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!)