Let's Talk Wedding: Programs

At first, I was going to make my own programs. I wanted to save money...especially since they just get thrown away. However, once I started looking into doing it all myself...it was cheaper to have a company make them. Well, it might have been about $25.00 cheaper to do it myself, but my time was worth more to me than that $25.
This was something I found in a magazine and thought I would at least use the "ribbon" idea. I had Lindi at The Bridal Garden design the program. She found a "P" that looked a lot like our invitation and monogramed the cover. On the inside, we had the flow of the ceremony:

Seating of the Guests

Seating of the Families

Scripture Reading

Seating of the Mothers

Scripture Reading

Processional

Entrance of the Groom and Officiant

Entrance of the Attendants

Entrance of the Bride

Welcome

Giving of the Bride

Exchange of Vows

Exchange of Rings

The Charge and Prayer

Pronouncement

Presentation of Bride and Groom

Recessional My beautiful cousins who handed out programs for us. Love these girls so much and I'm so thankful that each of them were there! "God has truly given us a gift in each other and we are excited that He has brought us together for His glory and purpose. We pray that our marriage will be an encouragement and ministry to others. Thank you for joining our celebration and being a part of what God is doing. Each of you have touched or changed our lives in some ways, and we are so grateful you have chosen to celebrate with us today. ~Beth and Ken" I love Sarah!!! She and I are a year apart and she has always seemed like a sister to me! The back of the program had all of our attendants listed and how we know them. It also had our new address for everyone.

Let's Talk Wedding: Guest "Book"

For the guest "book", I decided to do something a little different. I found this idea in a magazine and LOVED it b/c I like to sew and the first thing I ever made by myself was a blanket. The guests sign blocks of fabric and I would sew all the blocks of fabric together to make a huge blanket. Then, as I was hunting through a million wedding magazines, I found someone who actually did this! There was a whole story on this country wedding and they had done the "quilt" idea! I was so excited to see it put together (the picture is at the bottom of this post)!!!! Theirs was a little different...They had put their monogram in the middle, so that is what I did too! :)

Here is the table set up and our guests signing it! I was so excited about how it turned out! I used one of the glass containers with our monogram on it to hold the pens. We had two trays...one held the blank squares and the other held the squares that were signed. We had the center square monogrammed a few weeks before the wedding. It turned out beautifully! I wanted it in purple...the closest they could get it to our wedding colors...they did a great job! Here is the picture I found and what I hope ours will look like one day!

Let's Talk Wedding: Families

Pictures with the family! These were the REAL final pictures before we all retreated to the designated rooms to wait as the guests arrived. We took the BIG family pictures with the two of us...and then we separated to get pictures with our parents. I feel like this time was SO chaotic. I wish I had remembered to get pictures with my brothers. Oh, well...I feel like at this point it was getting so close to 5pm that we were all trying to get where we needed to be. I love the pictures with my parents! I think we look SO beautiful!!!! We're so happy and everything was just perfect!

My Family:

Ken's Family:

This is one of our FAVORITE pictures!!!! Seriously, Ken and I just LOVE it! We think its so cute that our grandmothers are sitting and chatting and becoming friends as they wait to be seated! I have no idea what they are talking about, but I just think it so sweet! These are pictures where I just see the Lord's glory. I know it might sounds weird, but I'm so blessed they were able to be with us. These are the only grandparents that made it to the wedding. It breaks my heart that my mom's dad (Pepa) and my dad's mom and dad (Ma and Pa) weren't able to be there! I missed them dearly! I wish they could have met Ken. Thankfully, Ken was able to meet Ma before she passed away. And, I'm so thankful that I was able to share some of the joys of our engagement with Ma. She was able to see my ring and my dress. I was fully prepared to figure out how to stream a live-feed of the wedding so Ma could see it, but sadly she didn't make it that long. I've been sad for a long time that both my grandpas passed. I was in 6th grade when Pepa lost the battle to cancer. I just loved him so much! I was able to spend more years with Pa. The more I got to know him, the more I loved him! I remember my heart hurting at his funeral b/c he would never know my husband and kids....and they would never know him. Thankfully, that is only true while we are on this earth. I praise the Lord that we will all be together again one day! Needless to say, I will cherish this picture forever!

Let's Talk Wedding: Formals

The last of our pictures were the "formals" that we were taking inside the church. These were more stressful to me b/c it wasn't about the photographers viewpoint and photo-journalism. Its now about getting all the pictures that all the parents, grandparents, and family members want. Granted, there were a few that I wanted (and there are some I wish we would have gotten: a picture with our grandmothers and a picture with just my brothers), but it was just more stressful. I'm thankful to have them, but its hard to get everyone where they're supposed to be, all while I'm standing in the middle of the stage, trying not to move b/c I'm centered and my train is just "perfect". Anyway---they are still beautiful! I was excited to get them finished so the actual WEDDING could start! :)