Aaron tried not to pace the room as he waited for the harpist to change songs, letting him know that Erin had arrived, but he felt so nervous about seeing her for the first time. She had refused to allow him to see any progress pictures of the dress, and even Penelope wouldn't give him any hints, though he knew by the way Jessica was dressed that it would definitely be something reminiscent of the Civil War. Finally, the traditional wedding march began to play, and all their guests rose to their feet and turned to face the doors as Jack opened them.

He felt his breath taken away when Penelope finally was far enough down the makeshift aisle for him to catch his first glance of Erin. She was in an ivory dress, slightly belled with what he assumed were the hoops that she liked to wear beneath her dresses. A row of ivory buttons ran down the front of the bodice, accentuating her bust, and it nipped in waist, while her sleeves were full of volume, with an inner sleeve that clung to her skin and ended in a pair of lace cuffs. There was a long veil attached to a crown of peonies on her head, and once he noticed that detail, Aaron felt himself tear up, a wave of love sweeping over his heart.

Finally, Erin was at his side, and he let out a deep breath as he stared at her face. Through the veil, he could make out that Penelope had artfully applied a light layer of makeup, not anything that would stray away from Erin's clean features, just accentuating her high cheekbones and making her blue eyes stand out a little more. Somehow, they made it through the ceremony, and even though it was his second one, Aaron found that he caught just as much of it as he had his first ceremony. All he could truly focus on was Erin, how beautiful that she looked, how love radiated out of every pore of her body, and how lucky he was to have found her statue here so many months ago.

After hearing the signal to kiss her, Aaron leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss, not wanting to take things too far in front of their family and friends. Still, he could hear Dave whistle a little in the background, and he shook his head a little as he deepened the kiss and felt Erin's arm tighten around his waist as they continued to embrace. Finally, though, he knew that they would have to end the kiss, and they turned to face their guests before starting down the aisle to the harpist playing a vaguely familiar tune that he couldn't quite name. Once they had stepped out into the hallway, he paused and looked at his wife, smiling softly at her. "I love you, Mrs Hotchner."

"I love you, too, Mister Hotchner. What's next?"

Penelope joined them in the hall, grinning at them as she handed Erin's bouquet back to her. "You forgot to take this with you. And we're going to take pictures while the caterer gets the tables and food set up on the lawn. I think that taking a few beneath your willow would be beautiful, and I'll carry your hem so that this gorgeous dress doesn't get grass stains."

Jessica joined them as well, holding Jack's hand while Dave and Sean brought up the rear. He still couldn't believe that Penelope had worked the minor miracle of getting his brother to actually appear for the ceremony, and that they had been able to reconnect a little. Nodding to Sean, he took Erin's arm once more and glanced to watch Penelope gather up the hem of Erin's skirts in her hand, lifting it so that it was an inch or two above the ground as they headed out to the willow tree.

The photographer arranged them in different configurations, taking picture upon picture of them, and soon his cheeks felt like they would fall off from the smiles he had to keep on his face. "All right, I'd like to do a few nonstandard poses with the bride and groom. Is there a blanket that we could put down on the ground?"

"I'll run and get one," Penelope said as she carefully dropped the hem of the gown and took off for the cabin. While they waited, the photographer took a few more pictures of the rest before shooing them away, leaving them alone. Aaron used the brief moment of space to wrap his arms around Erin and hold her close, swaying to a tune only he could hear.

"Have I told you how blessed I am to have you in my life?" he murmured as Erin rested her cheek against his chest, taking care not to crush her flower crown. She made a little noise of agreement as he ran his hand up and down her back. "I am so glad that I took Cruz's mandate to get away from the office for two months, as I would never have met you. Coming here was the best decision of my life, and now we're going to be together for the rest of our lives."

"That sounds so wonderful. I love the way you say forever. It makes me so hopeful." He nodded before bending his head and kissing the crown on her hair. "I know, you probably would have liked my hair to be down for the ceremony, but there's just so much of it, and it made the veil look odd. Though if you'll help me, we can take it down for a few pictures and give Penelope the veil to take care of while we pose."

"I think that I would love that very much," he replied as he looked at their photographer. "Could you give us a few minutes to do this?"

"That's fine," the woman replied as she checked a few things on her camera.

Aaron gently removed the peony crown before folding the veil over his arm and pulling out the pins that held up the braid, sticking them in his pocket, since he knew Erin would want to reuse them rather than purchase new. As soon as the braid dropped down over her shoulder, Erin was pulling off the hair tie and then running her fingers through the rope of hair, letting it fall loose around her waist. "You look so beautiful like this," he replied as he settled the floral crown atop her head once more. "Even the baby's breath seems to highlight your beauty."

Erin blushed a little as she shrugged. "You love makes me feel beautiful." She kissed him then, as Penelope returned to their sides with a large quilt. "Would you take my veil back to house, please? I'd hate for it to fly away."

"Of course, Erin. Oh, I cannot wait to see how these pictures turn out, you're going to look so amazing!" Penelope kissed Erin's cheek lightly before treating Aaron to the same gesture, taking the veil from off his arm before heading back to the cabin. As soon as she was gone, he and the photographer spread the blanket out beneath the tree before he took a seat and helped Erin to join him.

It was so easy to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her close as they joyously smiled up at her, following the directions that she gave them until it seemed like she had taken all that she had in mind. "All right, let's head to the reception, and I'll continue to take pictures of everything." Aaron nodded as he helped Erin to her feet, quickly getting the blanket folded and then he was gathering up the hem of Erin's wedding gown and making their way back to the house, ready to celebrate the first hours of their married life with their friends.