Sunday 14 April 2013

A Special Day

I don't normally blog on a Sunday, but today is a Special Day. One year ago today, my little cousin J married his high school sweetheart. It was such a beautiful wedding!

For our little family it was one of our mini vacations for 2012. It was Hugo's first time staying in a hotel (he was 5 1/2 months). Unfortunately I do not have many photos of this special day.  I only brought my little purse camera that I have, which I discovered does not take the greatest inside photos. I was also in-charge of looking after their guest book and snappy Polaroid pictures of guests as they arrived, so I did not have a lot of time.  I managed to find a couple photos though.


Hugo after the awesome party and
spending his first night in a hotel.

I just love weddings (we attended two beautiful weddings in 2012 -- the following one and a Country themed one. In 2014 we will have another wedding which Byron & Hugo will be in).  I find there is always an abundance of love in the air on a wedding day and there are so many things to look forward to.

Dressing up in something Fancy - I personally like an opportunity where I get to do my nails and dress up all nice and fancy.

The last time I gave myself a French Manicure
I find when you have a kid you just don't have time
for these things any more.

 Byron, on the other hand, hates it.  Hugo, on this particular day was ok with being in a suit. He just did not want anything to do with wearing his shoes.

Getting dressed and being naughty
sticking out his tong.


 I found a place online were I was able to get Hugo and Byron matching ties (I ordered them from My Favorite Pal). I did not get a good family picture of us, but before we headed to the ceremony we snapped the following pictures and I am so glad we did.


The Ceremony - the moment when you get to witness two individuals express their love for each other and give each other their hearts for a lifetime.

The importance of a wedding ceremony did not sink in until I got married myself. Before then I barely ever went to the ceremony. The wedding ceremony was always earlier in the day and seemed so impossible to get to on time. Plus there was always the question -- what to do once the ceremony  was over and you had to figure out how to spend the four hours between the ceremony and the reception? After our wedding my view completely changed and I quickly realized that the ceremony was the most important part of the entire wedding day, next to the beautiful bride of course. Without the ceremony there would be no wedding. I now try really hard to get us to the ceremony.

J & N's wedding ceremony took place at the following church. I found this photo online on the photographer's website (Samantha Erin Photography) - this was not the photographer they used but I thought it was a great shot of this cute little church.

Photo from Samantha Erin Photography website

I am not one to get all teary eyed (I usually leave that to my mom) but at a wedding ceremony there are usually three parts when I get a tear or two in my eyes. The first is when the bride walks down the aisle towards her Knight in Shinning Armour (I think it's because of the music). The second part is during the following reading which was one of the readings at our wedding and is so often used at weddings we have attended.


The third part is when I hear the couple say their vows. In all three cases they are tears of joy of course. I guess these three parts always bring me back to the wonderful memories of our own wedding day (which was almost 5 years ago) - a day that we planned for months and past by so fast.

J+N's transportation for the day

The First Dance - J & N did an awesome job with their first dance. They had all their professional dance moves down to a "T".  They danced to such a beautiful song by  Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I am (I am actually listening to it as I write this post).


The Meal - another thing I look forward to at a wedding -- usually a very delicious one.  One year ago today our meal consisted of a traditional Portuguese soup - Caldo Verde (starter). I will have to post the recipe one day. Followed by a mouth watering delicious Prime Rib Roast Beef served with grilled veggies and potatoes. Then we were served a chicken piece stuffed with a pistachio & goat cheese filling and a salad. (I was quite stuffed by this point but it was delicious. I have searched online for a recipe that replicates it but have yet to find one that is similar- I really want to try and make it at home. To be honest I'm not a fan of goat cheese or cheese in general, but this chicken was so tasty). For dessert we were served crepes and ice cream. By that point I was stuffed like a turkey, but some how managed to finish my dessert. Later in the evening there was more yummy food.  I did get the following photos of the yummy dessert and the late night buffet table.




  
The Details - The final thing that I look forward to is seeing all the details - the dresses (bride and bridesmaids), the flowers, the favours, the centrepieces, etc. The items that require so much time planning, but bring the wedding together and make it outstandingly beautiful and perfect.

I thought this was a neat idea. As guests arrived at the reception this is what they saw next to the framed seating chart. The wedding photos from the bride and groom's parents and grandparents.



The beautiful white hydrangea centrepieces. Hydrangea's are one of the top five flowers I really like. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the ones in my garden do better this year.

 

At each place setting there were these cute little boxes filled with Hugs and Kisses from the new  Mr. & Mrs. At the bottom of each chocolate there were little stickers with the couple's name and wedding date.

 
 
 
These are the details through their photographers lens (Shawn Bettencourt Photography) ...

 I absolutely loved the bride's dress and shoes -so pretty.
 
The reception took place at a Yacht Club and was a beautiful venue with lots of windows to let in lots of natural light. Since the wedding was in April there weren't any boats in the water but it was still a gorgeous backdrop behind the head table.


As guests left they were given a cute little  seedling.



Here's the custom card I made for their very 1st Anniversary (traditionally known as the Paper Anniversary). The 3D tree has the lyrics from their first dance and is affixed to premium cardstock.    The two hearts have the couple's initials. The inside reads "Happy 1st Anniversary" followed by their names and their 1st Anniversary date. The envelope had part of the sheet music of their first dance.


While I was working on the above card I also made the following card ...

The roots of a Family - 3D Tree Card
 
Close-up of verse and heart embellishments
 

This card will work great for either another anniversary card or even a wedding card. The 3D tree has the verse ... The Roots of a Family Tree begin with the Love of two hearts. It is affixed to premium cardstock. There are two small heart embellishments hanging off the tree. The inside of the card is blank for your own personal message.


(This card is currently available for purchase)

I seriously can not believe its been a year already since J & N tied the knot. We are so happy we were able to be a part of their special day. It was a gorgeous Spring Wedding! We wish them many years of happiness together filled with a lot of wonderful blessings!

The Happy Couple 1 Year Ago
 
 

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