Well, we’re finally here. I’ve finally settled into some type of steadiness enough to be able to sit down with my computer and begin the beautifully long and detailed process of documenting the day I’ve waited for since I was ten years old and playing M.A.S.H. with my friends. I think I landed a much better life than any of the mansions, shacks, Backstreet Boys husbands, weird movie villain families, jobs as a superstar or trash worker results prophesied over me as a youngster. Instead, I landed a husband who reminds me that there’s nothing more or less that I can do to make him love me any more or less. I am simply loved and chosen by him which is really an extension of how Jesus feels about me. I promise the same to him. No matter where we live or what jobs we have this truth will always be enough for me to know that I got the best result I could have ever dreamed of. Not to mention two energetic super kids who are spunky and worth laying down my life for – period. For someone like me, who strived her whole life to avoid getting in trouble or doing something wrong by pleasing everyone around her at the expense of her own identity, this promise of love apart from performance is life-changing.
There’s nothing more or less that I can do
to make him love me any more or less.
So I sit here in my new home with my new family sharing with you my heart. My life has changed. It has been hard on my emotions, trying on my mental strength and exhausting to my physical body. At the beginning I grieved the loss of single-hood. I grieved the inheritance of greater responsibility and the challenge of setting boundaries within my new roles as a wife and a mother all at once. My life has changed. I’m more tender, grateful, messy, impatient and honest about my shortcomings than ever before. I think I’ve been made more beautiful and more malleable in the hands of Creator God than ever before and that, for me, is far more precious than going back to who I was. I’m better now because of it even when I’ve discovered things in myself that aren’t the most pleasant. I’m aware now and I’m being pushed and that is so so good for me.
So without further ado; here is my account of my wedding day.
Special thank you to Kelcey Foster (Silent Moment Photography) for capturing our day and the tiny details that made it special. Also thank you to our friend, Todd, for assisting Kelcey and taking photos throughout the day – esp. Timothée’s time getting ready.
Getting Ready
Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all;
What hast thou then more than thou hadst before?
No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call;
All mine was thine before thou hadst this more.
Sonnet XL – William Shakespeare
First Look
The Ceremony
Take my hand and come with me down to the shore
You once told me that no matter how hard it was
we’d always make it through
Take my hand, love, we’ll be just fine
Take my hand, love, we’ll be just fine
“The Orchard” – The Parkington Sisters
Our ceremony was planned to be outdoors on the deck of Skyline Lodge at Highland Forest. I pictured a beautiful warm sunny day, a light breeze, and shadows casting magnificent shapes around the chairs as I walk down the center aisle to the backdrop of the country side as our altar. We had sunscreen, bug spray, and plenty of yard games ready for those who preferred celebrating with a nice round of corn hole during the reception. It was going to be beautiful, full of community, and authentically homey to our very bones.
It rained.
So, we adjusted and we let it go. Looking back, it wasn’t hard in the moment to accept the change. The next day, however, was insanely beautiful; sunny, clear, and cool. It felt like a fairly large slap in the face. But, eventually I let it go and the photographs turned out to be beautiful because of the rain. I suppose it’s romantic to some degree. I think what hurt the most was that I had pictured the moment I would walk down the aisle as the most precious memory. I picked the exact music I wanted, edited the track to fit the time, and planned the timing of every step to the envisioned backdrop of nature – my closest connection with God. I wanted to hold that memory like a photograph that’s special only to me because it could only be seen through my own eyes. That moment changed when we moved the ceremony inside. I didn’t get the moment I planned and that was hard. What I can still hold tightly to is my Dad’s tender reminder to me to slow down as I went blazing down the side of the room through the tables we set up as a cafe-style seating. He reminded me to take it in, be present, and slow down.
Slow down.
-Dad
Sheralyn’s Vow – 8.1.21
Timothée, for most of my life so far I have resigned to live in a way that keeps me hidden and my world predictable. Until I knew you. You have opened my world, my dreams, and most importantly, my heart. Under your gaze and in your care I feel safe to be completely open and vulnerable. I feel invited to adventure, to think outside of the box, and to push past my fears that hold me back from experiencing life.
With you I feel respected, nurtured, heard, and loved. But mostly, I feel like myself.
When tides rise and seasons change I will remember who we are. I will remember that God prepared us to be a team long before either one of us knew. I will remember that we are messy, human, and full of mistakes. I will remember that we will disappoint one another and fail each other’s expectations. But in those hard moments when we do, what I will try to remember most is that we are chosen by God to be in this together and that He will help us to forgive one another as we have experienced such incredible and freeing forgiveness from Him. He will help us to receive grace and extend it even more fully to one another and to all people around us. I will remember that you, exactly as you are, right now, is enough; as am I.
So, when we leave this place where everything seems magical and perfect, I will remember that I’m committing myself and my life to you and the boys – no matter how messy we get and how much things change. I will remember that it won’t always feel easy but it will be worth it because we are exactly where we are meant to be – together.
Timothée’s Vow – 8.1.21
I choose and take you to be my wedded wife, to love on you, to dote on you, to be your partner in public and in private, to give you hugs and space – to get it wrong as to which you need. To not read your mind, but to ask questions, to ask for help when I need it whether it be from you, our family and friends here or any others God has placed in our life along the way. To love you on the mountain top where I can see so clearly what it’s all about and in the valley where we will need God and each other just to get through the day, as a new family and unit it forming, to always place God first and you second. To remind you of who you are and who God has made you to be when you forget and to champion you as you navigate, and discover the complexity and beauty that is you. To be thankful for you and our family and our life even when it seems like we may not have much and never forget what we do have, that it comes from God and His favor, grace and love. To pray for and believe in God’s healing hand when we need it and to thank Him for the million little and big miracles we have already seen. To wait on the Lord………because it makes us a little stronger. To love you sacrificially as Christ loved the Church that He gave His life for it, to do the will of the Father and receive grace when I actually don’t prioritize relationship over rules, to be the priest and Leader of our home and to not abuse that awesome and terrifying responsibility. To have healthy boundaries and to disappoint you when I breach them, to forgive quickly and to not hold onto offense, to not isolate ourselves. I choose you now, August 1, 2021, at 3 (something)pm from now until the end of time to be in covenant with you before God, family and friends in marriage. To honor and respect you in this holy matrimony in Jesus’ name, and with a whole lot of His help, I vow these things to you, Sheralyn Jeanne Wellman.
Family & Wedding Party
First time as official Family of Four
This photo means a whole lot after what we have been through. It’s been a trying couple years figuring out life and how to make this a healthy step for us. We’ve worked hard at this and we’re so stoked that the occasion was a joyous and welcome one. We are family and that’s the truth.
We are family and that’s the truth.
Reception
Special Thank You to Michael LaSala for blessing us with this incredible cake. He is an incredible baker and an even more incredible friend. We love him and our lemon-raspberry cake!!!
Fun fact: We decided to eat one portion of our saved top tier of the cake every quarter-anniversary. That way we get to have it fresh to some degree but then still follow the tradition of saving the cake for the one year anniversary. Win win!
Extra thanks to the incredible team of people who cooked, served, and organized this event with me. We did this whole thing completely on our own without catering and it really took a village to make it happen. I want to especially thank Mrs. Barb Irvine for coordinating this whole thing, meeting with me, meeting with others and being the point person during the event.
Winter, spring, summer or fall
James Taylor
All you have to do is call
And I’ll be there
You’ve got a friend
This song is true and this picture is honest. I love my Dad. It’s been a long road for us as we recovered from my Mom’s death. It was just us and it was hard. I was broken and I didn’t know how to fix it and my Dad was trying to learn how to live all over again. We aren’t very emotional with each other but we came together and figured out how to survive by giving each other support and staying in touch. I am so glad I stayed in Syracuse so that our friendship could grow and so that we could enjoy this moment knowing that my Mom would have been so happy.
Favorite Portraits
These photos are the ones that stood out me because they truly captured the authenticity of me and Timothée and who we are. I love them because they feel so natural and they reflect our love for simplicity and honesty.
With these last photos I’ll leave you here with this final note:
Marriage is wonderful when it’s with a person you have worked insanely hard with to be healthy, honest and real with. It takes two to pursue that. I recommend tons of counseling no matter how healthy you are and a true and real understanding of Jesus and the multitude of grace he pours out on those who are willing to take it – no matter where they come from or what they’ve believed before. We are healthy and able to do this because we know that Jesus loves us in our shortcomings and we don’t need to make up for them to each other or to him. We just try our best to love and be loved and listen for His voice as we take every step together as a unit.
We are so in love and life is so crazy.
Thanks for being with us on this journey.
I love you, I love you, I love you
And where you go I’ll follow, I’ll follow, I’ll follow
You’ll always be my true love, my true love, my true love
Forever, forever, forever
Ricky Nelson
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