Wedding Week: Our Ceremony Part 2

Our ceremony was a traditional Methodist ceremony without song and had one reading that I ended up finding and thought it was the PERFECT piece to have read to us by one of my dearest friends of life. We pretty much followed the outline for the Methodist ceremony to a T, with the giving away of the bride from her parents and a blessing from the congregation and the Lord's Prayer at the end which was one of my favorite parts. So let's see some of the action shall we?!

 My mom and my brother looking very dapper.

One of the cutest things you ever did see! 
The flower girls walking right up to their uncle! 

And then it was my turn!! EEK! I literally shook the whole time down the aisle squeezing my poor dad's arm with excitement and anticipation. A few tears welled up in my eyes as I focused only on my husband to be who was smiling radiantly at me. One of the things I remember most is that I didn't notice ANYONE other than hubby during that whole ceremony except for a look at the reverend and my friend Lee during the reading. I wish I had caught a glimpse of my mom at least!

I loved getting the opportunity to have a blusher veil, it wasn't something we planned on but I'm glad it worked out in the end that I went with a multilayer veil. Love the added drama a blusher adds. Also once my father gave me away, I started to lose my cool. I definitely teared up a bit when my daddy kissed my check to say goodbye to his little girl. It was such an emotional experience. I knew I'd probably be somewhat of a mess but I was hoping to keep it all together, but I heard that a few people also wear tearing up too!

 

Like I mentioned before my dear friend, Lee, read a reading by James Dillet Freeman called "Blessing for a Marriage" and it goes like this:

May your marriage bring you all the exquisite excitements a marriage should bring, and may life grant you also patience, tolerance, and understanding.

May you always need one another - not so much to fill your emptiness as to help you to know your fullness. A mountain needs a valley to be complete; the valley does not make the mountain less, but more; and the valley is more a valley because it has a mountain towering over it. So let it be with you and you.

May you need one another, but not out of weakness.

May you want one another, but not out of lack.

May you entice one another, but not compel one another.

May you embrace one another, but not out encircle one another.

May you succeed in all important ways with one another, and not fail in the little graces.

May you look for things to praise, often say, "I love you!" and take no notice of small faults.

If you have quarrels that push you apart, may both of you hope to have good sense enough to take the first step back.

May you enter into the mystery which is the awareness of one another's presence - no more physical than spiritual, warm and near when you are side by side, and warm and near when you are in separate rooms or even distant cities.

May you have happiness, and may you find it making one another happy.

            May you have love, and may you find it loving one another.

I absolutely LOVED this reading and thought it was perfect for us. I loved the words and how it sounded coming from someone else. It flowed so freely. 
We also asked our reverend to elaborate on two of our favorite bible verses instead of having someone else read them because we preferred the word of God coming from him.
 
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-1

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.

Colossians 3:12-17

¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Finally it was time to exchange vows.. And BOY was this emotional!! Hubby started his first and while he was repeating the vows my eyes started to well up with emotion and tears from his words and by the final vow that he had to say, he choked up too with tears in his eyes and a quiver in his throat. It was a beautiful, memorable moment that I'll never forget. Probably my favorite moment of the day. It was just so real, raw and beautiful.

Our reverend was a family friend of hubby that blessed our marriage and I was so glad he did. He gave a short homily and it was beautiful and funny at the same time. Hubby is a golf pro and so his homily included references to golf that were humorous and fun as well as memorable so I really appreciated his time and effort into crafting a beautiful ceremony for us. I loved that he wanted to hold our hands and bless them in the name of God and our family and friends. It was beautiful.

Then it was time to seal it with a kiss!

And then we were pronounced husband and wife! Love our enthusiasm in this photo below.

You may remember a while back how I posted about our ceremony "surprise", the a cappella group from NC State singing "Stand by Me" to signify our exit as husband and wife. Here are the photos but be sure to catch the video here again!

 

I think this may be my favorite photo from the wedding!

 And we're hitched y'all!!!

In case you missed it:

Wedding Video!

Bridal Luncheon

Rehearsal Dinner
Wedding Timeline
Getting Ready  
First Look

Portraits

Our Wedding Ceremony: Part 1

 

xoxo,
mrs. a.

Photographer: Meredith Perdue / Videographer: Simile Productions / Flowers: Aldena Frye / Hair: Kari Berry via Marigold Parlour / Makeup Artist: Fiquet Bailey Swain via Luxe Apothecary / Bride’s Gown: “Lauren" by Amsale / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin from Coplon's / Bride’s Earrings: ED-1D-261 by Bounkit from Coplon's / Bride’s Veil: Veils of Art via Etsy / Wedding Invitation: Palm Papers / Bridesmaid Dresses: “ G558C" and "G660C" in Charcoal by Amsale / Groom’s Attire: Custom Tuxedo by Indochino / Groom Bowtie: Ralph Lauren / Groomsmen Tuxedo: Vera Wang from Men's Warehouse  / Groom’s Cufflinks: Nordstrom

ONE month!

EEEK!!! Ok I'm getting a little giddy.. IT'S HAPPENING. We're getting married in 31 days! But alas there are still things to do and things that have happened in the past month. 

Let's get on with it so I can remember to do what I need to, because this gal, has become a little scatter brained lately.. oops!

DONE-ZO:

bachelorette party

bridal portraits!!

trail hair and makeup

shopped for MOB dresses

paint chalk boards

groomsmen got measured

walk through with rental vendor 

purchased grooms/maid gifts
purchased a few parent gifts
ordered accessories for reception

met with florist again

mailed invitations

received our first RSVP

ordered rehearsal dinner invites

ordered men's golf outing invites
mailed men's golf outing invites

received our first wedding gift! eek!

got our MARRIAGE license

worked on timeline with photographer

got pom pom's for exit

completed ceremony details

booked rehearsal dinner caterer 

my veil arrived 
got dress for bridal luncheon

started packing for day-of wedding essentials

 TO DO:

finalize wedding menu

finalize music selections

talk with the band

decide on wedding cake design & flavors

 select rehearsal dinner outfit

create reception signage

work on chalk boards
keep working on timeline
distribute timeline, contacts, etc to vendors/family

finish wedding party/family gifts

work on slide show for rehearsal

have dance lessons with dad

work on bar linens

 work on final vendor payments
order small details (i.e. napkins, koozies, etc)
call guests who haven't rsvp'd
send out bridal luncheon invites

put together oot bags & drop off at hotel

But really, OMG we're getting married. It's happening. We're doing this. My mind is having a hard time grasping it but the reality is, that it's quickly approaching! It's a very surreal feeling because it still doesn't feel like it's happening to me and that I'm just going to another persons wedding even though the past 14 months of my life have been consumed with planning. But I'm excited guys, really! I'm also excited for a vacation...

 Can't wait to see you Cocobay!!

xoxo,

a. 

My bouquet!

Y'all, when it comes to thinking about the PERFECT wedding flowers, I completely stress. There are SO many gorgeous inspirations for wedding flowers and none are exactly alike and that's fabulous! Like I said I'm not the pastel pink vintage girl so when I envision my wedding flowers I see texture, dimension, and gorgeous blooms of different flowers. For myself I also want a monochromatic bouquet with some ivories and greenery.

These are my favorite of fave wedding bouquets that I've drawn inspiration for how I can see my bouquet the day I walk down the aisle.

Favorite bouquet from one of my favorite weddings via Ruffled Blog

Anothergorgeous colored bouquet, a little over the top but so lovely via Martha Stewart Weddings

They both have ranunculus, some greenery, can consist of garden roses or peonies, hydrangeas, I think we'll utilize some scabiosa pods, dhalias even. There's a lot more than meets the eye and I think it's totally exciting to be using some flowers that aren't typical but down right gorgeous! Aldena also suggested the bouquet be a little like the bottom photo with some varying shades to add dimension and I think she knows best!

Meeting with Aldena was such a peace of mind. I've been stressing over flowers forever and just didn't know how to fully explain my vision because I'm not the most artsy person but I feel like I have a good vision. Simplistic, modern, classic, and chic. I want all of that combined and I think that equals gorgeous. :)

With that being said we've also narrowed down the look for the bridesmaids bouquets. These are my examples of how I envision that we could take the look and make it similar to mine but with a little more color with peachy/orange touches.

via pinterest

via martha stewart weddings

via martha stewart weddings

Obviously they are all in different colors with different flowers but the overall style and look are definitely what I am most drawn too. Aldena was totally supportive and definitely understood my visions and appreciated my choices of floral inspiration which made me feel SO confident! AND my mom was totally on board! BONUS! We even decided on what her and the FMIL will carry:

via style me pretty

I totally love the idea that they'll carry their own personal bouquet too! Much more chic than a corsage for the mommas. The grandmother's will have a corsage though.

So what do y'all think?! I can't believe I feel so satisfied now but I do and that makes me feel more relaxed. It's coming together slowly but surely and I'm so thankful for super awesome vendors so far. 138 days to go y'all! Let's do it!

xoxo,

a.

Little balls of ranunculus

I'm headed home tomorrow to do some wedding activities with mom and thought I'd leave you with some pretties! I'll be meeting with our florist for the first time, Aldena Frye, and hopefully we'll discuss more of the wedding flowers I have in mind.

One of my favorite wedding flowers are ranunculus. There's something mesmerizing about the ranunculus that I love.. They're petite enough and come in an amazing range of colors and surprisingly very durable for bouquets. Just LOOK at how pretty they are!

I'll touch more on flowers some other time, I'm always a little confused on how exactly I want them to look because I DO think they really are an important part of the wedding.

But aren't ranunculus gorg?!

xoxo,

a.