A reading to remember

Jeremy Townsend shares his reading for the ceremony - photo by Davina + Daniel, 2010

One of my favorite moments from our wedding was hearing our friend, Jeremy -- who happened to introduce me and Fred nearly six years ago -- read something he had written himself. Here's an excerpt:

This isn't your ordinary sunday.
some of us have traveled great distances to be here.
most of us have never been in this room before.
we're probably wearing clothes we rarely wear.
and soon, we'll be dining and dancing with people we've only just met.
It is an extraordinary day, and yet, it feels perfectly natural.

Like the spectacular hills and vistas surrounding the Bay, this ceremony, the wedding of fred and vera, pulls us all up onto a peak together. for decades to come, this day will stand as a benchmark in all of our lives....

It turns out that harmony is considered the vertical aspect of music, separate elements stack up to make something new. melody, being the horizontal aspect of music, tells the story of this new thing as it moves through the world.

Today, we lend our voices to the first few notes of the music they'll make together...

- Jeremy Townsend, (c) 2010

 

Change of venue blues

{St. Mary's Star of the Sea, Sausalito CA -- Plan B venue}

So, when Guitar Fred and I picked our venue, we had thought we'd have both the ceremony and reception at the Campbell Hall and Garden, which is owned by the historic and beautiful Episcopalian Christchurch just across the street. When I mentioned to my mom that we were sacrificing getting married in a church for the sake of meeting our budget with a garden ceremony, she offered to help out.

We were ecstatic with this generous offer and followed up with the staff at Christchurch to book it. Because we had already booked the Hall, the church rental was discounted by $200 to $1,500 and getting the minister to officiate would be an extra $500. Total cost to get married at the Campbell Hall and Garden? $3,800.

Our excitement was building until we read the fine print --photography of the ceremony  is NOT allowed and videography has to be conducted from the door with ambient lighting! WHHHAAAAATTTTT??!?! Davina + Daniel Photography are flying all the way from Montreal, Quebec, and there's no way we'd let them miss out on shooting our ceremony.

So, what's Plan B? We think we've found a new ceremony venue -- and we're still keeping our reception at the Campbell Hall and Garden. Guitar Fred is Episcopalian and I'm Catholic, so getting married in Sausalito's Catholic St. Mary's Star of the Sea is fine by us -- and they only cost $1,000 and do allow photography. This would bring our ceremony + reception rental cost to only $2,800 instead. Now, we're just crossing our fingers that St. Mary's is available. Pray for us. *wink*

For more on St. Mary's Star of the Sea, check out photo #17 on Vaughn n' Go's blog below! Curtis and Catherine's Wedding at St. Mary's Star of the Sea by Vaughn 'n Go Photography

Inspiration #41: Traditions

My little sister is getting married this Saturday and it'll be my first time participating firsthand in a Chinese tea ceremony (her husband-to-be is Chinese American and we are Filipino-American).

{From Davina + Daniel Photography}

Unfamiliar with the tradition and meaning behind it, I found these interesting facts from the Chinese Historical and Cultural Society: Tea is probably used because it is China’s national drink and serving it is a sign of respect. Lotus seeds and two red dates are used in the tea for two reasons. First, the words “lotus” and “year,” “seed” and “child,” and “date” and “early,” are homophones, i.e. they have the same sound but different meanings in Chinese. Secondly, the ancient Chinese believed that putting these items in the tea would help the newlyweds produce children early in their marriage and every year, which would ensure many grandchildren for their parents. Also, the sweetness of the special tea is a wish for sweet relations between the bride and her new family. 

{If you're thinking about conducting a Chinese tea ceremony and don't know the specifics, you can read the how-to here.}

My fiance is a good old Southern boy, raised Episcopalian and I'm Filipino-American. We're not having a Catholic or a Episcopalian ceremony although the garden we're getting married is owned by a historic Episcopalian church. Other than having food representing our cultural background for our reception dinner, we have yet to decide how to incorporate traditions from our heritage into our big day. We're a little stumped on what our tradition will be.

To get an idea of what's out there, I enjoyed Davina + Daniel's illustrative overview of various cultural wedding traditions here.

And I'd love to hear what you're planning. Thank you!

Inspiration #20: The DIY Wedding Arch

Save-on Crafts.com sells the basic white wire arch above for $15.99 (6ft). The decoration will cost you above and beyond the initial $15.99 + shipping, and you'll be able to adorn it with ornamental touches that fit with your overall theme.

I love the use of hydrangeas in this real wedding featured on Elizabeth Anne Designs. To make the floral pomanders (with real or silk flowers) refer to this eHow.com article>>


If you want to go nonfloral, hanging Asian lanterns could be dramatic. The purple eyelet "beehive" lantern from www.asianideas.com retails for $14 and could be great in the center with other smaller size lanterns to balance it:


The Star Lantern seen here in a photo taken from images.com retails for $7.50 on asianideas.com as well.