because you asked...

...here are the vows that many of you asked for because you couldn't hear them.


But first off, we had the most amazing wedding day which deserves a post of it's own.  we hope to do so in the next few days but right now...we are at LAX waiting to depart to Tahiti!  And this is the first time nathaniel and i have sat down for more than 15 minutes in the past few weeks.  our adventure starts here so keep checking back for updates from us.  since we'll be gone for 4 months, we made sure to get one last In & Out Burger too.


VOWS--


(melissa)

My dearest NP:

Here I am standing next to you in a white dress, just like the first day you met me.  How lucky I am that you decided to pursue me after that day with such perseverance and ambition.  I know that I wasn’t easy to capture, that I put up all my walls, and pretended I didn’t want to be noticed.  But God told you otherwise and eventually my walls came down, slowly, surely, steadily.  You showed me love in a different form, tender, patient, unselfish, unwarranted, and never ceasing.   A dream I didn’t know became realized and I could not wait to spend the rest of my life with you.  This is where it all began and now I’m overflowing with the thought of you and I. 

You let me dream…you make me dream, and I promise to nurture your passions and stand by your dreams as you stand by mine.

I want to grow with you, not just grow old with you but grow in my faith, wisdom, and love and I promise to seek this will all my heart.

I want to be accepted and understood and I promise to accept you the way you are and love you no less.

I want our family to be complete & whole, one without voids and brokenness and so I promise to fight for this, by your side and with God in the center.

I want to be loved with everything you have, and I promise to love you the same way in return. 

I want to be your wife now and without end and today I make you this promise.

And so my love, I give you all that I have, all that I am, today and forevermore.

And to quote one of my favorite books: Today I give you the keys to my kingdom.

//

(nathaniel)

Chapter 1

Today begins the greatest love story ever told, the story of us. Our story, begins with a guy, that’s me, who meets a beautiful girl, that’s you. At first, the guy likes the girl, then guy loves the guy girl, and then the guy falls completely for the girl.  

Melissa, you look so beautiful, I’m so excited to begin our lives and our story together. I’m excited to unite our families together today and perhaps in about 7 hours from now we'll start one of our own.  I believe that I did not encounter you by chance, but that God put you in my life for a reason because he knew that I needed you as much as you needed me.

Melissa, you have a tender heart, but don’t worry; your heart can trust me.  I want to make a promise to you today; God, our friends and family are our witnesses, I want to promise that as your husband, I will cherish you, I will ALWAYS be faithful to you, I will protect you, and I will always love you, I am a man of my word.

Our story begins today, it’ll be full adventure, twists and turns, love, romance, tears and laughter, but it’s a story you just can’t stop reading, it’s good from beginning to end.