At Johnny and Danielle's wedding a couple weeks ago, we uncovered a picture of Jared's grandparents (his Dad's side) on their wedding day, nearly 60 years ago. Two of the most wonderful people you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting. I thought this picture was too beautiful to keep to ourselves. My next task is to figure out what their first dance song was, I have high hopes of slipping it in to the mix on our wedding day.
The Bride's Blog
This is where I'll be posting information on all of the events leading up to our wedding. It is also where you can offer me opinions on everything from dresses to colors to flowers and themes! I can't wait to hear from you and hope that you will have just as much fun reading through my posts as I am having writing them!
The Ultimate Love Letter
One of the conditions that Rev. Steve has is that Jared and I take the time to write him a letter. This letter is to include memories like where we met, what our first thoughts about the other person was, where we went on our first date, when we knew we were in love, how we knew the other was "the one", when/where the proposal was and anything else that we wish to include. He asked that we write the letters to each other and that we DO NOT share them with the other until our wedding day. It is on this day that Rev. Steve will supply us each with the letter that the other person wrote. I wanted to put this information on here in case any of you are getting married. I felt as though this was such a sweet and romantic gesture that would make the chaos of a wedding day fade away and help you to concentrate on what is happening. It'll give you a few minutes before walking down the aisle that will allow you to focus your energy on the love you have for your spouse. Those are letters that you could keep forever and truly cherish. I have been working on mine for Jared already and it has been a very heartwarming process. Lots of fun, beautiful memories over the past four(ish) years and so many more great adventures to come!
PS Just a thought, but this might even be a wonderful thing to re-read on wedding anniversaries. It is such a wonderful sentiment.
Officiant Achieved
One of the biggest debacles of wedding planning has been the officiant. We considered asking friends, family members, even past professors to take on the task, but ultimately reconsidered the night we met Reverend Steve. He was so kind and honest with us as he discussed the potential of being our wedding officiant. He even turned the Starbucks we met at into a processional as he took Jared and I through what our ceremony would be like. He discussed the ins and outs of weddings with us, gave me very detailed and VERY necessary information on how to go about changing my name and shared with us part of his life as he discussed his relationship with his wife. We spoke to him about ideas for the ceremony and he welcomed each one with open arms. He discussed the importance of finding wedding vendors you can trust and gave us items to ask about and look for. Talk about knowing weddings! I feel like I've been cramming wedding knowledge into my brain faster than I can process it, and in walks Rev. Steve, THE wedding guru to answer anything and everything about weddings. I am so relieved that we met him. Aside from him having a great personality and knowing so much crucial knowledge, I was waiting for a sign to know that we were making the right choice (the lack of a Catholic church was starting to make me feel like we were going to disappoint family members), but as we were getting ready to part ways with Rev. Steve, the song, "O Sole Mio" came on the satellite radio in Starbucks. If that's not a sign from the Universe's Italian gods (or my nonna)... I'm not sure what else is.
Family Wedding in Oregon!
Just wanted to take a moment to say how lovely it was that we were able to spend the weekend with Jared's family in Oregon. His cousin, Johnny, got married to the incredible Danielle Bean. Such a special weekend that I am so glad we were able to take part in! While we were there, we received a tour of the area from his Aunt Joanne and Uncle John. We went to the Lebanon Dam, checked out the local fish hatchery (I had never been to one and it was pretty neat!), and viewed the gorgeous sights of Sweet Home's lake. We hoped to head over to Silver Falls, but ultimately decided that'd be a trip for friends, family and our Apollo. It might sound ridiculous, but this was the first weekend I had been without our crazy pup and boy, did I miss him! Love this little family of ours! I'll add pictures as soon as we get them, but until then... Enjoy the one I stole from Danielle's Facebook page!
Bridal Shower AND Bachelorette Party?!
Jared has learned that women get two parties and a wedding, while men only get one. Needless to say, he was bummed out until I explained the types of presents that so often come from Bridal Showers... he was much less broken hearted after that. Currently we have a few different ideas on the table about what to do for a bachelorette party, and he is set on camping with his buddies for his bachelor party, but I am curious what some of you may have done for yours? Did you have a weekend extravaganza or an evening get together? There are some really cute ideas out there, currently our top one is a weekend trip where we can go horseback riding, lay out by the lake, get our toes done, rent/watch girly movies and maybe even take pictures at an Old Time Photo place. Whatever is decided upon, I'm sure that we'll have a lot of fun!
(By the way, I know it's early to start planning this, but the more we do a head of time, the less stressed it will be come THE BIG DAY.)