Wedding planning was well under way after the proposal. We knew that we did not want to wait for a long time because we had waited long enough to find one another as it was. We set the date for March 26th, 2011 and started working to get everything together. (Yes, that quick!) There were three basic rules that we were going by.
One, we wanted a wedding that was ours. Traditions and customs were not important to us. What was important was our kids, and that was our number two. We wanted to make sure that they were very much included in the big day, just as they would be for the rest of our lives. And finally, we did not want our wedding to be cheap but we did not want to start out our lives together in debt for one day of fun. So, a DIY wedding it was!
Where We Will Exchange Our Vows
First things first, I have never been an outdoorsy kinda girl (I have this vision of a swarm of bees going straight up my dress like a bad remake of The Bird’s), so we booked the church. I have always loved the Eastwood Memorial United Methodist Church here in Caruthersville, Missouri. It is beautiful, old and the perfect size for our family and friends.
Stained glass windows pointing toward the heavens, an arch of pipes sweeping across the front that connect to the pipe organ, which is the largest in this part of the United States, and beautifully carved wood throughout. This was a place that made you speak in hushed tones and it was exactly where I wanted to exchange our vows.
Next up were the decorations for the wedding, the church is so beautiful that it does not need anything to enhance it. But I have always loved the beauty of candlelight so decided to go that route. As I said in an earlier post, I like things that are different and I also love the theatre. The beauty of it’s dramatics were something I wanted to include. So, an evening candlelit wedding at 6 o’clock it was! I had a lot of ideas for little bits of “flair” to throw in along the way, but I will wait to share those with you as we get closer to time 🙂
All The Little Details
From there, we booked the local community center where we would host our reception. With the backbone of the event taken care of, the rest was just a matter of filling in the blanks. I love party and event planning so to me this was very exciting and fun. My biggest challenge was to slow down and separate things. I am very organized, I love list and checking things off, so on top of my many handwritten and typed list, I also downloaded a couple of wedding planning apps to help along the way. Sometimes, I have to make myself slow down and decide what I really like from what I just think is cute. Often I get over excited and began to collect a hodgepodge of things instead of sticking with my theme.
Next up, was my bridesmaid selection. My maid of honor was simple to choose, my sister Ashley would fill that place. Without doubt or question the next two spots were filled by my daughter, Micah and Craig’s daughter, Brittany. Then my three nearest and dearest friends who had been such an asset to me through the years that it was only fair they share in their time of celebration with me. So Leslie, Amanda and Jennifer were called on to stand with me.
Craig in the mean time wanted to host a competition to decide his line up. He was thinking of something in between Survivor and Fear Factor with a rose ceremony at the end but fortunately he just went with his best friend Shane as his best man, his son, Brittan, his brother, Casey, his cousin Trey and his good friends, Jason and Nic. Putting us at six and six, which was a little larger than we had originally planned but getting them all in was important to us.
Finding The Dress
I had begun looking for my wedding dress first online, then in a few bridal shops. The only thing that I knew for sure was that I wanted it comfortable and I wanted it a champagne color. Not so much because of it being a second wedding, as I said customs do not mean a lot to me, I simply liked the color. I got together with the girls and we went bridesmaid dress shopping. Craig and I both loved the color blue and chose it for the main color scheme of the wedding.
Our bridesmaids are very different in their sizes and my sister will be well into her first pregnancy by the time the big day comes. We wanted everyone to feel good about their dresses, to look good and comfortable.
I felt that the best way to do this was to let them choose their own style of dress, just simply keep them all long (which to me seems more formal) and in the same color of blue. Fortunately for us, David’s Bridal does just this and made it very easy for the girls to go to the one nearest them to try on and order their dress. In the end, I was very happy with their choices, they all picked very similar dresses and looked beautiful.
My dress however was still no where in sight and I was beginning to get a little frustrated. I did however find a great pair of shoes while shopping with them at David’s Bridal. They were on sale for $20.00 and were not only comfortable but were the exact champagne color that I loved so much. So as of that moment, I was getting married in a pair of really cute heels…not good!
Stay tuned for the rest of my wedding details, planning and stories that you’ll enjoy!
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