A Honeymoon Hiccup

Remember way back when, when I mentioned we were going to Peru for our honeymoon?

Well, now, maybe not.

We have been having a really hard time finding a trip to Peru that works with our work schedules. September would be great for Kenneth, but terrible for me because we're launching things at work and I have a 4 day trip to New York in September too. October doesn't work for Kenneth because of the REI sales at that time of year. November is ok for both of us... but in Peru, rainy season can start as early as November.  (It's warm, but still, lots of rain). Last night, we talked about maybe something else might work out better, and just for informational purposes, we took a look at other trips REI offers.

And then we saw this picture of Belize...

Soooo pretty! But now we don't know what to do.

Here are the pros and cons:

PERU:

Click on "Peru" to read the REI itinerary.

Pros: cultural significance (love that! The ruins! The people! The history!), it's a once in a lifetime trip, hot showers and hotels the entire time.

Cons: It doesn't work well with our schedule (it could work, just not ideal), it's more expensive than Belize (in airfare), it's certainly not a relaxing vacation. Doesn't exactly say "honeymoon."

BELIZE:

Click on "Belize" to read the itinerary.

Pros: it's sunny, warm and beautiful! Just look again at the picture--- who doesn't want to spend time there!? It's cheaper  (HUGE plus!!), more relaxing.

Cons: For 4 days of the trip we would be in those tents on the beach with access to showers (not necessarily hot ones) and get this, "modern, compostable toilets," (I read that as code for fancy port-o-potties... do you interpret it differently?). There are no cultural experiences to be had--- they mention Mayan caves and culture in the description, but when you read the itinerary, there's actually nothing involving Mayan culture.

One last thing--- Ken thinks that Belize has more of a romance factor, and it does *sound* more romantic to go to Belize, but I'm not so sure yet. During the part of the trip that should be the most romantic (the 4-5 days on an island with pristine beaches),  "modern, compostable toilet" doesn't say romance to me. In terms of romance, I think the trips are pretty even.

We are VERY blessed to have 2 such wonderful options for our honeymoon, but we're still baffled as to which will be better. Where would you go? Peru or Belize? 

Wedding Pictures Part 12: Ave Maria

Mom didn't make any demands about our wedding, except one. Ave Maria had to be played during our ceremony.

I had no objections to Mom's demand. Ave Maria was sung by my great-grandfather at the weddings of each of his children. It's been played at many family weddings since then.

We asked Kenneth's cousin to sing it originally, but she couldn't come to the wedding... which was disappointing, but our musicians did a fine job. 

It's a song that honors the Virgin Mary, and asks for her protection as well as God's. But it's not just that to us. 

Granny was a strong, Catholic woman. The kind that had rosaries in every purse, a well-worn one next to her bedside. Pictures of saints, missals, and prayer books scattered on her nightstand and bookshelves. She went to confession if she even had a bad thought about someone. She loved her family and we all loved her. She was a saint on earth.

And Kenneth's grandma was also a strong, Catholic woman. She loved children so much, she had 10 of them. I don't know much about her since she died over 10 years ago. But if a woman's children speak of her like she was as much an angel before she died as she is now, I'm not sure I need to know much else. And she had 10 children!

What better song to honor them than Ave Maria?

We wanted to honor them in a personal way. So, the roses I carried up the aisle with me were left at the statue of Mary as our musicians played Ave Maria. We left the altar, and stopped at the niche to pray a silent Hail Mary and remember our grandparents.

 (I had wanted to have copies of their bridal bouquets done for this, but it was too hard to figure out logistically. But the roses made good substitutes.)

When I think of Granny, I think of her faith. In turn, her faith inspires my own. When she was unable to come to Seattle for my Confirmation a few years ago because of arthritis in her back (the car ride was too hard anymore), I thought she could at least come to my wedding someday. I wanted her to see me make a sacrament as an adult, to witness just how much she had influenced me. 

I believe Grandma H., Granny, and Granddad were there with us in that moment as we prayed alone at the back of the church. When I look back at our ceremony, I think we must have made them happy and proud. 

(And that, my friends, is the last somber moment of the day. Thanks for sticking through some posts that were pretty hard to write. The rest are all fun stuff, like kisses, and cake, and dancing!) 

Wedding Pictures Part 11: Communion

Possibly one of my favorite pictures ever.

Some people have strong feelings around Communion being served at Catholic weddings.  If you're curious about the rules around Communion, you can read more here. It might also give you some ideas about why people have strong feelings about it (rules around who can receive Communion, why, etc.).

You all being nice people, we decided that none of you would be grumpy because you love us. We're both Catholic, so receiving Christ on our wedding day seemed fitting. Why would we not invite Christ to be part of our ceremony? Anyway, Kenneth's family always has Communion at weddings. The more we thought about it, the reasons to have Communion were more compelling than not and agreeing to have Communion was one of the easiest parts of planning our ceremony.

Anyway, so at this point, Monica and Erin (Kenneth's cousins and our altar servers) waited with Fr. Dick for the gifts to be presented (I think that's how it's described).

 Aunt Mary, Uncle Bruce, and their daughter Elizabeth brought them up.

Fr. Dick consecrated the bread and wine.

We prayed the Lord's Prayer, and our guests raised their hands in prayer over us... no, that's not a gesture common in Germany during WWII, despite the look of things.

Next came what I call "the peace-be-with-you," but what's actually called the sign of peace. Which, at a wedding, is another chance to get hugs in. We were all about the hugs on our wedding day... if you escaped being within 10 ft of us without a hug I'd like to know how because I would be pretty darn impressed.

And, after all that, we were all ready for receiving the Eucharist.

Phew. Ceremony is almost over. Just a song, a few detail shots that didn't find their way into a previous post,  and a kiss to be had, then off to the party.

Wedding Pictures Part 10: Prayers of the Faithful

After we made our vows, Uncle Chad stepped up to say the prayers of the faithful-- prayers on behalf of the congregation. This is the part of the ceremony where we were given the most freedom for creativity--- and so we did:

For leaders of Church and state, that they guide us in the search for peace, environmental stewardship, equality, health, and love, let us pray to the Lord.

For Brianna and Kenneth, and all who share a mutual love and life together, that through the help of God, they may savor love, children, long life, family and friends, let us pray to the Lord.

For those who have died, especially Joan Hebert, Robert Ellis, and Johanna Ellis, and also for those who could not join us today due to their health, we pray to the Lord.

For the unspoken prayers we hold in our hearts, we pray to the Lord.

Not the most beautifully crafted prayer in the world, but we felt it covered all the bases.

I insisted that an Ellis family member had to read the prayers of the faithful because I wanted Granny's name to be pronounced right--- (YO-HAWN-UH-- it's a Dutch name and the name Johan/Johanna goes back many generations).  Even at Granny's funeral the priest mispronounced her name and that bothered me so much that I didn't want it to be mispronounced in such a public way again. Little things get under my skin, I guess.

 I also remember how Kenneth's family chokes up at weddings when his grandma's name (Joan Hebert) is mentioned. We knew Uncle Chad would be able to pray for Granny and Granddad with a steady voice-- Uncle Chad is good at keeping his cool that way. I, on the other hand, started tearing up at Granny's name. Before the wedding, I had worked on de-sensitizing myself to the things I knew were going to affect me most-- these prayers and the song Ave Maria. It didn't work and I still cried.  A quick dab of my eyes and a few deep breaths and Chad was done.

Chad stepped down from lectern, and the preparation for Communion began.