Finishing up the second half of our wedding post today. Our ceremony was a little different than most. Andrew's close friend and mentor, Shane, got ordained on the internet to officiate our ceremony. Yes, we were those people. But we wouldn't have had it any other way. Andrew credits Shane with helping him become the person he is today, influencing his work, his values, his priorities and his faith. Knowing Andrew to be the man he is and knowing Shane had a large part in that - what an honor to have him play a part in beginning this new chapter of our lives.

Our pre-ceremony music made my 90s-country-loving heart so happy. Hal Ketchum and Restless Heart played as the guests took their seats.

I walked down the aisle to the

MercyMe version

of my favorite hymn of all time, Come Thou Fount.

Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace

Streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise

Oh to grace, how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be

Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee

Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above

This is one of my favorite images from the whole day and one word comes to mind: trust. The man who raised me, giving me away to the man about to say his vows to me. I wanted to freeze that bittersweet moment for just a little longer!

Sweet Emma girl. Such a beauty, and she doesn't even know it yet.

As soon as my dad sat down and I stood across from Andrew and took his hands, he slipped a tiny piece of paper to me and opened his palm so I could read it. It simply said "home team." Those words have been a theme in our relationship since we got engaged. Knowing that we would soon be moving to a new city and encountering a lot of new challenges, we promised that we would face it all, all of the unknowns, as a team. With a million different things vying for our attention every day, we know that our priority is at home, in each other.

We asked Shane to speak a little on the meaning of the covenant. How it differs in nature and purpose from a contract or a promise, and how our relationship in marriage is meant to mirror Jesus's relationship with the church. He also talked about choosing joy despite whatever circumstances may come our way.

Instead of lighting a unity candle, we joined jars of dirt. It doesn't sound pretty, or really even look pretty, but the dirt is from the land where we were each raised. His, dark soil from east Texas, and mine, rocky clay from the hill country. By joining those two together, we created our "common ground." We added sand from the Caribbean when we returned from our honeymoon, and we'll add to the jar with each place we live, wherever that may be.

My brother did what he does so well and played a medley of two other favorite hymns, In Christ Alone and Be Thou My Vision, before we said a final prayer.

We did it! That right there is a face of pure bliss. And in true Bullard fashion, we had George Strait's "True" playing as we walked out :)

The boys were ready to get the party started. Three cheers for Shiner Ruby Redbird!

First dance with my love. We danced to "I Just Wanna Be Yours" by Full Throttle.

There was a whole lot of dancing. A whole lot. And we loved every minute of it.

Looking back on our day, I honestly don't know how it could've been any more perfect. Our parents, our best friends, and our families all together in one place made it the best day of our lives.

Venue:

Memory Lane

Photography:

Al Gawlik

Caterer:

Trudy's Four Star

Cakes:

Classic Cakes by Lori

Floral:

Petal Pushers

Rings:

Segner's Jewelers