Fleur de Lips: Monumental Love: My "Damn Regal" Bridal Entrance

Finally, it was time for my walk down the aisle. Standing behind those doors, all thoughts concerning falling flat on my face or walking too fast or carrying my bouquet too high went out the window. It wasn't really nerves, but obviously there was a definite excitement. Either way, I don't really remember all what was running through my head here, so we'll mainly rely on the pictures with a couple of necessary explanations. Time saving tip: there's a video of this at the end, and you could just jump ahead and watch that (although a key part is missing). If you're just here for the pictures, here's the music to go along because that's pretty important too.

Sphinx waiting for those doors to open. |All photos by Eau Claire Photographics|

Antici....

...PATION!

So the Sphinx Smirk is a good place to give some background to the music. Our church included an organist, but we also decided to hire a trumpeter. The idea originally came about because a family friend plays the trumpet and had done so in weddings before. Once I got to listening to songs that included trumpets for the mass, there was no turning back, even though he turned out to not be available. So the organist was able to secure someone else for us, and that's how I ended up walking down the aisle to "Trumpet Voluntary" by Clarke. I swear Sphinx knew what the song was going to be, but the sound of that horn blasting through the church was much louder, grander, and - well - more epic than any of us expected. And it caught Sphinx a bit off guard, thus the smirk. It's adorable in the video down below.

I vividly remember the groomsmen were commenting afterwards that it was a "damn regal entrance." Thanks, guys. You were my target audience to impress.

Our photographers were on point with the close-up groom shots.

For those who are in the 27 Dresses "Look at the groom while everyone else is looking at the bride" camp, I think they were satisfied with the emotions on this guy's face.

You've got a gorgeous smile on too, new sister.

So at this point something unplanned happened. The photographers didn't really grab it, and this part is cut out of our video (I assume because the videographers didn't have the right angle), but I'll always remember it. As I was walking down the aisle, smiling like a loon and feeling so appreciative for all the loved ones in attendance, I looked to my left and saw my grandpa seated and sobbing into a tissue. Just bawling, not even looking up, crying because my Maw Maw wasn't there. And my heart just broke. I was just overwhelmed with the need to reach out and comfort him. So I did.

I stopped at the second row, tapped him on the shoulder and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

It was completely spontaneous, so the photographers had to react quickly, but I think it's no coincidence that you can see my Maw Maw's rosary on my bouquet in this shot. I also love A's face behind me. She said this brought on the waterworks big time.

It was a bit awkward because it felt like forever to get him to look up at me. My aunt had to shake his arm and say "Hey, look up!" Or at least it felt like that; in reality it was probably all of 3 seconds.

And once I looked up, there was Sphinx's waiting for me and smiling.

"Hi darling. Sorry, I got a bit distracted."

Then Daddy P flipped my veil over and gave me a kiss.

And he gave Sphinx a manly handshake-hug.

And with that, we were ready to get our ceremony underway.

See the vase of flowers off to our right? All white lilies in honor of my Maw Maw Lily. The only ceremony decorations we had.

But come on, with a backdrop like this, who needs more flowers, right?

With all that said, I'd like to comment on the aisle look versus the first look one more time. I already gave my thoughts on it when I showed you our first look, and I'm very much of the opinion that you've gotta do what works for you. For us, I'm so glad we did a first look (which was almost the title of this post, but the other phrase was just too catchy).

Go ahead and watch the video and you'll see how much of a goofball I was during the walk - I was beaming and saying hi to all those people in the pews like a dang beauty pageant queen on a victory lap. And of course I had the moment with my grandpa. I'm sure if we hadn't had a first look, I would have been All Eyes On Sphinx. And that would have been amazing and special in its own way. But for me, I'm glad that I let myself look around, take it all in, and get to connect with some of my guests before I locked eyes on my groom. I love that I was able to share my excitement with as many people as possible. I was trying to say "I'm so glad you're here! You look fabulous! Can you believe it? This is really happening! My heart is bursting with happiness seeing your face! Thank you, thank you, thank you for being here!" And maybe all that didn't come across in a smile and a nod,but that's what I felt and why I'm explaining it now.

Plus, that's a long aisle, our eyesight isn't very good, and I was wearing a blusher. Close up was definitely the better choice for us.