Sending presents and letters to each other the morning of the wedding isn't exactly a new idea - but I wanted to make sure to do it a certain way. Through all of my browsing while investigating vendors and looking for ideas, I learned that I love wedding videos where the personalized vows are played over other images of the day: the bride getting ready, the groom waiting with his back turned for the first look, and the couple dancing at their reception in front of all of their guests. Something about showing the happiness of the couple mixed with the emotional words of their promises beautifully pulls everything together.
Since we were married in the Catholic Church, our vows were not personalized, so we used the letters to fill in the gap. I've seen it done both ways, but I wanted to have the writer read out loud, so that it would make more sense when used in the video (you can hear some of my letter in the
teaser trailer).
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| It was a nice moment to step away from all the activity to remember why we were doing all this./All photos by Eau Claire Photographics |
I let our videographer Brock know what we were planning beforehand, and he thought it was a great idea. Before I got dressed, we moved everyone else out to the living room, so it would be as quiet as possible to capture my reading for the video.
I tried to make my letter a bit funny with some inside jokes of ours, but I also wanted to really express some heartfelt emotions to Sphinx that I might not always get the chance to say. When brainstorming for this letter, the most important thing I wanted to get across was how thankful I was that he always believed in us. There were times when we were long distance or when I didn't know where I would be able to find a job, and he just kept on believing that we would always be together. I consider myself an independent person in a lot of ways, but when it comes to my dreams coming true: that's all because of Sphinx.
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| There was some static in the first recording, so I had to do it a second time and I got choked up at the exact same spot again. |
We had the second videographer do the same thing for Sphinx in the room where he was getting ready.
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| Sphinx had about ten discarded drafts back at the house when we returned home. It was cute that he cared so much about getting it just right. |
BM Dino delivered my gifts and letter to Sphinx, and brought back his present for me, where I sat down to open it up in front of all the ladies.
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| The girls had put their dresses on at this point, and Sphinx Mom had joined us as well. |
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| A bit of nervous laughter, I had no idea what was underneath that wrapping! |
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| Genuine surprise at his gift |
Sphinx had a customized print made on Etsy (by seller
eyecandeedesigns) that he printed and framed. It included our birthdays, our dating anniversary, the engagement date, and the wedding date, with the phrase "What a difference a day makes." I'm not a big emotional crier, but that cranked up the waterworks for sure.
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| Next to our wedding date it says "Now our family begins." So sweet. |
Reading his letter to me produced some more tears and laughs as well.
I didn't read it out loud, but of course everyone heard it later from the video. That's the only downside here - all your sentiments will then be out there for everyone to hear. It made me a little nervous to know that, but I also think it allowed our family and friends to really understand what we mean to each other after all these years.
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| Another absolute favorite picture of the day - reading the letter from my groom while the dress stands at the ready. |
For my gift to Sphinx, I went with pretty standard guy gifts - a watch and cuff links - while trying to make them special. The watch was a Michael Kors in matte-finish gray with rose gold numbers. I thought it was very classy and formal for him, and I knew he'd like that it was matte. Calling out things that are matte finish is a bit of a joke between us: I know it from nail polish shades and he because some football teams have matte helmets.
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| Sphinx said he sent his guys out of the room while he opened my presents. So shy. |
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| He likes it! |
I spent some time researching ancient Greek and Roman coins for the cuff links, and finally went with a pair modeled after the
tetradrachm coin featuring Alexander the Great. I was happy to see on the video that he knew exactly what the coin was from and said "She knows me well. Too well." I'll take that as a win.
And then he got to read my letter, and although the pictures don't prove it, I'm sure there were tears on his end too.
Setting aside video time on a hectic morning (and getting everyone in the adjoining living room to be quiet) was a little bit of extra effort the morning of, but I think it was so worth it. It was so nice to really be able to sit back and reflect on why I love my groom, and now those words will last forever in our videos. We have a longer trailer that has Sphinx's letter in it too, along with our actual vows, and I think it's just the perfect mix.
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| "What was once our team has now become our family." |
And of course we both ended the letters with a nod to
"our song" that would be our first dance later that night - P.S. I Love You. You, you, you.
Previously on the Pyramid Wedding:
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