Patrick McElhenney/FOX At last, indeed!
After nine seasons of will-they-or-won't-they, build-up, tension and chasing, Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and Temperance Brennan (Emily Deschanel) finally said "I Do" on Bones' Oct. 21 episode "The Woman in White." Expectations were high, but Hart Hanson and the gang were able to pull off one of TV's most beautiful and satisfying weddings in recent memory. (We totally do not regret splurging on that wedding gift for the couple!)
So which familiar faces returned for the long-awaited event? And what major obstacles did the couple face? Plus, we've included Booth and Brennan's perfect wedding vows for you to obsess (and sob!) over all over again...
VOTE: Nominate Booth and Brennan as the best TV couple of all-time now!
Who: A whole lot of familiar faces returned for the event: Ryan O'Neal as Brennan's father, Booth's son Parker, grandfather Hank and mother Marianne. Plus, most of the Squints came, including Daisy, Wendell, Clark, Aristoo, Fisher and Oliver, as well as Caroline Julian. And Cyndi Lauper reprised her role as the physic Avalon Harmonia and sang an epic cover of "At Last" as Brennan walked down the aisle. (Our chills had chills!)
Deschanel's real-life hubby David Hornsby guest starred in the opening sequence as the priest officiating the couple's wedding rehearsal. but Brennan's former confessor and ex-priest Aldo Coulter (Mather Zickel) ended up officiating the actual ceremony.
Where: Though the couple was original set to say "I do" in a church, Booth accidentally burned the venue down after lighting a remembrance candle in honor of Brennan's mother. Oops! Fittingly, they end up saying "I do" at the scene of the first case they worked on together.
Why: Because they were meant to be, duh! And if you don't believe us, just listen to what Aldo told Booth: "What you and Temperance have, it's the reason we draw breath." If that's not enough, check out the couple's perfect vows:
Booth: I worked really, really hard on my vows, but now that we're here… Look, hey, do you remember the last time that we were here? Standing right around this spot, it was right in the beginning before we really knew each other. I was trying to get away from you because you were irritating me and you chased me down and you caught up to me. I said to you, ‘Listen, I just have to get all my ducks in a row,' and then you said to me, ‘I can be a duck!' We have been chasing each other for a long time. We've been chasing each other through wars and serial killers and ghosts and snakes. Chasing you has been the smartest thing I've ever done in my life and being chased by you has been my greatest joy. But now, we don't have to chase each other because we caught each other.
Brennan: When Hodgins and I were buried alive, we each wrote a message to someone we loved incase our bodies were ever found. Hodgins wrote to Angela and I wrote to you. Dear Agent Booth, you are a confusing man. You are irrational and impulsive, superstitious and exasperating. You believe in ghosts and maybe even Santa Claus and because of you I've started to see the universe differently. How is it possible that simply looking into your fine face gives me such joy? Why does it make me so happy that every time I try to sneak a peek at you, you're already looking at me. Like you it makes no sense, and like you, it feels right. If I ever get out of here, I will find a time and place to tell you that you make my life messy and confusing and unfocused and irrational and wonderful. This is that time, this is that place.
Tissue Count: We stopped counting after five.
What did you think of Bones' big wedding? Sound off in the comments!