morning. I like to think it was her letting us know that she was watching.
After plenty of hugs and excitable chats with our guests, it was time for us to head off for our couple photos while everyone else headed back to Tros Yr Afon.
We took advantage of our church being right next to Penmon Point and headed to the beach to shoot our photos with Jenna and Ewan. There were lots of people out and about enjoying the sunshine and so many of them shouted well wishes and congratulations at us - it was lovely! Obviously mine and Sam's number 1 priority was selfie taking...
I have to admit that walking along the pebble beach in my stilettos wasn't the easiest task, but I'm sure you'll agree that these photos were worth it!
It was so lovely to have this time together just the two of us to take it all in and chat about the ceremony and our mornings. Even though we'd only been apart for a couple of hours it felt like we had loads to catch up on!
After about 45 minutes, we jumped back in the car to head back to Tros Yr Afon. We were desperate to see all of our friends and family and couldn't wait to get the celebrations started!
Make sure you stay tuned for tomorrow’s wedding week post which is all about the flowers, decor and DIY details...
*All images in this post were taken by the lovely Jenna Woodward