The whole wedding party was packed into
the entryway of the farmhouse. Laughing, talking, and plenty of excitement were in the air as everyone prepared for the ceremony to start. I felt nothing but
joy and anticipation…not a single thought of worry or doubt made its way to my
head and I didn’t feel a bit of nervousness or anxiety- and I owe all of that
to God!
First out the door were the grandmothers and
our mamas. Next out was the groom himself, along with Mr. Willie, and my
preacher, Mr. Paul. I watched the girls and guys go two-by-two and watched
through the window as they all waited their turn. Then the little flower girls
and ring-bearers made their way outside and that left my dad and me. He said a
prayer for us, specifically for me- just like he has been since the day I was
born.
Erin, my wedding planner, gave us our cue
and through the door we went. I thought as soon as I stepped outside surely the
nerves would hit…but they still didn’t! And I count that as one of the biggest
miracles of my life because walking down that aisle was a breeze…I mean I was
really enjoying myself! First off, I see my handsome groom waiting for me
smiling from ear to ear. Then dad kept me steady as I looked around to see all
the joyous faces of people I loved. Weddings are great because both of your
families and all your circles of friends are at the same place at the same
time…that is awesome.
We finally made it to the front of the
aisle where we were greeted by Mr. Willie, our officiator, whose first words
came out with an Irish accent! The whole crowd went crazy laughing including
all of us. My dad replied with an accent as well, and after that the ice was
broken and I think it put everyone there at ease.
The ceremony was beautiful. My pastor
welcomed all of our guests and opened with a prayer. Then Mr. Willie preached.
He compared marriage to a house- it wasn’t very long at all but it was very
meaningful and had so much truth in it…I think everyone there, especially the
couples, left encouraged. Then my dad gave us the blessing he has said over me
every single night…
“May the Lord bless you and keep you. May
His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May He turn His face towards
you and give you peace”.
(Numbers 6:24-26)
We said our vows and we exchanged rings.
Then we were announced husband and wife!
Mr. and Mrs. John Luke Robertson!
The band started playing “Best Day of My
Life” and we triumphantly headed back up the aisle laughing and celebrating.
Once we made it to the house we were
greeted by some of the production crew who were screaming and cheering and
hugging us. Then soon followed the rest of the bridal party and tons of more
hugs and celebrating happened!
Next were family pictures…
which with our big families was quite
chaotic, but…
that much more fun!
After pictures we were on a golf cart
headed to the reception.
(Specifically to the dance floor). We had
the honor of having our friend Ben Rector come and play our first dance. We met
Ben last summer in Canada and then went to hear him play live last fall in
Texas. (Little did I know that the secret purpose of that trip was so John Luke
could pick up my ring!) John Luke told me after we got engaged that while we
were listening to Ben sing “Forever Like That” at the concert, that if he would
have had the ring in his pocket he would have proposed then and there. He had
told his mom about it as well, so Mrs. Korie asked Ben if he would come sing
again at our engagement party! And he did! So it only made since for us to
dance to that song for our first dance. Ben was already going to be a guest at
the wedding, so he was a champ and agreed to sing for us. So shout-out to Ben!
After the first dance we went and cut our
wedding cake.
It
was just as good as it looked!
Then up walked all of our family haha.
They had run inside to change and we did everything so fast that they
accidentally missed it! (But thankfully they’ll be able to catch it in the
wedding special!)
Anthem Lights played “My Girl” for the
Daddy/Daughter dance. We had so much fun goofing off and singing the whole
time!
Then John Luke and Mrs. Korie took the
dance floor and it was really sweet.
From that point on there was a LOT of
dancing! I mean a LOT. The dance floor literally always had someone on it, and
most of the time it was sooooo crowded that everyone was constantly bumping
into each other! The house band played all the good oldies and I think “Shout”
and “Louisiana Saturday Night” may have tied for the favorite.
We also had the pleasure of having Mark
Ballas and his girlfriend B.C. Jean sing for us. They were absolutely
incredible!
Also Reed took the stage with a song he
wrote and blew us all away. It was so special.
The night continued on and I was
surprised by how late so many people stayed-nobody seemed to want to leave the
party! John Luke and I spent the rest of the reception taking pictures and
visiting with friends and family, being silly in the photo booth, and dancing
till we nearly passed out. Unfortunately the one thing we didn’t really get to
do was eat!
And what a shame that was because looking
at pictures the food looked absolutely delicious. And everyone else told us it
was great haha. But we had a variety of different kinds of carnival foods like:
Chicken on a stick
Mini tacos
Sliders
Snowballs
Cronuts
And more!
The fireworks started as an indicator
that the night was coming to an end. And there were also these huge flames! But
I wasn’t quite ready to leave the party. So about that time Mr. Willie took the
stage with the house band and gave us a show!
Finally it was time to go. John Luke and
I ran through a tunnel of people to the car as they threw dried flowers at us
and cheered.
Then we were off.
Best. Day. Ever
AND…
If you want to see more, including wedding preparations, and you want to see it in action…
THE WEDDING SPECIAL IS WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19TH AT 8:00 Central time ON A&E!
Seriously wondering why I am crying reading this… So happy for you and John Luke! Your wedding was so beautiful! Also good luck at Liberty! My city! XO
So cool!! I came across your page on Instagram (Mylifeascaitlinp) and it took me a minute to realize who you were until I saw willie lol. Me and my husband also just moved to VA and he is in the medical school at Liberty University. Some things we have found that we really enjoy is the hiking areas! We also are very close with family and your page is very neat.
Mary Kate and John Luke, thank you again for renting our vintage seating, decor and props for the ceremony and reception. We were happy to serve you. May the Lord bless your marriage! Your friends, Kristal and the Pursuing Eden team
Congratulations! I truly enjoyed watching that episode of duck dynasty featuring your wedding, you guys radiate for Jesus and that is so rad! My hubby and I also married young, 18 & 21 and 5 years later we're still going strong with God as our center. Praying that God blesses you both through His wonderful gift of marriage! Blessings!!
Mary Kate, you and John Luke are such an amazing reflection of God's love and promises. God provides exactly what we need, at the right time, and by you and John Luke telling your story, it reveals how amazing God is! You are such an inspiration, my favorite verse is Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" you are doing that by telling your story! God Bless you and John Luke and your many amazing years to come!
I think I may have erased my first comment accidentally – if this is a duplicate, I'm sorry! Anyway: take two. ~ First of all, we so enjoyed the wedding special! It looked like such an amazingly fun day! Secondly, I wanted to drop you a note because I'm a now-local-to-you portrait photographer (I live 45 min. from LU, and both my husband and sister went to school there!), and I am so loving everything I'm seeing about the Live Original movement! My passion as a photographer is to help women (and girls!) find and embrace their inner beauty through my photo sessions. Most of us have such a hard time seeing our unique brand of beauty for ourselves, don't we? I hope that I can be a small part of that journey through each person I have the privilege of working with. I want them to feel special, pampered, like the princess they are, one-of-a-kind, and as a result… truly beautiful! – That said, I would love to chat with you sometime about lending my camera to the LO movement if there is some way I could get involved. Maybe we could brainstorm about current needs, or possible collaborations for the future. I'm so excited about spreading this message, especially through my art form, that I want to jump on board any which way I can :-). – You can contact me either via e-mail: kdphotography@juno.com or my website: http://www.kristindunkerphotography.com – I'll look forward to hearing from you! Blessings, ~Kristin
MK! I was reading this in class (don't judge!) and I can honestly tell you that I was tearing up! Because I felt reconnected with God! I say that because I have been feeling really distant towards Him and resented him for a lot of things. But reading you blog makes me feel connected with him again! This means so much to me as I have been struggling with these feelings for a few months now! I can't thank you enough for that and I hope that I can one day meet you so I can learn more about Him though you! And Honey, that is a gift, to connect people with God! Thank you so much! Love, Sofie xo
By golly, I just found your blog now! Your wedding posts have me crying right through to the end! You truly have been blessed Mary Kate x Very inspiring, all the best for 2016.
Thanks for taking the time to discuss that, I feel strongly about this and so really like getting to know more on this kind of field. Do you mind updating your blog post with additional insight? It should be really useful for all of us. מקום לאירוע קטן
It’s glad to know about this Candy box favor. It seemed interesting one like we had attended last month at one of local venues in Los Angeles. Thanks for sharing these brilliant pictures as I didn’t took any pictures at that time.
You should also ask a wedding videography service if they have insurance. Anyone operating such type of business must have public liability insurance. The government does not mandate them, but it is a plus if they have one. wedding photography
Seriously wondering why I am crying reading this… So happy for you and John Luke! Your wedding was so beautiful! Also good luck at Liberty! My city! XO
So cool!! I came across your page on Instagram (Mylifeascaitlinp) and it took me a minute to realize who you were until I saw willie lol. Me and my husband also just moved to VA and he is in the medical school at Liberty University. Some things we have found that we really enjoy is the hiking areas! We also are very close with family and your page is very neat.
Best wishes,
Caitlin Pietrangelo
Obsessed with this wedding! Can't wait to watch tomorrow night!
May God bless your wedding 🙂
Amanda Johnson
Mary Kate and John Luke, thank you again for renting our vintage seating, decor and props for the ceremony and reception. We were happy to serve you. May the Lord bless your marriage! Your friends, Kristal and the Pursuing Eden team
Your wedding looks absolutely beautiful! I'm obsessed with the theme! 🙂
Congrats to you and John Luke! May you have a lifetime of happiness!
Congrats to you and John Luke! May you have a lifetime of happiness!
Congrats to you and John Luke! May you have a lifetime of happiness!
congrats!! this was the cutest wedding i've EVER seen and i hope when i'm older i will have as much fun!!!
LOVE how you write your blogs. You would make a great pen pal!
Please please please post the style number of your dress! ?? I can't find it anywhere!
Congratulations! I truly enjoyed watching that episode of duck dynasty featuring your wedding, you guys radiate for Jesus and that is so rad! My hubby and I also married young, 18 & 21 and 5 years later we're still going strong with God as our center. Praying that God blesses you both through His wonderful gift of marriage! Blessings!!
Everything was breathtaking! Thank you for sharing your wedding with us! Just beautiful! Many Blessings!!
Mary Kate, you and John Luke are such an amazing reflection of God's love and promises. God provides exactly what we need, at the right time, and by you and John Luke telling your story, it reveals how amazing God is! You are such an inspiration, my favorite verse is Mark 16:15 "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature" you are doing that by telling your story! God Bless you and John Luke and your many amazing years to come!
I think I may have erased my first comment accidentally – if this is a duplicate, I'm sorry! Anyway: take two. ~ First of all, we so enjoyed the wedding special! It looked like such an amazingly fun day! Secondly, I wanted to drop you a note because I'm a now-local-to-you portrait photographer (I live 45 min. from LU, and both my husband and sister went to school there!), and I am so loving everything I'm seeing about the Live Original movement! My passion as a photographer is to help women (and girls!) find and embrace their inner beauty through my photo sessions. Most of us have such a hard time seeing our unique brand of beauty for ourselves, don't we? I hope that I can be a small part of that journey through each person I have the privilege of working with. I want them to feel special, pampered, like the princess they are, one-of-a-kind, and as a result… truly beautiful! – That said, I would love to chat with you sometime about lending my camera to the LO movement if there is some way I could get involved. Maybe we could brainstorm about current needs, or possible collaborations for the future. I'm so excited about spreading this message, especially through my art form, that I want to jump on board any which way I can :-). – You can contact me either via e-mail: kdphotography@juno.com or my website: http://www.kristindunkerphotography.com – I'll look forward to hearing from you! Blessings, ~Kristin
We mostly had on shorts and T-shirts. I asked, “Can I upgrade to khakis?” wedding songs
MK! I was reading this in class (don't judge!) and I can honestly tell you that I was tearing up! Because I felt reconnected with God! I say that because I have been feeling really distant towards Him and resented him for a lot of things. But reading you blog makes me feel connected with him again! This means so much to me as I have been struggling with these feelings for a few months now! I can't thank you enough for that and I hope that I can one day meet you so I can learn more about Him though you! And Honey, that is a gift, to connect people with God! Thank you so much! Love, Sofie xo
Happiest day of your life and you will NEVER forget it! Enjoy each other always and your life together. Many blessings and much love!
I have never seen a beautiful couple and a beautiful wedding celebration like this one. My best wishes.
Brides
By golly, I just found your blog now! Your wedding posts have me crying right through to the end! You truly have been blessed Mary Kate x Very inspiring, all the best for 2016.
Thank you for sharing so many ideas!!
Thanks for taking the time to discuss that, I feel strongly about this and so really like getting to know more on this kind of field. Do you mind updating your blog post with additional insight? It should be really useful for all of us. מקום לאירוע קטן
It’s glad to know about this Candy box favor. It seemed interesting one like we had attended last month at one of local venues in Los Angeles. Thanks for sharing these brilliant pictures as I didn’t took any pictures at that time.
You should also ask a wedding videography service if they have insurance. Anyone operating such type of business must have public liability insurance. The government does not mandate them, but it is a plus if they have one.
wedding photography
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Happiest day of your life and you will NEVER forget it! Enjoy each other always and your life together. Many blessings and much love!
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