8 years ago, Mark asked me if I wanted to check out a thriftstore scavenger hunt in San Francisco. It turned into our first date. I’m glad I said “Yes.”

Two years of wedded bliss. We’ve had our ups and downs…but we’re still so very much in love. That’s a good thing.

Limoncella Sorbet, originally uploaded by queenkv.

We finished up our anniversary dinner with a Limoncella Sorbet at the New City Cafe. I’m tickled to find my favorite Italian liquor in a Topeka restaurant. It tasted, sweet, lemony and refreshing on a hot summer night.

Old Married Couple, originally uploaded by queenkv.

Earlier this month, we went to my cousin’s wedding in Long Island, NY. I suppose you could call us the old married couple. My cousin made a beautiful bride and it was a pleasure to meet her new family. It was lovely to watch this August wedding and remember our own…two years ago.

It’s chilly in Topeka — stay warm, wherever you are.

Earlier this month, Mark’s family got a us a cake to celebrate our one year anniversary. We had such a blast in New York!

On our wedding day….I wore a very expensive dress and Mark had on a lovely tux. For our anniversary cake — we finally got to indugle in some wedding-like screwing around.

And now some musical memories from our Wedding Day.

“Love is a Journey”

The Marriage Celebration of
Kristina Balois Vera
&
Mark Andrew Phillips
Saturday, August 27, 2005

St.Denis Catholic Church
Diamond Bar, California

Entrance Rite
Music: Prelude “In Love We Chose to Live” – Jeanne Cotter

Processional
Music: “Clair De Lune” – Claude Debussy
Teresa Dunne, mother of the groom, escorted by Mark Phillips

Tom Jackiewicz and Jennifer Marzan
Tom Dunne III and Maria Smith
Hans Protzel and Betina Protzel, Matron of Honor
Kaine Marin (best man) and Susan Surapruik, Maid of Honor

Devon Dunne - Flower Girl

Sponsors
Nora Marzan and Porferio Marzan
Marichu Maddy, escorted by Scott Becker
Evelyn Balois, escorted by Charlie Basabica

Jovita Vera, mother of the bride, escorted by Michael Phillips, father of the groom

Music: The Bridal Chorus – Richard Wagner
Kristina Vera, escorted by Ramon Vera, father of the bride

Mothers of the bride and groom light the unity candle

Music: “Glory to God” – arrangement by Felix Wu, accompanist Pat Rogers

First Reading/Old Testament: Song of Songs 2:8-10,14,16a;8:6-7a
Carlene Dunne

Responsorial Psalm: “Taste and See” – James Moore (Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9) - Connie Salazar
Refrain:
Taste and see, Taste and see
The goodness of the Lord
Oh, taste and see, Taste and see
The goodness of the Lord
Of the Lord

Second Reading/New Testament: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8a
Scott Becker

Gospel Acclamation
Music: Celtic Alleluia – Fintan and Chris Walker

Gospel: Matthew 22:35-40

~Exchange of wedding vows & blessing and exchange of rings~

Ceremony of the Exchanging of Coins (Arrhae)
(Tom Jackiewicz and Susan Surapruik)
The celebrant blesses 13 coins that the groom presents to the bride. The thirteen coins represent the groom’s pledge of his dedication to the welfare of his wife and children. The bride receives the coins and she promises to lovingly manage their worldly goods in the spirit of God. The coins symbolize the couple’s commitment to mutually contributing to their relationship, their children and their community.

Lighting of the Unity Candle
(Scott Becker and Jennifer Marzan)
The candles symbolize the Light of Christ, the same light they received at Baptism and now receive again to lead them to their new life as a couple.
Music: “Christ Be Our Light” – Bernadette Ferrell

Ceremony of the Veil
(Tom Dunne III and Evelyn Balois)
The ceremonial veil is placed on the bride’s head and groom’s shoulder to represent the couple being “clothed as one” and symbolizes the union of their families. It also signifies the protection of the Holy Spirit and symbolize the couple will walk through life side-by-side as partners in marriage. Its original meaning was the symbol of the presence of the Lord, as the cloud was a symbol of His presence.

Ceremony of the Cord
(Kaine Marin and Marichu Maddy)
The cord in the shape of the figure eight is placed over the bride and groom draped loosely on their shoulders. The cord symbolizes the love and friendship that bind the couple. The figure eight represents the infinite bond of marriage

Prayer of the Faithful: Marichu Maddy
Response: Lord, hear our prayer

Liturgy of the Eucharist

Presentation of the Gifts/Offertory
Music: “Blest Are They” – David Haas

Eucharistic Prayer

Eucharistic Acclamation

Nuptial Blessing

Music: Lamb of God Angus Dei - Chant

Communion
Music: How Beautiful - Tiwla Paris

Offering of Flowers to Mary, our Mother
Music: Ave Maria – Franz Schubert

Concluding Rite

Final Blessing

Recessional
Music: Clocks - Coldplay

Thank You

“They will see us waving from such great heights,
‘come down now,’ they’ll say
but everything looks perfect from far away,
‘come down now,’ but we’ll stay…”

In Love,

Kristina and Mark
27 August 2005

David’s in Kuwait and he reports his unit will be moving to Iraq soon. My family prays for him. My husband and I were thrilled David could make it to the wedding. His high school buddies drove him to the church.

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More smiles for the camera. A sweet moment with Jennie and David - thankfully in the shade.

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I also got to dance with David at the reception. I think Mark tried getting the DJ to play something - but we ended up dancing to some karaoke singing….don’t worry - I have plenty of karaoke singing pictures to post soon.

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I miss David.

We loved being surrounded by our family and friends on this day. People came from all over the country - Northern Cal, San Diego, the East Coast….we even had my aunt come in from the Philippines.

The head table.

Scott and Jennie!

Stacy and Victoria - skating buddies from back in the day.

Tom and Devon!

A yummy cake. It had a white ganache top, dark chocolate cake and kahula cream filling.

Visiting with my dad’s co-workers, upstairs

My dad looks happy.

Ate Gigi! Keep your eyes open!

A surprise visit by Mark’s family from San Diego plus his family from the East Coast.

Sebastien turned out to be a good singer on the karaoke machine.

College buddies from Berkeley and Northwestern.

So, instead of clinking glasses to get the happy couple to kiss, our wedding guests had to stump us on Trivia Pursuit questions. They asked us questions from computers, figure skating, science and more. I learned a lot at this wedding party! We also missed a lot of questions - so plenty of kissing for the guests.

After our photo session at the church, We hopped in Auntie Evelyn’s car. Missy and crew decorated the car with some sweet wedding decorations. Kaine drove the car. Strangers honked at us on the freeway. We felt giddy about the whole thing.

We had a cocktail hour for our guests - all you can eat buffett and all you can drink bar.

Dj played Felix Da Housecat’s “Ready to Wear” for our ladies in the party.

The Smiths introduced the men in our party. “How Soon Is Now?” I always thought of this song as the theme to Charmed.

We had the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” as our entrance song.

“I am thinking it’s a sign that the freckles
In our eyes are mirror images and when
We kiss they’re perfectly aligned“
- Postal Service

She slept over at my parent’s house…keeping me company on my last night as a single woman. We didn’t do the typical “night-before-the-wedding” activities…like strip clubs, night clubs, bars and stuff like that. Our rehersal dinner at the bowling alley ran a bit late…and Andrea was pooped from the plan ride.

So I did my thing. I blogged. It’s what I do.

Oh yes….not only can you re-live the wedding through pictures….I also created a podcast. It features music from the ceremony and the reception. So, you can download the feed from that site…or click on this link for the mp3 file.