Wedding Recaps: Ceremony

Another installment of wedding recaps- here we go! To Mr. SE and myself, our ceremony was the most important part of the entire wedding weekend. We both had strong convictions about the way that our ceremony would be conducted: Mr. SE wanted it in a Catholic church, and I wanted it in any Christian house of worship. Luckily Non-Denominational Christianity and Catholicism have many similarities in the way that their wedding ceremonies are conducted, and it was easy for us to collaborate on the perfect ceremony. We decided to have a non-mass Catholic ceremony, which followed the following structure:

Gathering Song
Opening Prayer
Old & New Testament Reading
Gospel Reading by our Deacon
Exchange of Vows and Blessing of Rings
Unity Candle and Song of Blessing
Prayer of the Faithful
The Lord's Prayer
Sign of Peace
Final Blessing
Introduction of couple

After attending the June 2009 wedding of my Matron of Honor, Kate, I knew that a Catholic ceremony was the way for us to go. There was something special about everything involved in the ceremony-- it's not to say that shorter ceremonies are lacking anything, but I wanted the ceremony to involve as many traditions as possible. Mr. SE and I both felt that this was a very serious thing: committing to each other in the presence of God, our families, and each other-- and we wanted to respect the very sacred union that we were creating.

Through our marriage preparation sessions, our Deacon really got to know us, and was able to put quite a personal spin on our ceremony. I felt so much love during that hour. A love of support and encouragement from all of our family and friends in the pews, and encouragement of all the other couples who have ever been married on that altar. Our Deacon said something to the effect of Christian marriages being part of the tree of the body of Christ, and our marriage was a bud on the branch. I loved that analogy, and believe it's instrumental to have a support system like that when beginning the walk of marriage. It's the best road ever, but it's not always an easy journey.

We put a lot of thought into the special roles involved in our ceremony. Our flower girl is my cousin's daughter (I was the flower girl in her parents' wedding at the exact same age as she was for ours). The readers were family members for both Mr. SE and myself. For our Prayer of the Faithful, we chose our mutual friend Brandon and he was the perfect person to read those very important proclamations. And for our Song of Blessing, my Matron of Honor sang "Con te Partiro" by Andrea Bocelli. She has the voice of an angel, and it was truly beautiful to hear her voice filling the Cathedral.

One of my favorite parts of our ceremony, was being able to sit on the altar during both of the readings, and the sermon from our Deacon. It was such a special thing to be able to hold my "almost" husband's hand and look into the pews. I made a special point of trying to notice every single person that had come to witness the beginning of our journey as husband and wife. Our ceremony is the most special experience I've ever had in my life. While saying our vows, a beautiful light came through the stained glass and rested on Mr. SE and I. We truly believe it was God shining down, along with our family members that are already in heaven.

After our vows, we gave a Sign of Peace to each other and our bridal party and parents. It was so special to walk down my bridesmaids and give them all a hug and a kiss, followed by my parents and Mr. SE's parents. These are some of my favorite images of our ceremony. So much joy and so much love.  

Let me know if you'd like the template that I used to design our programs. It was hard to find something for a non-mass ceremony, so I created one of my own.

All photos by Gray Photography

Wedding Dress: Mori Lee, The White Room
Tuxedos: Mens Wearhouse
Mom's Dresses: The White Room
Bridesmaid's Dresses: B2 by Jasmine, The White Room
Flower Girl: David's Bridal
Flowers: Brocade Designs
Ceremony: Cathedral of the Incarnation
Deacon: Mark Faulkner (if you're in the Nashville area, let me know if you'd like his info)

Crafty Weekend

We had a super relaxing weekend, and both of us were able to make significant dents in our to-do lists. My list was more fun and crafty, while Mr. SE continued to finish working on his media center. Side note- I cannot wait to post a picture of the finished product. It looks fantastic!

I worked on my yarn wreath and finished covering the whole wreath form. Now I just need to make the felt flowers and learn how to tie a pretty bow. Perhaps I'll watch a YouTube tutorial for that one. Also on my crafty to-do list is my office. I love the preppy, upbeat palette we chose of white/navy/kelly green. It's been super fun to decorate! I decided to re-cover my computer chair, since the toile that my mom did in college doesn't match anymore. Granted it is blue, but it's more shabby chic then preppy and modern. I went with a bright white and navy striped fabric to compliment the green and white graphic print decorator's table cloth that's nearby. Here's an "in process" cell phone picture. Please scuse my office mess- it's tax time.

The process of covering the yarn wreath is time consuming, but I found it therapeutic to just stop and watch TV while I wound the yarn around and around. I watched several episodes of Bethenny and Nate Berkus. There's always a bevy of Nate on our DVR, since I record the show every day. He had the most creative idea that I just had to share-- make a shelving unit out of tables cut in half and secured together. I mean, seriously? How cool does this look! I love how this unit is painted a dark teal, and it kind of reminds me of the new guest room that John & Sherry did. What a great way to take cheap Craigslist finds and make them something special and unique. I think this would be cool for our bonus or guest room, for a funky feel. What do you think?

Yarn Wreath

 With high temperatures in Nashville, I've definitely got spring fever! Today I rolled up our area rugs and let our floor breathe, and I'm on a mission to give the house a good cleaning this morning. This part of spring is the best because my allergies haven't quite hit yet- so I can enjoy the weather without suffering!

As part of my spring fever- I've become head over heels with yarn wreaths! Just doing a search on Etsy provides a bevy of eye candy. The wreaths are seemingly simple to create, with tutorials all over online. This tutorial from Mrs. Priss is my favorite, just because her wreath turned out so darn cute. I love the idea of doing the wreath in a neutral color, and using straight pins for the appliques. This way the wreath can change with the seasons; switching up the hanging ribbon and flowers would be relatively simple and create a different look.

Is this flash of warm weather giving you spring fever too? I'd love to hear about any fun plans you have for the weekend- or whether you've got the crafting bug like me!

Photo Credits:
 Easter
Mrs. Priss
Vintage Banner
Our Nest