Wedding: The Ceremony

The Ceremony

The wedding ceremony lasted about 30 minutes, and was 'officiated' by Brother Dave Pride of the Cranston, RI ecclesia.

This is Sister Ethel Wallace (of Cranston, I think). She was the wedding singer. She sang a lovely song/hymn at the very beginning of the ceremony, before anyone in the wedding party had entered.

The Lovely Bridesmaids!

In the top row: Sister Betsy (Wilkinson) Wells of Worcestor, MA; Sister Tiffany (Dillingham) McInturff of Hudson, NH; and Sister Bonny (Bounds) Pride of Westerly, RI. I've known all three of these sisters my whole life.

The flower girls, who actually spread gold glitter instead of flower petals (the wedding's colors were gold and black, in case you hadn't noticed): Brianna Woodward and Avonlee Pride.

The Groom

Keeping it Together

Art did a great job of holding himself together through the whole ceremony. OK, that's a lie! The truth is that he didn't cry until Sarah's entrance... so he held it together for all of five minutes. :-)

I don't know the other two guys, but I do have their names. The best man (hiding behind Art) is Art's best friend, Jim Harrigan. The other guy is Julio Rodriguez. Not pictured is the third groomsman, Felix Rodriguez.

Not Keeping it Together

Art's crying in this one, though you can't see it very clearly. The doors have been thrown open, and behind them Art saw the woman he loves... dressed up as much as it is possible for a woman to be, in a truly amazing wedding gown! The train was approximately one half mile long, and was carried behind her by an entire marching band. I didn't get a picture of that, as I was told by both Mother and Wife to get a picture of Art crying.

Unfortunately, they didn't want flash pictures during the ceremony, which is why the color is so funky. Sorry! No, wait, I'm not sorry, as I had nothing to do with it. The truth is, the whole idea of "no flash photography" is incredibly silly! Why would you spend so much time and money on presentation, and then not let anyone record it!? Thankfully, the annoying (but paid) wedding photographer completely ignored the direct orders to leave his flash turned off, so he's probably got some good shots of the ceremony. The little weasel was like a fly buzzing around them the whole time!

Yeah, he's crying again, but you can actually see it this time.

Okay, there's nothing particularly special about this shot, I just liked it enough to include it. It's fairly solemn, which is how the ceremony itself should be. This was taken during the actual exchange of vows.

Presenting Mister and Missus Arturo Pena!

Yay! They're married!

I really like Art, he's a brother twice-over, a friend, and he's even an employee... but I wish we'd been seated on the other side of the room so that I could have gotten some pictures of my sister! The seating arrangments at weddings have always bugged me: the family of the bride should be on the groom's side of the room, so that they can see her face! (This isn't a complaint about this wedding, it's about weddings in general.)

And they're off! Hey, it's nice to have an action photo like this! Unfortunately, they weren't really "off"... even after the hundreds and hundreds of photos were taken (outside), and after the reception had wound down, they weren't able to leave in the limo until after 7:00... almost six-and-a-half hours after the ceremony!

Art and Sarah Pena are now enjoying their honeymoon in the Dominican Republic, which is Art's motherland. We've received word that they arrived safely (can't say the same for her luggage, though) and are very happy. So are all of us back home!

Incidentally, Corinne and I are a little jealous and want to go away on another little honeymoon. The only thing holding us back right now is the (lack of) money! We hope to have the problem rectified shortly, and then we'll be off on a little private vacation.