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sam and dave: the wedding

Sam was sweet enough to take a moment before her honeymoon to write this about her wedding day. It's incredibly sweet, and the readings kind of make me want to cry, in a good "wedding-y" sort of way. I actually did cry, BRIEFLY at the wedding. One solitary tear. It was very lady like. I then continued to get my kleenex all caught up in the zipper of my purse, I made a big mess because I was in such a hurry to "blot". Regardless of my tissue mess, everything was beautiful. I'll let Sam tell you all about it~

On a mild, moody and overcast day last weekend, Dave and I got married. The day was filled with preparation. It was surreal to think that later we would be looking each other in the eyes in front of our friends and family and saying our vows. The evening approached and my dad got more and more tense ordering people in and out of the house. My mom (cool as a cucumber) collected the boutonnieres she and I arranged earlier. Erin took some photographs of me and my grandmother and dog in the yard. We drove to the wedding and I waited in one area while Dave waited in another. I was told he was really nervous. Earlier that day he told me he was having stage fright. I told him to take deep breaths, that it’s not a performance. When the moment came to walk down the aisle I thought I was calm but I could hear and feel my heart thumping in my chest. As I walked down the grassy path the wind rustled the leaves and the grey sky looked beautiful and peaceful. Everything brightened as Roland played the violin I drew nearer to Dave’s big glowing smile. The ceremony was beautiful and our friends did their readings with aplomb. Everything after that flew by as if to take place within a moment. It was spectacularly fun to salsa dance, eat cupcakes, watch the slide show and drink mojitos in the company of everyone I love and everyone my new husband loves. It is difficult to express how moving the whole experience was for us. I hope some of these photos help paint the picture.

The Ceremony
Two of our favorite readings from the ceremony:

"The Blessing of the Hands," revised by Reverend Daniel L. Harris:

These are the hands of your best friend, young and strong and full of
love for you, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as you
promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever.
These are the hands that will work alongside yours, as together you
build your future.
These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you
through the years and, with the slightest touch, will comfort you like
no other.
These are the hands that will hold you when fear or grief fills your mind.
These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your
eyes; tears of sorrow and, as in today, tears of joy.
These are the hands that will tenderly hold your children, the hands
that will help you to hold your family as one.
These are the hands that will give you strength when you need it.
And lastly, these are the hands that, even when wrinkled and aged,
will still be reaching for yours, still be giving you the same
unspoken tenderness with just a touch.


From "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres:

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then
subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have
to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is
inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.
Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the
promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any
fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has
burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those
that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground,
and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they
find that they are one tree and not two.


Dancing at the reception...

Sam dancing, Sam's parents dancing
The Horah

photos are by Erin Gleeson and chad nicholson
davesam.com has a flickr stream with lots more photos if anyone wants to see more.

10 comments:

Unknown on 12:52 AM

Thank you so much for sharing this with us. Your dress was really lovely and you looked beautiful.

bluebird on 8:16 AM

yay! congratulations. you look beautiful!

Anonymous on 12:12 PM

I love the blessing of the hands reading!! I may honestly have to use that in our ceremony.

Sparrow on 1:18 PM

Is that yellow dress a bridesmaid's one? Do you/does anyone happen to know what it is?

The vows are beautiful. I like the idea of finding a treatise on love in a good book!

samantha hahn on 4:01 PM

that's my mom in the yellow BCBG dress. She's a hot mama!

Anonymous on 10:48 AM

Gorgeous - simply gorgeous! I'm getting married in a few short months and following your story has been so helpful for me.

I have three quick questions:
1) I see you did your own flowers which looked amazing. Did you do them the day of? Day before? Was it stressful or not a problem? I'm thinking about doing the same and wondering if I'll regret it later.
2) Your mother made the lovely cupcakes (right?) in advance. How did that work? How many days in advance? We've searched high and low for a cost effective cake solution and after every cupcake we taste, we think, the ones I make at home are better than any of these. But I'm not sure I want to make a few hundred cupcakes the day before my wedding! :-)
3) You looked beautiful -- and while I don't know you personally, it seems that you weren't wearing a TON of make-up on the day of your wedding. Did you have a make-up artist come out? Did you do it yourself? Every time I have my make up done for a wedding I'm in, I end up looking good in pictures but very spackled in person. For my own wedding, I really want to avoid that as my fiancee hates make-up. Any advice you can give on this would be so helpful.

Again - thank you so much for sharing. Your wedding was truly beautiful and inspiring!

Anonymous on 2:47 PM

Beautiful! Love the dresses.

samantha hahn on 1:33 PM

Thanks for all the compliments...I'll try to answer your questions:

a: We did our own flowers on Thursday and the place kept them in a large refrigerator for us. It was a big job but doable, especially if you have a few extra hands (friends). We got them in Chelsea in the flower district. We used peonies, hydrangea and lilacs.

b: my mom made the cupcakes in advance and frosted them the day of. She also made all the white chocolate flowers and stored them in the fridge and placed them on after frosting. Butter cream is tricky but she learned. Maybe you can buy frosting? You can also learn to candy real violets and other edible flowers for the tops...or buy something to put on there. It's time intensive but very personal and people loved them. I ate 2 that night.

c: I did my own makeup. I just used really natural stuff. I don't like looking cake faced. I did make the mistake of getting my first facial on Thursday and breaking out...disaster...don't do it!!!!!! Be yourself!!! Natural is better.

Anonymous on 11:40 AM

You look absolutely gorgeous. Would you mind if I enquire about your dress? When I first started shopping, I tried that one on and I regret not ordering it. I know it's Vera Wang, but does it have a name or style number? I think I might become a 2 dress bride....I would appreciate any info you could pass on...

Anonymous on 10:31 AM

Thank you for answering my questions! I've been really struggling with the make-up thing too and have heard from others that they did their own make-up that day with no problem. Now to convince my girlfriends that I'll actually wear some make up on the big day...as I don't ususally wear anything other than lipstick and mascara! :-)

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