Hello campers,

 So as most of you know Chris and I opted out of the traditional vows and wedding speeches that normally come with weddings.

We had our officiant read something we both wrote instead, and it worked out perfectly. 

This will just be a post of the actual document itself, as well as a few explanations as to why we chose what we did. 

As most of you now we had a exchange of guns rather than of swords( like the Vikings) or of the traditional vows. Without being banned for showing the pictures of the exchange I will just tell you the gun specks for each of our guns. 

For Mine: Remington 700 chambered in .243

For His: Remington 700  chambered in 7mm Magnum 

Here is what was said during the exchange. We opted for it to just be read while we exchanged them and then did the ring exchange after this part. 

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love. In the moment that you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone you change, your heart opens, and you realize that everything leading up to this moment was meant to be. The beauty of marriage is not always the very beginning, but rather a love that grows overtime.

    The coming together of two people does not mean that one ceases to be an individual. Love does not ask you to become small so that your partner may grow. Love asks one thing of you and that is to always remain true to who you are.

     You have become each other’s compass. A compass always points north and serves the traveler as an honest guide and means of orientation, but also serves as a source of support, hope and faith. On a traveler’s journey destinations will inevitably change, their path may sometimes loose their footing. With the right compass to accompany them, they will never loose direction. Marriage is committing to the person who points you north and remains by our side each step of the way. I know you have found the right compass in each other."

For us, this was much for meaningful than vows that we would say to each other. We both felt like this was more for everyone looking in on our love. It speaks to us and about us and gives a very clear image of who we are and what we want our now combined families to be. We did add in some Pinterest worthy quotes about love and the meaning of it. We chose what was best for us. 

As far as to why we chose to exchange guns, we looked at wedding traditions that both represented us, as well as what our lifestyle fits; and we ended up finding that the Vikings as well as Korean traditions fit well for both of us. 

I am Korean, so we opted for having a Kissing Bell as well as Hand carved Geese from my grandmother. This made my part of the wedding special to us because it is a big tradition in Korean Culture for the parents of the bride to gift the groom with Geese( since we were not having live animals at the wedding my grandma gifted Brass versions of the geese to Chris as a sign of acceptance and blessing) 

As far as the Vikings, they usually exchanged a sword from the brides family as a sign of blessing and acceptance. 

Since we plan on having our own Wyoming Homestead, we both are gun owners and because of Chris' military career, we thought instead of swords we would exchange guns and have the other small traditions included as a nod to both of us and what we want our family to look like.

No matter what we chose, we had a blast and it has been the biggest happiness in our lives so far. We both knew we wanted the most relaxed version of a wedding, without just eloping. We paid less than $3,000 on our wedding and it couldn't have gone any better.

Weddings are supposed to be for you and your significant other. So have fun and make it yours! No one should be telling you how and why you need to do things a certain way. It's 2020, lets make it about love and happiness! (even if 2020 has tested our patience) 

We hope everyone is doing well, and staying healthy!

Please continue to follow your areas guidelines pertaining to the Covid 19 pandemic. 

Comment below: 

"What are some of the traditions that you did/ did not keep for your wedding"

"How are you staying sane in the midst of the pandemic"

"what are your upcoming holiday plans?"

-The Whitten's-