Oh Happy Day: Part Ten

This video continues to disappear every time that I post it.  So I'm trying to make it work.  It is found again later in the post, and it explains what the song is.  I'm trying to watch it every now and then to make sure it works.  So far, I post it again about every 5 hours.  We'll see if it stays put this time!

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I. Have. Too. Many. Photos.  Consider yourself warned!  I probably should have broken this post into three posts, but since I made you wait extra to read this post {finally}, I wanted to make sure it was worth it.  Please, please, please, please hang with it!  There are some wonderful photos in this post.  Yes, there are a ton, but there are some wonderful ones! Enjoy!

Here's the recap thus far.  If you are behind {or you think you are behind}, make sure you're caught up!  This is Part Ten. 

Oh Happy Day: Part One

Oh Happy Day: Part Two
Oh Happy Day: Part Three
Oh Happy Day: Part Four 
Oh Happy Day: Part Five 
Oh Happy Day: Part Six 
Oh Happy Day: Part Seven
Oh Happy Day: Part Eight
Oh Happy Day: Part Nine

I need to prepare you before we go further.  One reason there are so many photos in this post is due to the fact that our wedding lasted 64 minutes.  Yep, that's one hour and four minutes total.  And that didn't include the pastor making announcements at the end.  That was simply from when the Grandmothers/Moms were seated to when the last Grandmother walked out.  Yep.  I like to talk a lot, and though I only said a few words in this worship service, other people made up for it for me.  You see, I have been planning my wedding since I was small. I can't remember exactly when, but I know that I finalized the song choices when I was a junior in college.  Yep.  That would be before David and I were dating.  What can I say?  

So in this post, I'm going to attempt to share with you the events, but also my reasoning behind the song choice.  Plus the photos equals a REALLY long post.  I'll understand if you don't make it all the way through, but whatever you do, PLEASE at least go down the page to the song Invade.  I'll put some stars down there or something.  You don't want to miss that part of the post.  Don't skim if you don't have to.  You'll get there eventually.  So.  Here we go!

First off, I promised my Daddy that we would practice walking down the aisle so that he didn't step on my dress.  Well, an hour before the wedding, guests started showing up, so we decided to practice upstairs.  I wanted to be in the balcony as guests were coming in so that I could watch.  Plus, if you remember, I had this printed in the program.  

The big joke was that I was going to say SHHHHHH really loud over the balcony if people talked.  Now, let me take this opportunity to teach you, my bloggers, a little wedding etiquette.  You are not, by ANY means, supposed to VISIT during the prelude.  THIS is part of the wedding service.  It is NOT social hour.  If it feels like I'm yelling at you, I am.  This is my one opportunity to not have to look you in the face and say it.  NOTHING makes me more upset then when people are SO disrespectful and come in chattering.  And hooping.  And hollering.  And talking about the party they went to last week.  I know that you want to see everyone, but this is supposed to be a reverent service.  THAT is one reason there is a RECEPTION to follow.  So PLEASE, for all that is good and holy, reserve the wedding service prelude to prepare yourself for the union you are about to witness.  Get your heart in the right spot.  Because TRULY, you are not just a warm body that the family wants to feed after the ceremony.  YOU were invited to CELEBRATE God's goodness in joining two souls together to serve His purposes and pray for them in all the days that follow.  DO NOT TALK DURING THE PRELUDE!  Or you will get the evil eye from me.  Okay. Soapbox completed.

My Daddy and I walked all over that balcony practicing.  I am so excited, and I'm not really sure what his facial expressions say!

This is a scary face.  I have no idea what emotion was going through my head!  This photo could be one of those where we all submit a caption! Haha!

My Dad and I have a special relationship.  {Fathers Day post to eventually come}.  I know you've seen a few {ha} photos of us throughout these post, but he really is the very best dad in the world.  I definitely am a Daddy's girl.  So prepare yourself for the photos that follow.  There are a bunch of them. 

Guests began to come in quickly, and I peeked over the edge to see who I could see.  Lots of friends and family were flooding through the doors.  Some had driven from far away and some from near.  I was blown away by who I saw walking through the doors!

Last conversation with Mom and Dad.  What a sweet and special time we shared in the balcony.  It really was the only time of the day I had to spend with them.  I didn't expect that.  My married friends had warned me that I would barely see my parents so I had planned accordingly.  Two cups of coffee on the front porch at the house that morning before everything got chaotic.  But this was especially welcomed.  My Mom was making me laugh.  My Dad was making me laugh.  True Herrington family fun!

We even got to spend time with my {almost} Mother in Law.  I hope she was okay with our crazy antics up there!

I peeked down to try to see the guests from the balcony.  But it was a little more difficult to see without being seen.

All the while, this amazing dude was playing the prelude.  This is our groomsman Andy who is about to graduate from seminary as a music minister.  He did an amazing job and played hymns on the piano such as:

There is a Fountain

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

 I Surrender All

How Great is Our God with How Great Thou Art

Chris Tomlin version

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

Jesus Paid it All 

(Kristian Stanfill version)

Take My Life (And Let It Be)

Chris Tomlin version

These girls were busy handing out programs to people coming in while they asked people to sign the guest book pages.

Remember these from the other day?  They are our handcrafted guest book pages that I made so that people could sign four at a time instead of one at a time.

Some very good friends signing in that did SO much to help with the entire weekend.  They even washed laundry at our house for me to take on the honeymoon.  And folded ribbons on programs.  And did the white table of food for the bridal party.  And took cowbells to campus at 8am.  And babysat my cousins.  Goodness, the list could go on and on!  Love this family!

More special guests arrived as our ushers stole hugs from some of their favorites!  All the way from Louisiana.

Good family friends who made the long drive.

Neighbors who had driven from 2 hours away.

Even Starkville friends.  One after another, people who loved and continue to love on us came to support us.

And they anxiously awaited {in quietness--well almost} for the beginning of something unlike the normal wedding ceremony.

The program attendants were seated first as Andy played a piano arrangement of "Knees to the Earth" by Watermark. 

The time came for our mothers to head downstairs to be seated.  And this Daddy's girl was left with just her Daddy.  The number one man in my life for about 20 more minutes {yep...20 more...64 minute ceremony, remember?}

He kept telling me that he loved me.  And we both were trying not to cry.

He's my Daddy.  The most special man in my life {for 20 more minutes}.  I realized early on that my Daddy and I would have to have a different kind of relationship if David and I were to become husband and wife.  But something about the number one man in your life letting go, man that's hard.  I once admitted to David that it was hard adjusting to trusting him. WOAH that sounds bad.  Let me explain.  When you are born, your Daddy {and mom} are charged with taking care of and providing for you.  Well when you're an infant, you don't know any better.  One day, you hit an age that you just know they've always taken care of you and always will if you were blessed with incredible parents like mine.  So to knowingly put your trust in another guy who hasn't had an opportunity to prove it to you....that was difficult.  Don't get me wrong.  We trust in our heavenly Father above all, but trusting David to make the decisions for our household was hard in the beginning.  Simply because he wasn't my Daddy.  Too much background, I know.  But it just changes when you get married. 

It came time for the Mom's to be seated.  {Click the video if you want to hear the song}.

They were seated to 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus which was the Casting Crowns version you are hearing above.  {minus the violin--not a violin fan}. My wonderful musicians went to town on this one.  One by one the grandmothers and mothers were seated.  Such a beautiful entrance.

Next came one of the most special parts of the ceremony to me and one that I have been eager to share with you.  The Call to Worship was a song called "The Purest Place" by Watermark.  My best friend {and maid of honor}, Bethany, is a beautiful ballerina.  Ever since we were freshmen I have wanted her to dance in our wedding.  Yep, you read correctly.  Dance.  As is ballet.  As in dance at our wedding.  Almost to the end of my junior year of college, I realized that I had a bunch of idols in my life in multiple forms.  Through a lot of praying and seeking Christ, it occurred to me that the only way I was ever going to go anywhere on this road for Him was to get rid of those idols that were on the throne of my life and replace them with Him.  It was around that time that I stumbled across this song.  The lyrics just talk about painting yourself with the purity of Christ and boasting in Him and Him only.  If you have a second, play the song.  If not, I'll post some lyrics.

Paint me with Your purity
That I'd attract Your majesty
When others boast in fame and gold
The purest place is where I'll go

The purest place I will draw near
Do what it takes to keep me here
In the center of Your heart
The purest place is where You are

It's not with masses, not with kings
Not in these songs, or offerings
Not in this life, or what it brings
The purest place is You my King

The purest place I will draw near
Do what it takes to keep me here
In the center of Your heart
The purest place is where You are

To make for even more specialness, both mine and David's roommate sang the song as Bethany danced.  Anna and Andy did a fantastic job.

And of course, the sentimentalness of the song coupled with the fact that my Daddy was about to give me away made for a whirl of emotions.

If there's such thing as too beautiful
If there's such things as too wonderful
If there's such thing as too marvelous
Jesus it's You, Jesus it's You

As Bethany stood in reverence to the cross, my friend Whitney read scripture as Andy continued to play.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31

^“God has united you with Christ Jesus, who for us became wisdom from God.  Christ made us right with God.  He made us pure and holy, and he freed us from our sin.  Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

And with that, Bethany raced off to change clothes, and my family's very good family friend Mr. Mike came on the stage to welcome everyone. In his welcome, he pointed out to everyone that we were not there for a ceremony.  Because a ceremony is defined by Webster as "a formal act or ritual."  That was not at all what we wanted our day to be.  Our day was a service of worship.  You see, worship means "reverent honor andhomage paid to God."  That is what we wanted to do.  We wanted our day to point to Christ and give glory and honor and praise to Him.  Our marriage was not about us.  Sure we were joining together.  However, it was about Christ, and dedicating our lives to glorify Him together.

As Mr. Mike spoke, we all hung out in the foyer.  It was ALMOST time!

We peaked around the corner to see if it was almost time.

The nerves are starting to come at this point.  Our expressions say it all. Please note though, this is probably where my funny Daddy said, "It's not too late to go out that exit {behind us} and drive to New Orleans.  You sure this is what you want to do?"

I was positive.  The music for the guys and girls to come in to began to play.  It was "How Beautiful" by Twila Paris played by my Aunt Jane.

And just as everyone got to the front, the doors were shut and our musician Garrett sang this song.  If you choose to play it, please stick with it.  It doesn't begin till around 15 seconds. 

This song was Ginny Owens version, and Garrett sang it with a synthesizer sound behind him also.  My favorite line of the song is "Thou and thou only first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art."  That to me summarized everything I was about to do.  Jesus, High King of Heaven, first in my heart above my Daddy, and above this man David.  No matter what.  Until death.  And thereafter when we go to reign on high with Christ.  Yes. and Amen.

Wish that was how I felt in that moment.  Can you tell I'm about to puke?

Good thing we didn't!

And after that with a strike of the keys, my Aunt Jane began to play the prettiest arrangement of "Be Thou My Vision by Jeff Bjorck.  Google it.  It is an amazing arrangement.

Who gives this woman to be married to this man?  "Her mother and I."  And there it was!  Daddy's girl was about to be David's girl! :)

I'm not sure if you can see David's expression or not in this one, but it's worth trying to see!

By this time it was probably 3:30pm! :)

We said our vows to one another.

I take you, Sara, to be my wedded wife.  Together we will love and serve our Heavenly Father according to His purposes. I promise to lead you, protect you, provide for you, and love you as Christ loves the church. I will love you for richer for poorer, in sickness as in health, in sorrow as in joy, and will honor you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all the days of my life.

I take you, David, to be my wedded husband. I promise to love, serve, and obey you. I will submit to your headship, and follow you through all of life’s adventures, as you follow God. I will love you for richer for poorer, in sickness as in health, in sorrow as in joy, and will honor you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all the days of my life.

And slipped rings on each other's fingers. Every wedding we go to, it has become a classic joke that the pastor is going to say "Rings are round.  They have no end. They symbolize your love for each other that like this circle is unending...blah. blah. blah."  If your pastor said that, I mean NO offense.  Seriously.  It's just funny that it seems like it's tradition to say those words as if that makes the rings mean more.  Well, not Scott.  Our pastor talked about the signet ring of the King, and how any document signed by the King had to have his seal stamped in the wax approving it.  Just as the King signed with his signet ring saying "this is mine, and I have commanded it is good," we are wearing our rings as a sign that God has stamped His approval on us and we belong to each other and the Ultimate King has sealed it. Forever.

After that came a special time with our friend Mr. Mike again.  He told us that while we celebrate the commitment we just made to each other, we also know that it means we have placed a bullseye target on ourselves and our homes.  Satan, the evil one, is coming after us when we proclaim that.  He then had everyone in attendance think of their best day in their marriage and favorite memory.  He had them pray over us that Christ would bless us with those days.  Then he had them think of their worst day ever.  The day when they weren't sure they would make it through, and he asked them to pray days like that away from us.  After he prayed for the two of us, we came to a special time of music and prayer.

 

****I asked our friend Garrett to sing a song called "Invade" by Watermark. {Sensing a Watermark trend here yet?} And this is the song I said I would put stars by. 

I love this song so much that I recorded our TV for you so that you could see Garrett singing it and HEAR his voice and the lyrics of the song.  Amazing and one of my favorite parts of our wedding service.  It truly encompasses the words of my heart in this very moment on our day.

Come, come in
Invade all You see of us
Any man, who'd walk Your road is welcomed here
And You're the only one

Oh Jesus, come and walk the halls of this house
Tread this place and turn it inside out
With Your mercy...
Jesus, teach us the prayers that open these doors
Until Your light floods in and illuminates these floors
And let Your truth be on our steps and in these rooms
Jesus invade...

Reach, reach in
With the hand that heals all our suffering
Conquer all that is not of You
Bring Your spirit through
As we fill these walls with Your praise

I call for angels
I call for mercy
I call for freedom
In the name of Jesus
In the name of Jesus

And with that, it was KISSING time!  Not gonna lie, I was nervous about this one.  I've never kissed a boy in front of my parents.  No time like when you're standing on stage in front of 350 of your closest friends and relatives!  Needless to say, we had practiced for this....a few times!

Now it was time for the recessional.  We all walked out to "He is Exalted" which is technically a Twila Paris song, but the guys sang the Shane and Shane version. Love!  Because HE IS EXALTED!  And our prayer was that He was exalted that day!  Start to finish. Beginning to end.

MR. AND MRS. DAVID ADAMS for the very first time! :)

I have a question for you....can you tell I'm excited in the photo below?  Haha!  And I just noticed how well you can see the flowers in the foyer in this photo.  Amazing!

And they lived happily ever after!

















I love the photo above!  It's framed in our home.  What a special moment it was!  We were so thankful for all of the people who made the trip to be there.  We couldn't have asked for anything else!

I hope you made it to the end {even if it took you a few hours to look through!}  I promise more posts are coming in the following days and you don't want to miss them!  I will TRY to make sure I have space to load photos.  If not, it may be a slow process again!  So thankful for lots of photos that are great quality!