Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Celebrating Marriage: Blog Tea Party!

Ohhhhh, this is just so exciting! Don't we all love to talk about weddings?! Warning, this is going to be a lengthy post - there are just some things you cannot scrimp words and photos on! I had such a hard time choosing which photos to choose - but these are some of my favorites. Plus, they hit some highlights of the day! I must first say that all these fabulous photos were taken by my friend, Stacy, didn't she just to an awesome job?! You can click on each set of pictures to enlarge them.

We got married at Glen Eyrie on February 20, 2004. It had been a dream of mine since high school to get married there and they weren't exactly always open for weddings. I ended up working there for a few years, which was a great experience, and allowed for this dream of mine to come true - it truly was a fairy tale wedding complete with the castle! And, I just have to tell you - this place is simply breath-taking.

I had initially planned on wearing my Mom's dress - which did fit me. However, after trying it on again a few months before the big day, I just did not feel very pretty in it. My Mom took me dress shopping and this was the first dress I tried on. I wanted something simple, yet elegant and something that looked somewhat vintage. I loved this dress and felt like a princess in it.

The bridesmaids dresses were Victorian Lilac in color and were two-piece. I still love these dresses. Each of the ladies looked so pretty and they were flattering to all! So, let me introduce these ladies from the left - my childhood friend, Anissa - her Mom and my Mom were friends in college, so we grew up together. We did not always live near each other, but we did stay in touch and were each in the other's wedding. She also has two little girls now - so we have that in common as well! Next is my dear friend Glenna, and we worked together at the Glen. She spent many an hour praying with me for this day and over who God had for me as I sought His will in desiring to be married. My Maid of Honor was my wonderful sister, Carrie! She is such a treasure and I am so thankful for such a great sister!

I also love this picture of my Mom and I! It was COLD outside, but we all seem to look so happy and warm! My Mom did everything possible to make this day perfect and everything I hoped it would be! Thank you, Mom, we treasure our memories of this day!

David was not allowed to see my dress before the big day and my Dad chose not to. So, here is my Dad seeing me all ready for the first time!

Now, comes an important picture! What would this day have been without this handsome man who had asked me to marry him?! Honestly, I do not know how to explain or describe what a blessing David is to me. He is most certainly the answer to many years of praying for a husband and not just any husband, but THE one that God had planned for me.

David models to me the kind of love described in 1 Corinthians 13. I can be myself around him (something I find rather hard around others) and he loves and accepts me for who I am.

We really wanted our ceremony to be a service of worship. To bring glory and honor to God. Every detail was planned with this in mind. And, it was beautiful. Here, we are signing a marriage covenant that we wrote and signed during our ceremony. We had each of our wedding party members and parents sign it as well as a sign of testimony to our pledge.

"I make this covenant with you, my beloved & with our God before these witnesses. I will love and serve you in a way that is patient and kind, not envious, not boastful, that is not proud, not rude or self-seeking, is not easily angered and keeps no record of wrongs. I will not delight in evil but rejoice with the truth. I will think on that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent & praiseworthy. These things will create a bond of three strands between us & God that is not easily broken. With this spirit of unity, I will follow Christ, so that with one heart and mouth we may together bring glory to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. I will give all of myself fully to you for I am not my own. I will not love the world or anything in the world. The world and its desires pass away, but I will follow God and do His will and have eternal life. I will not let what God has joined together be separated by man. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates me from you. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to His power at work within me, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen."

Two great things to point out in this set - the first and third photos are just ones that I really like! One of my favorite things from our wedding, was my flowers! We had sterling silver roses, lavender English stock, misty blue and freesia. Can you just smell those together?! I cannot handle the smell of daisies, lillies or other strong flowers - so these were just perfect for me! I remember that I just kept looking at my bouquet and telling my Mom how much I loved the flowers!

I had always wanted to have rose petals thrown when we left the reception - and for our florist to provide the rose petals was going to be in the multiple hundred dollars figure. Ack! Since we got married about a week after Valentine's Day we decided we should be able to even go to a grocery store or Wal-Mart and get roses there for cheaper. Turns out that when we went to the wholesale florist for our rehearsal dinner flowers - David suggested we ask and see what they had. She said they had "distressed" roses for $5 a bunch. I asked how many were in a bunch and she said 2 1/2 dozen!!! These roses were so beautiful - there were a FEW petals that had to be thrown out, but can you believe for $20 we got so many roses? A sweet blessing from God. We came home and de-stemmed them and put all the petals in big ziplocs in the fridge - it worked perfectly!

I had this cute orange bunny growing up - my Aunt (pictured here with me) gave it to me when I was a year old. I LOVED this bunny and took it all over. So, the teasing began that since I loved Bunny so much I would probably take it on my honeymoon. So I did - just for fun! :)

Instead of throwing a bouquet to eligible young ladies - we decided to honor the couple at the reception who had been married the longest! It was so fun to keep asking higher numbers! Here they are receiving their bouquet!

David and his parents - I should have shared the one where he is given rabbit ears to his Mom, but this one is so nice!

Our cake! This cake was DELISH! Yummy! We saved the top layer and I carried it home on the airplane to put in our freezer - honestly, it tasted just as good on our first anniversary!

To finish up - this is our favorite photo together from the day! It was just as we were getting ready to leave and a sort of afterthought, but we love this picture! And, at the same time, we took pictures of our rings together. We each planned engraved messages to the other and were not allowed to see ours until the wedding! It was a fun surprise!


Well, thank you for joining me as I recall what a special and wonderful day this was! I treasure the memories, but more than that - I treasure the marriage that was born out of all these details and memories. It is a blessing that I do not take lightly. Thank You, Lord, for hearing my years of prayers and answering so abundantly. Thank You, David, for being just right for me and for loving me so beautifully. I love you!

11 comments:

Lisa said...

What a beautiful day you had! Your dress was so elegant. THanks for sharing and hosting this Tea Party. I can't wait to read the others.

Blessings
Lisa

Anonymous said...

Oh, what a beautiful wedding. Thanks for sharing!

melissa said...

beautiful, beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

Jenn said...

Your beautiful memories made me shed a tear! I LOVE your vows and your pictures. Your friend is a good photographer! God has blessed you abundantly........ and I am thankful he has me as well. Had I had a scanner and more time I would have joined in. Off I go to the next one...... hehe

Jenn

Anonymous said...

These are beautiful! I especially love the "covenant" you wrote to each other. That's really powerful!

Chrissy said...

Just beautiful! Isn't it such a blessing to have someone to travel this road with?

Anonymous said...

I love you, sis! I enjoyed seeing these pix again, and am so happy we could be each other's Maid/Matron of Honor. Your tea looks like it was a huge success. You have such great ideas, and you're amazing at following through! Miss you. carrie

Anonymous said...

Dear Monica -- what fun to read your account of your beautiful wedding! I have been thinking about all we were doing three years ago leading up to this day, and now to see and hear through your eyes and words your memories of it is very special. I'm thankful that you and David were pleased with how your wedding turned out, but even more thankful for the marriage you are building.
You were a beautiful bride, and now you are a beautiful wife and mother!

Much love, Mom

Anonymous said...

What a lovely wedding, Monica! You looked stunning, your dress was gorgeous and the love that you have for your God-given husband is radiant! Beautiful, mama!

Kathryn said...

Beautiful wedding. Thanks for sharing the day with us. Happy 5th anniversary.

Carrie said...

Of course I had to follow the link you left to this post today and see your wedding pictures and hear your wedding day story!

It sounds like a wonderful, wonderful wedding day!

Thanks, again, for sharing!