A Sunday Kind of Love: I Only Have Eyes For You

Our ceremony was quick and traditional.  We met with our rabbi (if you're looking for a rabbi in PA to do an interfaith wedding - or any wedding, really - I highly recommend Rabbi Bleefeld.) a few times before the wedding so he could get to know us and personalize the ceremony a bit.  He gave us one crucial piece of advice for the ceremony that we both took to heart.  He advised that as soon as the ceremony started, we look at each other, and no one else, the entire time. He told us some stories about brides who were more concerned about where the photographer/videographer were throughout the ceremony, and didn't pay attention to the real reason why they were there. He advised us that there's nothing like being able to recall the way your beloved looked the moment you were married, and we didn't need to look at him, or our guests, or anyone besides each other.  I am so very glad we took his advice, because there is nothing that I remember more vividly about our ceremony besides what Mr. Ly looked like in those moments where we were married.  I did not see guests come in late, my photographer lying on the floor to get some of his shots, or my MOH run out in the middle of our ceremony (surprise: she's pregnant too!), all I saw was the face of my love as we promised each other to love, honor and cherish each other for the rest of our lives.

So all of our photos are us, looking at each other.  And I love that. If you can take this advice and look at no one other than your partner for your entire ceremony - do it.  You'll never regret not looking anywhere else.

All photos by Mike Landis Photographer

(also, sorry to jam all these photos into one post, I didn't want to do more than one ceremony post but love ALL these pictures. I couldn't choose. So very pic heavy post ahead.)

The rabbi started the ceremony by welcoming our guests, mentioning those in remembrance who have passed, and offering up a bit of his rabbinical advice about marriage.

(this is the shot that was taken from the floor)

 We recited our vows in both Hebrew and English, and exchanged our rings:

We exchange rings

There is a blessing over the wine, and we each take a sip of wine from the Kiddish cup:

Confession: I didn't tell the rabbi I was pregnant. So I drank a sip of wine. 

The rabbi then gives the seven blessings, I believe he did them all in Hebrew for our ceremony.

(this is the last picture you see my MOH in until after the ceremony)

One of my favorite ceremony shots.

The breaking of the glass is the traditional end to the Jewish ceremony, Mr. Ly was kind of nervous about this.  The rabbi had told us a story about a couple who tried to use a shot glass for their glass, and the groom ended up breaking his foot - and missing his whole wedding.  Needless to say, we used a thin royal blue wine glass. (We would have just used a light bulb or some other really thin glass - but my mom bought us a gift for our home to display the broken glass from the ceremony - so we wanted something nice)

Despite being nervous, Mr. Ly was really excited about breaking the glass.

Easily broken, no broken bones either. 

We kiss! 

... and kiss some more. 

The violinist began the recessional song right then, and as the first few notes to Love is All You Need played in the ceremony space, I realized we were really, truly, 100% married. In Jewish law, PA law, and in the eyes of our family and friends - we were now committed to each other for as long as we both shall live. I was on cloud 9. I didn't even realize as I stepped down from under the chuppah  that my MOH was missing and my sister was the one who handed me my flowers. Talk about oblivious!

Beaming. 

We are married! 

All in all, our ceremony lasted about 20 minutes.  I like that it was short, sweet, and personal - and most of all meaningful to us both.  Our guests definitely enjoyed the shorted ceremony, and that meant more time for cocktails!

What type of ceremony did you/will you have? Long, short, somewhere in between?

I pre-capped our recaps with a big announcement!
Recaps began with our Same Day Edit video.
I needed to get some perspective the week of the wedding.
Personally brewed beers gave our rehearsal lunch a special touch!
I spent a fantastic last day as a Miss.
I shared some gifts for my bridesmaids. 
The girls spend an easy and relaxing morning getting made up.
The guys spent the morning building a chuppah and doing guy things.
I panicked when the morning went by too fast.
We exchanged lovely notes and gifts on the wedding morning.
I put on my dress and became a Blissful Bride.
Bridal details and my "somethings" rounded out the wedding morning.
We had our not-so-private first look.
We took some silly pictures, just the two of us.
Broad Street gave us gorgeous shots, but we nearly lost some of bridal party in traffic.
The Lyres and their huge bridal party storm the art museum, Rocky style.
I shed tears of pain at our final photo stop in Olde City
The ceremony space and details took our breath away when we arrived for a quick rehearsal.
We were officially married under Jewish law when we signed our Ketubah.
Guests were seated and the bridal party got our ceremony started.

I got a little emotional for my walk down the aisle.