Together at Last: Husband and Wife
Pastor Moore: “Now, by the authority that has been vested in me. And with great joy and pride, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I now pronounce you husband and wife!”
“With pride, I want to present to you, Lieutenant and Mrs. Kenny S———!!”
The feeling I had when I heard, “I now pronounce you husband and wife” was almost indescribable. The entire ceremony flew by incredibly fast, but towards the end I noticed the Air Force Honor Guard walking down the aisle in perfect formation.
I remembered that they would be there, of course, but in that moment I felt like I was floating. Their timing was perfect, because they reached the front of the chapel just in time for our kiss. As Pastor Moore pronounced us as a married couple, the honor guard swiftly raised their sabers, allowing us to walk underneath their arch.
As we walked, the saber bearers lowered their swords and detained us until we kissed. They released us, only until we took another step and reached the next pair of sabers where we repeated our kiss.
At the very last stop they requested yet another kiss, but just as they released us to continue on our way, the last saber bearer gently swatted my behind and said to me, “Welcome to the United States Air Force, Ma’am.”
If I weren’t so gosh-darn, overwhelmingly giddy, I would’ve cried right then and there.
It was at that moment when I realized that I was no longer a girlfriend or fiance, but had finally made the long journey to becoming his wife.
We were, finally, together. Husband and wife!
Up next…Holy Cow, We’re MARRIED!
I remember this flood of giddy emotion from the end of my own wedding! The kiss isn't really part of the Catholic ceremony, so the priest didn't say anything to remind us, and we totally forgot! I'm glad you got yours, and I've always enjoyed the military arch-thing (which we didn't do). Very nice!
Beautiful photos! I absolutely love your church. Did the guy really swat you on the butt?! 🙂
We were readying ourselves for deployment, and most of the folks we wanted for our arch were on pre-dep leave, so we skipped that part. I was sad, until I heard about the whacking one wife got!
I have loved all of your pictures- and these ones do not disappoint 😀
This totally reminds me of the Arch of Sabers at my wedding. We had a bunch of our friends doing it so they made sure to give me one hell of an adventure, including one definitely hard swat. Luckily my dress was very poofy so I could barely feel it!
And it was so much fun to watch!!! Such a wonderful wedding, and a beautiful bride 🙂
Seriously, such a beautiful wedding, beautiful bride, great story!!! I loved your recaps, Jess!!!
Congrats and welcome to the AF spouse life. 🙂
I Love the pictures! Here in Canada when I got married, my dh is in the Armoured Corp and they have an almost identical sword party. We walk under their raised swords until the last one who swatted me on the butt and said 'welcome to the Corp.' Apparently, not so polite as the airforce since there was no Ma'am 🙂
Yay! I'm so glad you are finishing these up!