Baptism and Nuptial Blessing

One thing I forgot to mention was that right before Stella was baptized on Sunday, Fr. Josh gave Tom and I a long overdue Nuptial Blessing!  This blessing is typically part of the Nuptial Mass, however we got married the weekend after Easter.  And since Easter technically lasts eight days and takes precedent over all other holy days, etc., we had to use the special "Easter Saturday" Mass instead.  It wasn't really a problem for me having a non-marriage related Gospel reading, etc.  But we were both pretty bummed that the Nuptial Blessing wouldn't be given to us before starting our marriage, because it's a good one!

The translation from the Latin is as follows:

O God, who by Thine own mighty power, didst make all things out of nothing: who, having set in order the beginnings of the world, didst appoint Woman to be an inseparable helpmeet to Man, made like unto God, so that Thou didst give to woman's body its beginnings in man's flesh, thereby teaching that what it pleased Thee to form from one substance, might never be lawfully separated: O God, who, by so excellent a mystery hast consecrated the union of man and wife, as to foreshadow in this nuptial bond the union of Christ with His Church: O God, by whom Woman is joined to Man, and the partnership, ordained from the beginning, is endowed with such blessing that it alone was not withdrawn either by the punishment of original sin, nor by the sentence of the flood: graciously look upon this Thy handmaid, who, about to be joined in wedlock, seeks Thy defense and protection. May it be to her a yoke of love and peace: faithful and chaste, may she be wedded in Christ, and let her ever be the imitator of holy women: let her be dear to her husband, like Rachel: wise, like Rebecca: long-lived and faithful like Sara. Let not the author of deceit work any of his evil deeds in her. May she continue, clinging to the faith and to the commandments. Bound in one union, let her shun all unlawful contact. Let her protect her weakness by the strength of discipline; let her be grave in behavior, respected for modesty, well-instructed in heavenly doctrine. Let her be fruitful in offspring; be approved and innocent; and come to the repose of the blessed and the kingdom of heaven. May they both see their children's children to the third and fourth generation, and may they reach the old age which they desire. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth...

Notice that it mostly focuses on the wife.  I'm not exactly sure why, and maybe it's something I should look into more.  All I know is that I hated potentially missing out on some of these requested blessings for my marriage!  So it was nice to finally have done.

I also really appreciated that the priest took the time to explain the purpose of baptism and the meaning behind the different prayers and symbols to all our guests before we started.

With the godparents (yes, she was screaming throughout)

I wish my mother-in-law had gotten closer, and turned on the flash for this one!

This is the gown...

Which gets layered over this onesie-like garment (which is apparently called a "bubble"?)

You can sort of see this in the first picture of the gown, but we had it embroidered.  In the middle of the bottom hem in white embroidery floss is our last name.  We plan to get all our children's names and their baptism dates written around the edges.  Here's Sly's from two years ago.  Stella's will be added in pink, eventually.