sweating the small stuff...

honestly, no one told me that i'd worry about the wedding MORE afterward than i did beforehand. everyone was amazed that i didn't fall to pieces when we had to move the ceremony inside or when my veil came totally out of my hair while we were saying our vows.
"eh!" I thought "who cares? we're getting MARRIED!" but then i started getting bent out of shape a week or so later when i realized i hadn't gotten a photo with both of my parents, and that i had hardly spoken to the guests who had been sitting at tables inside. seriously, i've been waking up in the night tied up in knots about it...

but (FINALLY) i've decided that rather than keep on fretting about it, i'll take a few days to just share with you all the beautiful, special things we made for the wedding and guests that made it extra personal for me. i mean, honestly... my first attitude was the right one: "who cares? we're MARRIED!"


i already mentioned the silhouettes and the homemade praline favors. Now, here's a fun fact about our ceremony site: we ended up getting married in the foyer of a beautiful historic home. we were planning to do it outside in the garden but then it poured down rain the entire day.
instead, we had about 115 or so guests seated around us, our parents and family sitting right behind us, and our attendants standing directly beside us. it was a tight squeeze, but it felt just right and really cozy. we had wanted the ceremony to be small so that those who witnessed our vows were the people who we loved most deeply and who we knew would support us in our marriage. being inside wasn't what we had planned but it felt so comfortable and personal that it turned out to be perfect.

plus, my dad had the brilliant idea to open the bar in the sun room for people who didn't get to sit down during the service. i don't think anybody minded. ;)

eeeeek!! and yayyyy!!!

We're sort of gearing up for the ceremony (eeeeeeeek! and yaaaayyyyy!!!)
so we've done some visiting about music and readings a bit lately. our dear jon is going to sing or cantor (he sounds like an ANGEL and is a pretty big deal in the atl burbs church choir scene, fyi) and he spent some time last weekend letting us peek into all of his hymnals and then he'd hum the tunes of ones we liked. SO FUN. i mean, boone and i are in divinity school, but liturgy is just not something i've got much knowledge about... and before now have never really had much interest in. but things are different now....

turns out the message we're going for in our wedding ceremony is um... well, love. and a hope for peace (not world peace, but Christ peace or relationship peace or something) and the service involved in, or the servanthood that is marriage. :) i feel good about it.

anyway, here's the scripture reading from the day we got engaged.. I think it's pretty darn appropriate for a wedding.


Phillipians 2: 1- 7
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

AND i ran across this non-Bible reading today on a pretty sweet little blog and we may just use it. :) thoughts? or other reading ideas?

From "The Strength to Love," by Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The meaning of love is not to be confused with some sentimental outpouring. Love is something much more than emotional bosh. An overflowing love which seeks nothing in return, is the love of God operating in the human heart. Love is the most durable power in the world . . . the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security. The great military leaders of the past have gone, and their empires have crumbled and burned to ashes. But the empire of Jesus, built solidly and majestically on the foundation of love, is still growing."

image found here

bowie, not mendelssohn...

i picked up a copy of this in the bookstore (mostly because it was the least "bridal" of all the wedding magazines and my lovely friend ABC got me a gift card specifically so i wouldn' feel guilty buying wedding mags) and found some really fun ideas. the best one came in their article Bowie, Not Mendelssohn where they give suggestions for less traditional wedding playlists. here's what they thought about ceremony music:

Processional:

ENOUGH ALREADY: Bridal Chorus

NOW THIS IS A PARTY!
"I Want to Make it Alright" by Paul Weller.
Christopher O’Riley’s terrific instrumental interpretations of songs by Radiohead, Nick Drake, and Elliott Smith.
"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" byRoberta Flack.

Recessional:

ENOUGH ALREADY: Wedding March

NOW THIS IS A PARTY!
"First Day of My Life" by Bright Eyes.
"Lovely Day” by Bill Withers.
Is there anything more joyous-sounding than a straight-up New Orleans second line?
____________________________________________________________
they give reception music ideas, too, but boone and i just aren't there yet. we did think about the ceremony recently though..mostly because over thanksgiving we had some planning anxiety and did a little New Year's Eve elopement research (apparently even an elopement needs ceremony music.)

anyway, we decided to stick with the May date for now and here's what we came up with for our outdoor, laid back ceremony:

mothers' processional: "By the River"Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, Mike Marshall
bridal processional: "Dona Nobis Pacem (grant us peace)" Yo-Yo Ma
recessional: "Emily's Reel" Edgar Meyer, Mark O'Connor, Yo-Yo Ma
or "Kite Flying Society" by Mark Mothersbaugh (from the Rushmore Soundtrack)

we liked them because they sound kind of traditional, but are played with banjos and stuff.
also, a recording is WAY cheaper than a quartet, (and where do you find a classical string quartet with banjos and mandolins instead of a cello and guitar?)

thoughts please*... also, what music did you use? did you go with the standards or did you do something different?

*you can listen to the songs if you click on their names and scroll down to find it on the list.