The Story Behind Our Wedding Song and Video 'I DO"

Intro I [Music] do I do for worse or for better now and forever I [Music] The Idea do this past spring when Rebecca and I decided to get married I knew I wanted to do something special for her to try to make her something that shared how I feel about her and this new Journey that we were going on together do I love you do I need you do I pray to to let her know how blessed I feel to be the one who gets to spend his life making her happy make you happy and one afternoon as I was holding my guitar that thought turned into a few lines and a short time later a [Music] song and then in no time after that an even bigger idea what if I not only surprised Rebecca by writing my vows and singing them to her at our wedding but what if I could turn that moment into a special memory for her and for us to keep forever a musical wedding album that I could give Recording the Song her once I had a good bit of the song written I called my friend Matt and I asked if he would mind helping me to record it and so in the little Studio he had set up in the living room of his house he began working on a track for I do playing a lot of the instruments himself and bringing in a few musicians to add their parts to it in late June a few days before we left for Montana I dropped by and recorded the lyrics over the track that Matt had been working on do do [Music] I and over the next week or two he scrambled to sing the harmonies and get it all finished to send to me for the big day now and forever [Music] had here at the same time I had asked my nephew Michael who does a lot of video and storytelling work with me if he would help me to capture our wedding ceremony he and his family were going to be driving out to the wedding and so he agreed to pack a couple of cameras with the rest of their stuff they brought with Trip to Montana them we had quite a few folks make the trip out to Montana and so two nights before the wedding we we had some of them join us for dinner at the lodge we were staying at right afterwards a big storm blew in and we all had fun taking pictures Between The Raindrops later on when the storm had passed while everyone else headed across the road to music rants for a concert that was happening there me and Michael and our bus driver Russell and his girlfriend stayed behind to finish up a few things or at least that's what we told Rebecca as soon as they were out of sight as a beautiful rainbow formed over the mountains I hurried and put on my wedding clothes and Michael pulled out his camera and while Bri held the iPhone and I sang along he filmed me singing the songs a couple of times 20 minutes later I had changed back into my clothes and we were all over there watching the concert no one had any idea what we'd done the next day there was much to do to get ready for the wedding as the Ladi spent some quality time together a number of us guys saddled up and went on a horseback ride into the mountains above where we were going to be getting married the next day [Music] Rehearsal Dinner that afternoon we had a quick rehearsal for the wedding and a few hours later we were back in Livingston gathered around music Ranch this time for a beautiful rehearsal dinner on the Hill Music Ranch Montana is how we originally started coming out there in 2013 they had invited Joey and I to play a concert and we'd been back to perform many times since then the last 5 or six years we've come out and spent most of the month of July there and it's become almost like a second home to us so to get to have part of our celebration there with many of our family and friends and also Frank and Karen who owns music Ranch was a special treat especially since it was Karen's 85th birthday birthday to you happy birthday to you happy birthday dear Happy Birthday to [Music] [Applause] Wedding Day You on our wedding day the first time I saw Rebecca was when she pulled up in the carriage with Indiana they were both so beautiful and up until the time when I was supposed to say I do everything went just as Rebecca had hoped it would but then you might say it went in a bit of a different direction you Rory take Rebecca whom you now hold by the right hand to be your wetted wife to have and to hold from this time forth For Better or For Worse for richer or for poor in sickness and in health to love and to cherish and forsaking all others remain faithful to her alone as long as you both shall live according to to God's holy ordinance if so answer I do that didn't look D to say that she was surprised is an understatement Rebecca had no idea that I was going to sing to her and even more so that I'd written my vows into a song once she realized that I wasn't running away only grabbing a guitar to sing to her she was more than a little relieved do I do I need you do I thank God for you do [Music] I do I want to make you happy your whole life through I do how I do for worse or for better now in forever I [Music] do I think my favorite part was when the band joined in with me on the second verse it was then that she realized that there were more people in on this than just me it was about about as beautiful a moment as I've ever experienced being able to make someone happy who works so hard to make me happy we spent the rest of the afternoon celebrating with cake and dancing and pictures and a wonderful dinner with family and friends and too soon it was time to depart and we said our goodbyes and rode off in a carriage with our old bus driver Russell still holding the rains although I spent a good bit of the first day or two of our honeymoon editing the video I don't think Rebecca minded because she and I knew that what we'd made and what we'd done was bigger than both of us bigger than the wedding and bigger than the song we had turned our love into a memory that would outlive us both