Love Story: The Wedding

We have arrived, the wedding day! I could spend time telling you about the engagement portion of our relationship but it went by so quickly. The planning process was pretty easy. I say that because I had the most amazing people around me that did most of the work. I am still eternally grateful for those people- Heather Reddy, Kourtney Street, Anne Alexander, Jaime O’Bryan and then all my amazing bridesmaids!

I love weddings because they bring together all the people you love and care about to one place. I have been so blessed to have so many dear friendships throughout my life. It was such a sweet time of getting to re-engage with old friends and see people I hadn’t seen in so long. Weddings are the best! In my family, we tend to do things big, so that is how my wedding was. We invited a ridiculous number of people and a lot of them came, it was wonderful! Chris and I both were so honored that people wanted to come and see us make a commitment to each other and to God.

My wonderful bridesmaids :) 

I had 9 bridesmaids and Chris had 5 groomsmen, it worked! I had my dear sisters, Heather, Courtney, Tiffany and Debbie, and then my bestest friends in the world- Amy, Meghan, Emily, Susanna and Beth. My sisters and friend mean so much to me. I will share more later on about how near and dear these friends are, they have helped me be who I am today. The day before the wedding, I had a bridal luncheon and was able to write them each a letter expressing how much I love them and how grateful I am for them. I was so glad to have that time. They in turn spent time praying over me and my marriage to Chris.

That night, we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal dinner was probably one of my favorite times of the whole weekend. What I loved best was getting to hear from Chris’ friends about the impact that he has had on their lives and the things they see in him. It was a time for us all to celebrate on what God had done and be with close friends and family.

Rehearsal 

November 5^th, 2011: In my book, is still one of the best days! I woke up and had time to spend with God and journal. My heart was so full of gratefulness and joy. I had been praying for a husband since I was in high school and now my prayers were being answered. I was overwhelmed by God’s goodness and gift. The morning went by quickly. We got breakfast, ran by Starbucks to get coffee (of course) and headed over to Cru. The weather that day was supposed to be a nice fall day for Florida- 70’s to 80’s and sunny, it was perfect!

We got ready, took some pictures and had a joyous time with all my bridesmaids! As we were walking back to the building where we were getting ready, you could tell that it was starting to get windy and it started to sprinkle a little bit. Mind you, the whole ceremony and reception were outside. My fearless wedding planner, Kourtney, came and told me not to worry, trust her and it will be great. I had not a worry or fear at all. In my mind, all that mattered was that I was marrying Chris! I would do it wherever, in the rain, the wind, inside, outside, I didn’t care, I just wanted to marry him.

The ceremony was held in between the two main buildings at Cru. The reception was on the other side with a dance floor in the middle and a mix of high and low tables surrounding it. We had white lights that strung across the whole lawn to light up the area; it was breathtaking!

The time came for my dad to walk me down the aisle. The bridesmaids walked down to ‘Come Thou Fount’, which I had one of my high school girls, Erin, sing. I remember the walk with my dad so clearly; it was such a sweet moment. He kept telling me how much he loved me and how proud he was of me. This was it- I was getting married. I choose to walk down to How ‘He Loves Us ‘by David Crowder. I don’t think I stopped smiling the whole walk down. For the moment I saw Chris, there was a wave of peace that overcame me, he was my husband, I was his wife. God had ordained this and we were both so grateful. Chris just smiled as I slowly walked towards him.

The ceremony was wonderful and quick. Steve Sellers officiated the wedding. He has been like a second dad to me through my life and I always knew that I wanted him to marry me. I don’t remember much of the ceremony except for the part where we were taking communion. It was the first time as husband and wife that we partook in this sacred practice. Erin sang ‘In Christ Alone’. Chris prayed for our marriage during that time. We were committing our lives to each other but knowing full well that Christ must be at the center of it for it to work. We knew that hard times would come and what would hold us together was these moments and this commitment to each other, that through thick and thin we were there for each other. This wasn’t about us, it was about what God had brought together and we will fight for it and fight for each other. It is about sacrifice and loving the other person even when we don’t feel like it. We entered into a covenant relationship with each other and God that day, before family and friends, we committed to love each other and serve the other person! Steve pronounced us as husband and wife, for the first time, Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Sibben! As we walked down the aisle, two sand cranes flew over us, it was beautiful and once again a sweet reminder of God’s involvement and care in our lives!

We took some more pictures as husband and wife. We took pictures with family and the bridal party. As we were taking pictures, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the reception had to move inside. By the time we were done with picture, everything had been re-arranged. It actually ended up being a great thing. Chris and I stood in one spot and got to say to hi to everyone who came. I wish we had more time to sit down and talk to everyone, we had so many people make the trip down from Atlanta and other dear friends fly in, but that is life, there is never enough time. We both valued every conversation and every interaction we had that day.

The Sibben Family

The Rogers Family

My favorite part of the wedding was our dance. We danced to ‘Your Smiling Face’ by James Taylor. Since the reception had been moved inside, the dance floor was still outside. We walked out to the dance floor, underneath the white lights and danced. For the first few moments we were all alone, just us and the music!

Our first dance together

The wedding and reception didn’t go exactly as we had planned but the end result was tall the same, we were married and that was all that mattered. To me, the wedding and reception was perfect! We got to celebrate with family and friends and commit our lives to each other! It was a wonderful day and one that I am forever grateful for!

And our love stories continues as we figure out what it means to be married to each other and love each other as Christ calls us to! 

Mr. & Mrs. Christopher Sibben