photo by one love photo found at with this ring
You won't regret {or forget} the time you shared together on your stroll, I promise. The cocktail hour can and will survive without your presence for 15 minutes.
And the accompanying boutonniere is quite handsome. The groom looked quite dapper in his back suit and orange & brown tie {who says the Groom can't wear brown with black...it's his day too!}. Bouquet and boutonniere by: holly heider chapple flowers
via: ben chrisman
for a little more orange eye candy check out this post: orange: i got nothin catchy
{Above} One of my favorite "first look" photos. {Below} Reminds me a little bit of a wedding version of the "American Gothic" painting.
I hope that you will all stop by and say hello! This is truly a day that would not have come into fruition without the support of you. Don't forget to add Penned & Pretty to your bookmarks and/or Google Readers as we'll post daily on all things penned & pretty!
A special thanks to April of April Foster Events for the design of the Penned & Pretty logo and countless hours of advice & blog-related assistance.
white and green bouquets always turn out beautiful. 
accenting a bouquet with twigs or feathers add to the beauty of the bouquet.
light & delicate bouquets = divine.
i may be biased, but isn't that plum/purple ribbon just lovely!?
olives & rings by: Millie Holloman , love & a bouquet by: The Shooting Gallery
pretty rings on a pretty invitation {a must take shot} by: Hy Studio
{please excuse the blurring of the little one's faces for privacy purposes}
Readings: As some of you might know , the Catholic church is quite strict about the readings/scripture that can be read during a wedding ceremony. At our initial meeting with our priest, we were given a book of appropriate scripture readings to choose from. Although this strict rule didn't really allow us to "customize" our ceremony by interjecting more meaningful passages and readings it did take some of the stress off from having to come up with the most perfect and personalized ceremony. Here are the readings we chose: Genesis 2: 18-24, Psalm 103:1-2, 8, 17-18a, 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:8a, John 15: 9-12
We had Chris' two brothers and one sister read our three Bible verses and the Gospel was read by the priest. My Aunt read the Prayer of the Faithful {and my Uncle walked me down the aisle}. Having our closest family members {next to our parents} have a special part in our ceremony meant a lot to both of us.
Ceremony Music: We both wanted the day to be a celebration, so when we sat down with the church organist we chose joyful melodies. Seating of the Mothers: "Jesu: Joy of Man's Desire" by Bach. Processional: "Cannon in D" by Pachelbel. Entrance of the Bride: "Trumpet Voluntary" by Purcell. Lighting of the Unity Candle: "How Beautiful" by T. Paris. Recessional: "Praise Processional" by M. Dickerson & "Hornpipe" by Handel
Vows: Deep down inside, I had always wanted to write and recite our own vows. But, I knew that I would have never made it through them. I would have teared up from the moment I started. So, we recited the same vows that our parents and our grandparents recited. The traditional vows. And they were just as special. And we made it thorough them.
Remembrance Candle: After my Daddy passed away three months before our wedding, I struggled with the proper way to honor him and remember him on our wedding day. I knew that he would "be" there, but I wanted him to be visibly present as well. So the idea of a remembrance candle was formed.
I went to Wal-Mart and bought a large candle that had three wicks. One wick was lit in memory of my Father, one for my two sets of grandparents, and one wick for Chris' set of grandparents. I wrapped the candle with raspberry ribbon and put it in a hurricane glass from Target. The program read:
In Memory
To those who could not be present today,
but are certainly looking down on us.
Mr. Gary _____
Mr. & Mrs. Gustave ___ and Mr. & Mrs. Robert ____
Mr. and Mrs. David ___ and Mr. & Mrs. Fred ____
Their presence is felt in our hearts and is represented by the
three flames in the remembrance candle placed near the altar.
The remembrance candle couldn't have been more perfect.
We also mentioned those that couldn't be with us in the Prayer of the Faithful.
Unity Candle: We decided to incorporate a Unity Candle into our ceremony because we appreciated what it symbolized. 
Our ceremony was arguably the day. A beautiful church {on a beautiful day} filled with people we loved who were there to witness us take our vows. I hope that your ceremony is/was just as beautiful.
Lesson Learned # 25: We were outraged when we heard that the tux store wanted to charge us the SAME amount for the ushers/kids tuxes as they were charging each of the Groomsmen. Chris' sister and sisters-in-law found the boys tuxes on ebay {just search for "brand new boys tux} for only $24.99 each plus shipping.
Lesson Learned # 26: I made the flower girls pomanders myself about a month before the wedding. I went to Michael's {local craft store} and bought a the smallest Styrofoam ball they had {2 inch?}. Then I purchased silk flowers when they were on sale for 1/2 off. I plucked off the head of each bud, leaving about 1/2 inch of stem attached. Using a pen, I poked a small hole in the Styrofoam ball and filled it with hot glue before I stuck the short piece of stem in. Hold for at least 30 seconds. Don't be afraid to use a lot of glue. Repeat til your ball is covered. Making them myself saved me about $15 per pomander.
Lesson Learned #27: You will love this, friends. The Unity candle cost us all of about $8. The middle candle was $3 from Wal-Mart and the two tapered candles were $.97 each at Wal-Mart. My Mom had a clear crystal holder that was perfect for the large candle. We bought two holders for the tapered candles from Wal-Mart, on clearance, for $1 each that actually matched my Mom's larger holder. I wrapped the unity candle with raspberry ribbon to give it a little flare. Who said that a Unity candle set had to cost $40+?.
previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away, the cake, thank you cards, blurb guest book, outside the mansion, the dress, the invitations
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.
What isn't there to love about this photo? The train of the dress trailing the glowing bride holding a bouquet that appears to be divine. Which one of my lovely readers will be the first to recreate it?
This picture from marie labbancz gives me hope that the sky will soon stop spitting snowflakes and the frigid winds will eventually disappear. It allows me to think happy thoughts of friends gathering at a lake house to witness intimate nuptials on a pier as the warm sun sets. And afterwords...a little cocktail soiree, wonderfully simple food and an abundance of dancing.
I am ready for summer.
This, my friends, is my favorite picture from their wedding day. It's just begging to be framed.
found on the blog of one of my favorite photographers, jasmine star
This damask table-scape is from the lovely wedding of kate's wedding blog who can now be found at pretty damn fabulous. Her wedding was adorable and attention to detail impeccable. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
If you haven't seen the work of Robert Sukrachand, get a move on over to his blog. I found this wedding particularly stunning. And if the black and white striped table cloths weren't eye popping enough, can we talk about the floral arrangements?!
The fluffy dahlias paired with squares of green grass make for a stunning series of centerpieces, don't you think!?
Whether you prefer the lovely and versatile damask or the bold style of thick stripes, I think that we can all agree that both patterns are stunning.
photo found on the blog of marie labbancz
Speaking of calligraphy, I have to admit that I have toyed with opening up shop as well. I have always loved picking up a fresh pen and watching the ink flow onto the paper. Addressing the envelopes for our save the dates, invitations and thank you cards was something that I looked forward to and loved doing. I attempted to learn true calligraphy {as featured by SD Calligraphy and Laura Hooper}, but I just couldn't do it. It didn't look right and it just wasn't "me." Instead, I addressed our envelopes with my own {pretty} handwriting. And the envelope recipients loved the results. 
Shopping for my wedding dress wasn't too high up on my priority list. I'm not sure if it was because I was nervous I wouldn't be able to find one I liked or if it was because I wasn't thrilled by the idea of having to sift through racks and racks of dresses in multiple stores. To be honest, dress shopping didn't go too well. My first stop was David's Bridal {lest we forget I was on a budget!}. I found a dress I liked, but I wasn't in love with it. I went to every other bridal store around town, but all the dresses were either too expensive or didn't have what I was looking for. For about a month I searched and searched and wore myself out. I thought I would never find the dress. One day, I went back to the David's Bridal website and saw that the Spring line had arrived. I saw a couple dresses that I liked, so I went back to try them on. None of them were right. But my "bridal consultant" listened to all that I wanted in a dress and told me that she had "the perfect dress" from the new line that I hadn't already tried on. She brought it over, I tried it on and I was in love. It was the one. 
{note: this was when we couldn't find the top clasp to close my dress. i jumped on my blackberry and read a couple of my favorite wedding blogs to pass the time and distract myself from the fact that my dress wasn't clasping. Once again, I refer you to Lesson Learned #5. } The picture above really shows the detail of the dress and how beautiful it was. The picture below shows one of my favorite parts of the dress, the bustle. It was divine. The best part about the dress? It's price. $499 {after a coupon from a bridal show}. You can pick your jaw up now and wipe away the drool. So there you have it, the dress is from Davids Bridal and was quite affordable. Would you have guessed?! 
Lesson Learned #15: Don't be scared to go to a "discount" shop like David's Bridal. Gorgeous dresses aren't only sold at boutiques.
Lesson Learned #16: Don't judge a dress before you try it on. This is what my dress looks like on-line, which is totally different from how it looks "for real." Since I didn't like the on-line image, I hadn't bothered to request to try it on at the store. Once I saw it on me, I was in love and couldn't believe I had overlooked it.
Lesson Learned #17: When I first started looking at dresses, I was convinced that I wanted a puffy princess-y dress. When I actually tried them on, that style looked horrible on me and I was lost inside a mound of tulle. Be willing to change the visions you have of your wedding dress once you really start to try them on since different dress styles look different on different body types.
Lesson Learned #18: Go back to stores that you have already visited to see if new lines/dresses have arrived since your last visit.
Lesson Learned #19: For most brides, alterations will cost about half as much the dress itself. Accept it. Find a different location for alterations, if possible. The store/boutique will cost substantially more than the women that your friends {or women on the knot local message boards} can suggest that performs alterations out of her home.
previously in the series, "how i tied the knot": getting ready, our first look, bouquets and boutonnieres, socks and shoes, bubbles and getting away, the cake, thank you cards, blurb guest book, outside the mansion
all pictures by: nicole green. please link back to tying the knot when posting any of these pictures.
