I now pronounce you.

Our contest package did not include an officiant, and it was left up to Adam and I to select this person, hire him/her (if necessary), structure the ceremony with him/her and obtain the marriage license for the officiant to sign. Having this responsibility was both good and bad. It was bad because we had less than three weeks to make it all happen and really no clue as to what the officiant laws in Florida were, but it was really good because selecting our own officiant and structuring/writing our own ceremony was what we always wanted.

Matt and I on my 25th birthday.

Now, most of you should know that Adam and I are not the most religious crayons in the box. We never intended to marry in a church or be married by a religious officiant. Marriage is an extremely serious promise to us, something we will honor and pursue forever, but not a religious promise. Different strokes for different folks...

Matt's ordination certificate
and letter of good standing.

Adam and I always dreamed of a friend marrying us. While we didn't want a religious officiant, we also didn't want to hire a random justice of the peace. In an effort to personalize every aspect of our wedding, we always hoped to be married by someone who knew both of us extremely well and knew us as a couple. Enter Matt. Adam met Matt his first day at UNC, as they lived next door to each other in the dorm. Matt was a freshman, Adam a junior transfer student. Now, I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you. After all, honesty is the best policy. Adam and Matt did not get along when they first met. In fact, I think those who were around during that time would say this is an understatement. It was certainly a bumpy road for them, but it all worked out in the end and Matt is now one of both Adam and I's best friends. I met Matt in a film class freshman year and I like to credit myself for bring Adam and Matt together.

When it came to trusting someone to not only unite Adam and I in wedding bliss, but also to handle the responsibility of conducting a ceremony, we knew Matt was perfect. Reminder, our ceremony was anything but ordinary and it required microphones and a camera crew and perfect timing and fantastic presentation.

With all that pressure, I can't even write how amazing he was. We gave him next to no direction and he took care of everything. I'll give you more details later when I recap the ceremony, but I'll just say that in the memory of the most amazing day of my life, having Matt marry us will forever be one of the greatest decisions we've ever made.

Oh, and what did our fabulous officiant wear on our super special day? He rocked a gray suit with a stunning purple tie.

Next up: a riveting story entitled "April as two days and one shot to say yes to the dress." Trust me, you want to read this one.