What made your wedding EXTRA special?!

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perez639

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Greetings to all!

I am just beginning to plan a wedding for next August 2009 and need all the help I can get with ideas and what not!!!

Of course nothing beats the company but I just want to know what you all added to your wedding ceremonies or reception to make it extra special… Now I am a student and definitely on a budget, and unfortunately not the craftiest as they come :o

Here is where I am at:

-catholic church booked-check!
-enrolled in marriage classes-check!
-engagement photos- check! my friend offered to take these with the changing of the aspen leaves to gold this fall
-wedding gown-undecided, may wear my beloved grandmothers, but it needs work… doesnt quite fit!

everything else, dont really know where to start. Bought a planner but it just overwhelms me:eek:

God bless and thank you so much for taking the time to write. I am truly grateful!!!

colorado bride to be!
 
The best book for wedding planning when I did it in 2005 was the book Bridal Bargains by the Fields. You can get it used, too, which I did.

They have a website:

windsorpeak.com/bridalbargains/default.html

I did do a lot of crafting-- I made my invitations, my favors, and my programs.

Really, what I put the most thought into was the Liturgy. I loved our wedding.
 
perez639 said:
I am just beginning to plan a wedding for next August 2009 and need all the help I can get with ideas and what not!!!
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[SIGN]Congratulations!![/SIGN]

A few things that were extra special for us:

~My 4 siblings sang during the ceremony (we hired a pianist and a harpist). They surprised us by sining the Irish Blessing at the end of the ceremony – it was beautiful!

~I made our programs and favors myself, so they were just what we wanted.

~We chose our readings together, and we read a prayer at the end of the ceremony together. I don’t have it here or I’d share it, but it had parts for each of us to pray (about being a good wife and mother, and a good husband and father) and then a part we read together. It was beautiful. :love:
 
It’s so hard to put my finger on anything in paticular that made our wedding extra special. It is just such an overwhelming and beautiful day!

I would have to say that planning the wedding myself, making sure that everything got done, and then just letting go and enjoying the wedding day itself made it extra special.

I really loved having my family involved. My sister and Mom made my veil, my mom made my wedding cake, my sister did my hair, and my whole family and his parents helped me set up the reception site, prepare the food, and decorate. It’s funny to look back now at all of them taking turns to iron all of the table cloths. My friends took over on the actual wedding day and served the punch, kept the food coming, DJing, and just helping wherever they could. I think that the love surrounding us and the sacrifices made for us made the wedding super special!

And of course, most importantly, the realization of the Love of God around us and uniting us to each other in a totally new way! The ceremony was beautiful and something we planned together. There is nothing like the moment that you are walking down the aisle towards the man you love and that you are about to promise to love, honor, and cherish until death do you part!
 
I tried editing to add a few things but it wouldn’t let me…

~I wore my mother’s pearls. 🙂

~My mother made my veil. 🙂

~My shoes weren’t new, they were borrowed from my mother-in-law. (It was just nice b/c she and I are close.)

~We rode in a 1929 Model A owned by friends of my parents (no cost!). They were our “chauffeurs” and dressed in 1920s garb (their idea). They picked up my Mom and me and drove us from my parents house to the church, and then DH and I rode in the car from the ceremony to the reception. They put a sign on the back that read “Just Married.” 😃

~We had my hometown priest and the priest who did our pre-cana with us concelebrate the ceremony. (The priest who did our pre-cana was one we knew from college, where we met. DH is not Catholic but always liked this priest a lot and was friends with him, so it made it extra special to have him there along with the priest who administered my sacraments growing up.) 🙂

As you can see, most of the things that I’ve mentioned were low- or no-cost. It’s not about the money spent, but enjoying the day and knowing you have a lifetime of love and family ahead of you. :love:
 
**I’ll get into my own (and my sister’s) wedding later…just wanted to say 2 things really quick though:
  1. check out bridal consignment stores if you don’t go with your grandmother’s dress. If you are planning to buy new, keep in mind that they need you to order well in advance…I’d call a few places this week and ask…don’t want to be left without a dress at the last minute!!!
  2. strictly reception (if you are going with a hall)…people often neglect the ceiling or hang very simple “cliche” wedding items from it (I was guilty of this)… for my sister’s wedding we got a bunch of Christmas ornament disco-balls (about 4 or 5 inch diameter) from the DOLLAR STORE (a bride’s best friend) as well as some of that wire garland type stuff and used the two in combination for amazing ceiling decorations that make all of the photos looks so elegant ( yeah, I used disco ball and elegant in the same sentence, lol)…
more later…got to go supervise lunch for my 2 year old (or I’ll have unwanted ceiling decorations of my own, lol)**
 
Are you getting married in Colorado? My fiance and I are in May. I read that you said Aspen leaves, and that caught my attention, since we’re planning a Colorado wedding. Depending on where you live, I may have some recommendations for you. Congrats!
 
perez639 said:
How beautiful! Are we allowed to pick the first and second readings for the mass?
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Yes, and the Gospel too. 🙂 You can also choose what petitions you want read, and can include special ones for deceased family members, special family intentions, etc.
perez639 said:
WOW, thats impressive!!! I need to map quest some sort of craft store!!!
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Well thanks. 😊 I enjoy crafts! 😃 The programs I did on our computer – nothing too fancy and not very costly, which was good, b/c they just get thrown away anyway (except the ones I saved to put in the scrapbook), but they turned out great.

The favors were small candles (various colors and scents) wrapped in tulle and tied with a ribbon in one of our colors. I bought a custom stamp with our initial in the middle and around the edges it said our names and the date we got married. It’s similar to this:

paperangel.com/store/media/RMA-46M.gif

I used the stamp and then cut the paper so it would fit around the candle, attached the paper with tape, and then did the tulle. It was time-consuming, but not very difficult, and we liked them. I still have some as keepsakes (a few in our bedroom, one in the bathroom, etc.).
 
I got married two weeks ago tomorrow. I swore by the knot.com’s checklist for help with planning.

Honestly, just having everyone I cared about, plus people our parents cared about was the best part, but having a REALLLLLLY good DJ is really the key to a good reception.

As far as the ceremony goes, I have no idea what happened. I assume one did as I have a very nice shiny new ring on my finger but I have zero recollection of it. I was all nerves and nausea and it just zipped by.
 
Things that made our wedding extra special (IMHO) 🙂 :
  • Flowers made of pink and green duct tape by DH ( he would make them for me when we first started dating)
-Dinner was a brunch buffet b/c we are just big fans of breakfast!
  • The kissing game was a game we like to play- Scrabble. Of course my MC allowed several flagrant rule violations in order to have us kiss more 😛
  • DH and i spent FOREVER making the invites and program- we ordered pink pocketfolders and used lace and brown spraypaint to make a neat design on them. And I used frog closures that I spent way too much $$ on to close the pocketfolders. But we got a lot of compliments on them.
  • Had a Nuptial mass ( most family is either not Catholic or cafeteria, so we made a point of this, and of picking readings we truly loved) at the church I grew up in
  • Pictures before ceremony were at the family farm, together after were done in various places in the town where we went to high school- at the school, at the coffee joint, etc
Just a few things off the top of my head. We were engaged for 2 yrs and only been married 5 months, so I’m still pretty weddinged out at the moment :cool:
 
perez639 said:
How beautiful! Are we allowed to pick the first and second readings for the mass?
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Yes-- the readings, the gospel, the prayers, the vows.

Get a copy of Together For Life by Fr. Joseph Champlin. It’s a complete planning guide for the liturgy.
 
We got married in the same church that my DH’s parents and grandparents got married in, which makes for a nice family tradition.

Another thing that made the wedding special is that we didn’t hire a caterer. Instead, his mother, grandmothers, and aunts and uncles all made the food and brought it in. My MIL’s friends from work served the food and manned the kitchen. And the food was delicious because it was home-cooked, not mass-produced.

DH also has 2 cousins who are studying photography in college, so we asked them to take the pictures at the wedding, instead of hiring a professional. They still turned out fabulous, and saved us hundreds if not thousands of dollars!

We also got a group of us girls (MIL and DH’s aunts) to decorate the hall ourselves. It was a plain ugly room at the church hall, and we transformed it into a beautiful reception hall, using some christmas lights and tulle. (Tip–if you’re looking to use Christmas lights as decorations, buy them during the after Christmas clearance sales. I got mine for 75% off, which is a heck of a lot cheaper than they are at a party shop). Since my colors were red and white, I also bought a bunch of decorations after Valentine’s day.

Instead of hiring professionals for all the expensive tasks, we were able to bring the whole family together in the effort to make our wedding beautiful, and we loved it. So my advice is to incorporate friends and family members with any special talents into your ceremony or reception.

Congrats and God Bless!
 
If you decide not to wear your dear grandmother’s dress, perhaps you could display it at your reception?

Dressmaker’s dummies decked in this - and maybe other family wedding dresses - along with photos of the brides in these gowns might be a nice tribute and unique addition to the reception or the shower.
 
**Things that made our wedding special… this is a neat thread!

~the playmobil Prince and Princess** on top of our square pink cake with brown polka dots. 😃
~ at the end of our ceremony dh and I took a bouquet of flowers and left at at the feet of a statue of Mary and dh and I consecrated our marriage to her.
~our getaway car was a jeep with tin cans tied to the back!
~at the reception we had a sundae bar with ice cream and tons of toppings
~our favours were $2 gift certificates for Tim Hortons (a Canadian coffee shop for all you American folks)

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!🙂
 
Staying chaste 😃

Also, having 4 priests and a deacon celebrate our Mass…having the Latin Mass choir sing everything in Latin. Sweeeeet.

Our first dance was to a fast paced, rock-sounding song to which we did the salsa 👍 It was a big hit.

Our wedding favors were handmade rosaries from South America that had been blessed by Pope Benedict during WYD in Cologne.
 
Let’s see.

The big thing - just being US. Our normal, everyday selves. I am not a “put me in the spotlight” kind of girl. I did my own hair in a normal everyday hairstyle, and used my regular ole makeup. I didn’t want to look like someone I’m not on a daily basis.

And the highlight of the night - my lovely husband, close to our reception winding down, asked our dj to play our first dance song again so that we could have another dance to it. 👍 Probably the most romantic thing he’s done in the 10 yrs. we’ve been a couple. LOL
 
The best thing at our wedding was looking into each other’s eyes and saying our vows and meaning them from the bottom of our hearts… :love::love:

Oh, that’s not what you’re asking about, is it. 😃

I wanted to convalidate our wedding at St. Catherine’s, the Church on the Rock, at St. Malo (near Estes). There was no way we could afford it, though.

One suggestion I have is to visit this site to learn what **not **to do! Warning: some of the stories involve vulgarities. But it’s well worth it.

Two things stick in my mind from there:
  1. *Thoroughly *check out anyone you hire to do anything.
  2. No butt bows for the bridesmaids. 😉
God bless your marriage!

Ruthie
 
 
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