Wedding Craft

It seems as if a book reviewer has hijacked this blog! A cool opportunity with Zondervan has turned into a bit of a preoccupation for me. But, in honor of our wedding anniversary, and to ease back into crafting mode, here are some reflections on the labor of creative love that went into our wedding last summer.

Our culture is obsessed with weddings. We have wedding magazines, wedding websites, wedding coordinators, and reality shows about every aspect of event planning from dress shopping, to budgeting, to brides who pressure themselves into a level of insanity. All of this makes me wonder if anyone is even considering the outcome of a wedding: marriage.

The goals for our wedding were to honor God’s sacrament of marriage, surround ourselves with our loved ones, and have money left for a down payment on a house. Here are some of the highlights:

Joe designed everything that could be printed:

Joe designed nontraditional guestbook pages. Our guests got creative

during the cocktail hour while we were outside for photos.

We printed table numbers and this sign for our sweetheart table,

punched the corners and slid them into corks.

Our programs doubled as fans for the outdoor ceremony.

Before the ceremony, my bridesmaids helped tie little "thank yous" to 

 miniature spruce trees for our guests.

Our niece Ainsley carried scattered petals for us. 
I found the pail at the $1 spot at Target, then trimmed it with lace and ribbon. 
This summer she's using it to carry her crayons.

Our nephew Caleb carried our wedding bands on a perfectly-matched pillow.                                                      I found the fabric in the remnant section at Vogue

I arranged the flowers and bought handmade
bridesmaid jewelry from my friend's aunt.

My college friend, Kristen Beck, photographed our wedding.

I love the treatment she used on this one of Caleb and me.

Because it's hard enough being a baby, the mini bridal party
wore neckties stitched to onesies. Sweet Carter is the model here.

Like most manly men, my husband isn't big on bling.

His simple hammered band came from this etsy shop

One of the most carefully crafted aspects of our wedding was the reading. My dear friend Rose read Psalm 139 Not a common wedding choice, this psalm spoke to us about the type of relationship we're to have with God before we can have a solid relationship with each other.