The Rhode to The Rest of Our Lives: A Walk Down the Aisle

After getting word that the ceremony was getting started, we walked through the reception space and headed towards the doors of the main greenhouse.  

One last shot, showing how truly excited I was to get married, and then our photographer hopped into the ceremony space to get some shots of us walking down the aisle.

Even though we had planned for grandparents and parents to be walked down the aisle as part of the processional, they were already seated, so we just moved on with the rest of the entrance.  The guys entered the ceremony space from the reception space, and stood at the front of the venue, just waiting on us girls to arrive.

Because there are technically two aisles, due to there being a fountain in the middle of the ceremony space, we walked down only on one side.

With a queue from the coordinator to the DJ, the music began and first to walk down the aisle was BM A, who looked so happy to be a part of our wedding day.  I chose "The Wandering Kind" by Josh Groban for me and my girls to walk down to, and I actually listened to it on repeat 197 times the week of the wedding.  I'm not kidding either. I checked my iTunes play count.  Yikes....

Next, and last, to walk down was my sister, MOH E, who was so proud to be playing such a large role in our wedding.  

And finally, after my girls were settled in their spots, it was my turn.  With my arm around my father's, he led me down the aisle, so proud to present me to my future husband.  

We originally looked at the venue in the Fall of 2011, and I'll tell you, an entire year's worth of growth in this greenhouse changed a lot of things, including the large palm fronds that encase the large fountain in the center of the space.  They were so large, that my boss was actually asked to hold one of them up so that I could walk by it without getting face-slapped!  I thought that it was really funny, but apparently, FI didn't.  The fronds were so big, that FI couldn't see me walking down the aisle.  

And this next picture shows exactly what I wasn't expecting.  FI had such a hard time seeing my walk towards him that he had to crane and move around a bit to find a place where he could see me.  

And I couldn't see him either. Not until we rounded the corner at the end of the aisle.

And that's when the emotion hit me. I was so happy to see him and to finally be marrying him, and I just started crying.  

And his smile was so big, and he had tears in his eyes from seeing me for the first time, too.

Our Justice of the Peace stopped my father and I at the end of the aisle, and I leaned over to him, told him that I loved him, and then he and FI shared a big hug.  

FI then took my hand, and led me over to the front of the ceremony space, where we would say our vows and officially get married.  

Next up is the official stuff, and some more tears - surprise, surprise!

All photos by Matt Ferrara Photography unless otherwise noted.