this is my tuesday {+ a wedding recap}

the topic this week on red boots' series, this is my tuesday, is happiness!

i must say, choosing only one photo to tell the story of happiness in my life was quite difficult - there are so many pieces of joy in my life right now! but i suppose, as far as problems go, this isn't too bad.

here is the photo of my happiness:

that's right, it's a photo from my wedding, when dannon and i literally tied the knot!

we decided to have a short ceremony which mostly consisted of our vows. while we were promising to love each other {and to be the killer of spiders - thanks dannon!}, our friend larry bound our hands with a long strip of fabric, which i had pieced together out of fabric sent to us by our friends and family.

this was a powerful symbol of both being bound together for eternity and being wrapped in the love of so many wonderful people who supported us over the years. this photo is not just an example of happiness because i'm a newlywed, but a reminder of how much love i have {and always had} in my life. there are many different forms of love, and i feel so blessed that i've had a life full of them all!

head over to red boots to add your own this is my tuesday post!

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and while we're on the topic of my wedding ceremony. . .

about our ceremony

* our ceremony was short and sweet, in a grassy backyard covered in huge flower bushes. our family and friends surrounded us on picnic blankets as we made our promises under a tree, creating the most beautiful dappled light. it was perfectly magical!

{dancing during our ceremony}

* i did not walk down an isle, nor was i given away. dannon and i came in together, said hello's, and gave hugs to all our guests while our opening song played. we then shared a little dance and giggled like school kids until the song was over and our ceremony began.

{having a private prayer while our guests offered up their own prayers, thoughts, and positive energy for us}

* we did not have anyone officiate for us since we did a domestic partnership in lieu of a marriage license. instead we had both of our dads and our friend larry each play a role in our knot-tying.

{my dad pronouncing us eternally united}

* we did not have any bridesmaids or groomsmen either. we chose to have a small, intimate wedding {about 50 people} made up of our very closest friends and immediate family. the idea was that all of our guests were our attendants! we didn't want our ceremony to be a production or show, but simply wanted everyone to have a part in supporting us and being our witnesses.

{the kiss!}

* the music at the beginning and end of our ceremony was played by our talented best friend ivan on a classical guitar. he sang two songs from the movie the life aquatic with steve zissou. they were both seu jorge covers of david bowie's rebel rebel and queen bitch sung in portuguese! you can have a listen right here:

and that was our ceremony!

p.s. - aren't these photos amazing?! we had such an awesome, talented, friendly, and creative photographer. she really fit in with all our guests and the atmosphere of our wedding. i've been to a couple weddings where the photographers were rude to the guests, or were obviously just there to do a job. but nataliya was so sweet and fun to be around, and she was great about making friends with our guests. check out her website: nataliya cole weddings.