Wedding Ceremony: Second Reading

Wedding Day; by Anonymous

Now comes the knitting, the tying, the entwining into one,
Mysterious involvement of two, whole separate people
Into something altogether strange and changing and lovely.
Nothing can ever be, we will never be the same again;
Not merged into each other irrevocably but rather
From now on we go the same way; in the same direction;
Agreeing not to leave each other lonely, or discouraged or behind,
I will do my best to keep my promises to you and keep you warm;
And we will make our wide bed beneath the bright and ragged quilt
Of all the yesterdays that make us who we are,
The strengths and frailties we bring to this marriage,
And we will be rich indeed.

Wedding Ceremony: First Reading

The Invitation, by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your hearts longing.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking a fool for love,
for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are square in your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow,
if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed down from fear of further pain.
I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving, to hide it, fade it, or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true yourself;
if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.
I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the moon in God’s presence.
It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.
It doesn't interest me who you know, or how you came here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in empty moments.

We want your photos!

The lovely wedding photos you've seen on the blog so far are courtesy of some of our guests who have uploaded their photos to the wedding Flickr account. If you have photos you'd like to submit, here's a little reminder of the instructions.

Download the pictures from your camera to your computer.

Go to www.flickr.com.

Sign in using the username and password on the reception card (if you didn't take/misplaced the card, please email me or leave a comment here and I'll get you that info ... I'd rather not publish it on the internet for all to see.)

Click on "upload photos".

Select the files from your computer and hit go!

The final step is to move your uploaded photos to the "Guests' Wedding Photos" set. (However, I can do that part too. The biggest thing is just getting them uploaded.)

Thanks to those who have uploaded their pics already, I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for photos as Bill and I obviously didn't take any ourselves!

We did it!

Congrats to MIL for being the first to upload her photos to the flickr site! More photos, links, and re-caps to follow ... after a few nights of sleep!

Thank you so much to everyone for your kindness, generosity, and outpouring of love. We will treasure the last 4 days for the rest of our lives together.

Traffic Alert

Just got this in my email inbox and thought I'd share it with all of you who are traveling to Indianapolis this weekend:

Traffic Alert

On Saturday, June 13, Indiana Pride 2009 Parade and Festival will be held along Mass Ave and in University Park. Event hours are 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Expect heavy pedestrian activity in the area during this time. The following street closures will be in effect for this event:

• Vermont Street between Meridian and Pennsylvania streets will be closed from 5 p.m. June 12 through 11:59 p.m. June 13.
• New York Street between Meridian and Pennsylvania streets will be closed from 6 a.m. - 11:59 p.m. June 13.

During this event, please plan your travel through Downtown accordingly. There will be traffic and parking restrictions near the event sites. Log onto www.indydt.com for additional information.

This area of downtown is several blocks northeast of the theatre and a few blocks from the Hilton Garden Inn so it's not likely you will be directly affected by the street closures, however it may reduce the amount of available street parking and cause general traffic slow-downs due to extra pedestrians in the area. Just something to keep in mind as you plan your trip.