So I was asked by some of my far away family to write a little bit about the wedding since they couldn't attend. And as a reward for reading my rambling thoughts I will put some pictures at the end. :) So keep reading, you will be rewarded. PROMISE
So this is the day from my perspective.
Lets just start by saying if you are looking for a
fairytale princess sort of day where nothing could go wrong, you need to keep looking because that just wouldn't be a Donald Stave/Jessa
Lale event.
Setting: It was a beautiful cool August day, high of only 93!! Considering 2 days before and 2 days after it was over 100, it was perfect
weather. We used the store as a backdrop. We stood on the porch while the guests were set up in chairs in front of the store.
Cast of Characters:
Jessa-
That's me! The bride :)
Donald-The silly boy who agreed to marry me
Stephanie- Maid of Honor
Daniel- Best Man
Bridesmaids- Miranda,Nancy,Ali
Groomsmen-Kyle & Cory
The hours leading up to the wedding were insanely calm. I imagined that I would be a nervous wreck but I wasn't. I was calm and collected. I was amazed. We agreed to take all the wedding pictures before the ceremony so after we could spend more time with our families. But unfortunately this meant Donald would have already seen me. My amazing photographer agreed to stage a first look so we could still have that moment.
I can't really explain how excited I was for the wedding to start. The groomsmen walked down the aisle to "Free" by
Zac Brown band. They each escorted one of our family members. Cory escorted my grandmother first, then Kyle escorted
Donald's grandmother. Daniel (
Donald's brother) escorted their mother down the aisle.
My bridesmaids walked down the aisle to "Forever Love" by Francesca
Battistelli.
In any other wedding after all the groomsmen, bridesmaids have walked down the aisle and were waiting for the bride, everyone would stand up and watch her walk in. But that my friends is where you are incorrect. In our wedding, this is when the wedding begins. My maid of honor is standing next to Donald at the bottom of the stairs waiting to help me up the stairs in my dress. But the ceremony begins. So now my maid of honor is marrying my finance. I am of course standing in the staging area laughing hysterically that my wedding had actually started with out me!!!
Several of my friends in the audience are motioning to stop the wedding.. but yet it continues. Finally my Aunt Joy runs up on the stage and reminds him that Donald agreed to marry me not my best friend. So I finally get to come in to my own wedding!
I walked in to "God gave me you" by Dave Barnes. My mom and my dad both escorted me down the aisle, while 2 of
Donald's younger cousins and 1 of my cousins carried my dress train.
And once I FINALLY made my grand entrance we restarted the wedding. We didn't use the typical dearly beloved cookie cutter wedding. Donald, my mom, his mom and I all worked on the ceremony for months. I actually put more work in the ceremony than I put into the decorations.
We included several things that I really liked. During the ceremony we asked each set of parents for their love and support, that was very special to both Donald and I. We are both very close with our families so their support is very important.
We had several readings by those that are closest to us:
Stephanie read 1 Corinthians 13: 1-8
Donald's Aunt Wendy read a section from The Velveteen Rabbit.
Donald's Brother Daniel read Ephesians 5:22-33
My Aunt Joy read the
Baha'i Marriage Prayer.
It was so wonderful to have these amazing people to be such a big part of our day.
Donald and I had agreed to write our own wedding vows. I had found another couple who had given there vows a template. I loved that idea. So we did I love you because and because I love you.
My Vows:
Donald,
I love you because you always find a way to make me laugh. It
doesn’t matter how bad my day has
been, how many customers have yelled at me, how many rude people have honked at me, or that
I fell in a mud puddle in public. You have a way of making me see the humor in these situations.
Because I love you I will make sure over our lifetime there are more smiles then tears. I will keep an
attitude of fun in our relationship. I will be your best friend. I will be your partner in crime. I will go
on adventures with you. I will stand in the freezing rain for hours to see your favorite band. I will do it
because I love you.
I love you because of the way you care for your family. When one of your siblings is in pain you feel it as
deeply as if it was happening to you. You will give your last 20 dollars to help them if they need it. I love
watching the smile on your face as you make fun of Miranda or how excited you get when you talk to
Daniel about who the Chiefs are going to take in the next draft.
Because I love you I will take care of you. When you are sick, I will make you soup. When you are sad,
I will cheer you up. I will run beside you as you are chasing your dreams. I will offer encouragement,
support and love. Because I love you I will make an effort to appreciate the things that are important to
you, and the things that you enjoy.
I love you because you challenge me intellectually. You challenge my ideas, my thoughts and my
opinion. Those around us may get very concerned at these heated exchanges, but they are my favorite
conversations. I know sometimes you take an opposite side just to provoke the debate, but it is always
done with respect and love.
Donald, because I love you I will treat you as the amazing person you are. I will continue to seek your
opinion, and I will value it above all others. I will respect you in the areas we disagree. And because I
love you, when I stumble and fail to live up to the promises I have made, I will apologize. I will admit I
was wrong, and I will learn from the mistake.
I love you because of your unbelievable faith. I have watched you in the past year go
thru trials I
couldn’t even imagine. But it has never been too much for you. Even in your pain and stress you never
forget God is in control. You have become an amazing leader in that area, reminding me to stop picking
up the burdens.
Because I love you I will hold your hand as we jump into the unknown. While life comes with no
guarantees, I know it will be
ok because we will experience it together. God has already blessed me
with more than I ever could have dreamed of. I have complete faith he will continue to bless and
protect us.
Donalds vows:
1. I love you because you are my best friend. The person I share everything with.
The first one I want to talk about things with. The first one I want to see. The person
I want to be with.
Because I love you I will always be there for you to share both the good times and
the bad. To try to make you happy when you are sad. I will try to do all that I can so
that you will want to share your good times with me.
2. I love you because you are so caring. Seeing people or animals suffer
genuinely hurts you and I love that about you and that you care so much.
Because I love you I promise to always be there to care for you. When you are sick.
When you are tired. When you are sick and tired at the same time. I will be there by
your side to help you, and take care of you.
3. I love you because of your sense of humor. I love you because you think
I'm funny.
You think of funny things and can always make me laugh. Your sense of humor is
one of the best things about you in my eyes.
Because I love you I will continue to make hilariously funny jokes to keep that
beautiful smile that brightens up my day on your face.
4. I love you because you love me. You love my faults. You love my weaknesses.
With you I don’t have to be anything more than myself. You except me and love me.
Because I love you, I will commit my mind, body, and heart to you. To be the best
husband I can possibly be. To do my best to be the man you deserve. I love you
today, tomorrow and forever!
To me that was the best part of the wedding. Donald and I were both in tears, and I'm not 100% sure but from what I am told all 200 people in
attendance were as well. It was amazing.
Finally it is official. We made it
thru everything and are pronounced husband and wife. There might have been a kiss but I will spare you those details. As we are walking down the floor, my stupid high heels twist and I stumble. I nearly face plant but luckily Donald was paying attention and didn't let me face plant. I kicked off those horrible heels and left them on the aisle.
What I didn't think of was once I got to the end of the aisle, I would have NO shoes and it turned in to gravel. So Donald picked me up and carried me out.
And I will forever be Mrs Donald Stave.
There was so much amazing family and friends that I hadn't seen in so long it was wonderful. My mother had cooked
bbq pork and
bbq chicken for 200 people! And my grandmother made her FAMOUS grooms cake.
While it wouldn't go down in the history books as the "perfect" wedding. It was perfect for us. Donald and I are 2 people who really don't take ourselves that serious. We laugh
alot. So the fact that so much went wrong and we were able to laugh it all of, was pretty normal.
All the pictures were taken by some of our friends and family, I didn't want to steal the photographers pictures. But here is a
link to a few of her favorites on our blog. She is amazing!
