Snider Wedding Photos Part 3: The Ceremony

As we finished taking pictures the guests started to arrive and I retreated to my tent. It had been set up for the purpose of concealing me from the guests before the wedding. And so that I could have a place to just sit (and not answer any questions) until the ceremony started.

It was in the tent I started to get jittery. Not because I was marrying Silas, but because it was the first time it occurred to me that there would be a great many people looking at me. That was when I started thinking things like "I will NEVER be able to make it down this aisle without fainting." My bridesmaids and flower girls kept me company, calmed me down, and prayed with me.

Silas's father was to conduct the ceremony for us. He started talking, he prayed, then the congregation started singing "It Is Well With My Soul". This was it.

My brother, Rainor, and Silas's brother, Peter, were the tent guards. They also told each bridesmaid when to come out of the tent and proceed down the aisle.

Then my brother, Rainor, escorted me down the aisle.

And there was Silas at the end of it, just waiting and smiling.

Mr. Snider began the very traditional wedding ceremony and my brother gave me away.

We prayed.

And smiled.

Silas and I knew we wanted a very traditional wedding. There is meaning in tradition, after all. But we couldn't find a single order of service that had all the elements of the traditional vows we wanted, so we compiled several.

We spent as much time editing our vows as most couples spend writing their own.

"I, Silas, take you, Elisabeth, to be my wife. To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and heath, in sadness and joy, to comfort and keep, to love and to cherish, forsaking all others and keeping only to you, until death do us part."

"Silas, with this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee honor, and with all my earthly possessions I thee endow."

Mr. Snider then blessed us.

Then "I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Silas Snider. You may kiss the bride."
Silas and I kissed for the first time.

Everyone had previously been instructed that they should make a very joyful noise upon this pronouncement and everyone performed satisfactorily. Since the wedding people have asked us what was our favorite part of the wedding and both agree this was it.

The congregation started singing "Blessed the Man that Fears Jehovah" and we walked/skipped/ran back up the aisle, man and wife.

We were followed by Ellie and Ian. (Ellie bawled through the entire service.)

Then Margaret and Paul. They look oh so suave and smug.

Katie and Nathan.

Christa and Luke. I can't get over how pretty my sister looked that day. (That would be Christa, not Luke, in case any of you are having issues.)

Mr. and Mrs. Silas Snider.

Stay tuned for Snider Wedding Photos Part 4; The Party

Photos in this post courtesy of Natalie Poindexter, Mrs. Rumrey, Britt Harvey, and various other persons I stole pictures from.