On Sunday April 5th, I had the honor and pleasure of officiating the wedding ceremony of Timothy and Anh as part of Old McMickey’s Farm “Mission I Do” Free Military Dream Wedding Giveaway. The ceremony was in honor of and to raise awareness for the services and sacrifices of all our military, past and present. The wedding was a contest giveaway. A team of vendors donated their time and products to make the wedding special to this deserving couple. Couples submitted their stories and were selected by on-line voting.
Timothy served two tours of duty in the 26 Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion 6th Marines. Tim stepped on an IED and lost his left leg and incurred severe damage to his other leg as well. He has a prosthetic leg and canine dog. Tim also sustained a traumatic brain injury. His best man lost his right leg, one of the groomsmen lost both legs, and yet another groomsmen was shot in the neck. Timothy met his now wife, Anh, while seeking treatment at the VA hospital.
It was a picture perfect day for a wedding. The Marines all wore their dress blue uniforms. The bridesmaids wore blue dresses with red shoes. The wedding was a such a patriotic event. The barn for the reception was decorated with red, white and blue. At the end of the ceremony full sword arch ceremony by other Marine’s was led by Timothy’s retired canine who also acted as the ring bearer.
Timothy had everyone in tears as he read the most beautiful vows to Anh. “When fate put four walls around us, four representing the four chambers of the heart that I give to you, four representing the four seasons I will spend with you, and four representing the four directions I will travel with you. Our souls become one, when you breathe out I breathe in.” He continued with some humor and after each piece of his vows he would say “when you breath out I breath in.” Anh was in tears and couldn’t say anything a big hug was all he needed. Timothy broke the emotion with a prank when I asked for the rings having is best man hand me an empty box!
Officiating Timothy and Anh’s dream wedding ceremony.
The ceremony was videographed and made available via live stream.
Anh and Timothy were so pleased. They thanked me so much. Ralph Zuckerman from Old McMicky’s Farm also thanked myself and all of the vendors for their support and contributions. I was so touched and thankful myself to have had the opportunity to give back to this deserving couple.
With the happy newlyweds