Paul & Loise's Wedding, The Wequassett Inn, Chatham, MA

What a gorgeous day for a wedding on the lovely lawn directly overlooking the ocean view of the Wequassett Inn in Chatham. Loise and Paul experienced a truly unique and beautiful ceremony, designed with many symbolic traditions that were interwoven into
their

custom wedding service.

The violinists and harpist played in the background as the wedding party entered the beautiful altar by the sea. Loise and Paul had arranged for several unique qualities in their wedding. The ring bearer and flower girl were accompanied by the family dog who had the rings affixed to his collar.

All went quite well until the dog decided that there was someone interesting in the audience whom he wished to visit. Darting at a 90 degree angle, the ring bearer was pulled away from his intended path up the aisle! The flower girl, determined to fulfill her role, continued forward, unaware of the challenges being faced by her handsome ring bearer. Chuckles permeated the audience of family and friends as more people realized what was happening. The ring bearer, undeterred by his ultimate responsibility, recuperated by pulling the dog back on course, and successfully up the aisle to where Loise and Paul stood with me. Many applauded and laughed, thoroughly enjoying this spontaneously humorous event.

Everything turned sentimental within moments as the bride was escorted by her dad up the lawn's aisle to the altar where we stood. There were custom readings from relatives and a special unity candle ceremony whereby the parents of both the groom and bride lit a candle each, followed by Paul and Loise performing the candle lighting, too. Despite the windy day, with some persistence, all of the candles were lit, symbolizing the unity of their individual lives into one.

A Philippine wedding tradition of the pinning of the veil was then performed whereby the parents of both the bride and groom came forward and pinned the veil to Loise's shoulder, and then the other end to Paul's shoulder. In this way, the veil represented the shelter they will always find in the unconditional love of their families.

The wind then whipped up from the ocean beyond, and a gust caught Loise unaware. This moment captured by my wife, Lianne, shows how Loise retrieved her veil as a gust swirled, embracing she and her groom with its sudden caress. I looked up and announced to Loise to "go with the flow", to which all joined in in laughing with her and Paul in a spontaneous, loving moment.

Congratulations to Paul and Loise! Thank you for including me in your special wedding day! It was a sincere pleasure performing your custom ceremony on the lawn of the Wequassett Inn. Indeed, I have no doubt that your extended families will always be there to offer shelter and support, on calm days and windy days, too!