Need wedding inspiration...ideas, anyone?

by maybesbabies 36 Replies latest jw friends

  • maybesbabies
    maybesbabies

    Well, I need inspiration for my wedding this coming May. I want to have a nature themed wedding, with sage green being the primary color. I haven't decided if I want to go woodsy, beach-y, or what have you. I'm hoping that perhaps some of you crafty folks might help me by posting your ideas for wedding favors, decorations, etc. BTW, I plan on making everything by hand, with some help from my friends and soon-to-be family. We're also cooking all the food for my wedding, including the cake (so recipes would be appreciated as well!). Thanks!!

  • redhotchilipepper
    redhotchilipepper

    What will the weather be like? Warm or cold? I'm not familiar with your climate that time of year! For me that would play a part in helping you. I love this sort of thing. This could be alot of fun. Oh goody!

  • redhotchilipepper
    redhotchilipepper

    Woodsy sounds really Romantic for that time of year. I'm imagining nice cloak with a fur collar. It could even be a different color than your dress, maybe. Just an idea. Remember, it's your wedding day. DON'T let people take over. CHERISH IT! They will have or have had their day. This is your day now! LOVE RHCP: Congradulations by the Way. I love Weddings! Whose the lucky fellow! Tell us all, girl!

  • maybesbabies
    maybesbabies

    LOL!! Thanks RHCP!! It should be sunny but brisk, in the 60-70's, with a chance of rain (it is the Seattle area, after all *sigh*). In the area I live in, Edmonds, it is near enough to the water to generally enjoy and offshore breeze that pushes the clouds back. I love the idea of a fur trimmed cloak!! I want to have a dress that is white underneath, with an over-sewn lace bodice. It's hard to put into words, but I envision it as something like a long sleeved riding jacket, but with an extending skirt that overlaps the white underdress. I want the lace to be sage green, or a color of green that is spring-like. The "jacket" would meet at the bust, continue down the bodice area, and open up to cover 3/4 of the skirt, leaving the white showing in front. I don't know if that made any sense, but it's hard to verbally convey my mental picture. For decorations, I was thinking maybe bundles of willow twigs and dried flowers, tied with ribbon. For favors, I was thinking muslin tea-bags filled with either a flavored black tea, or an herbal tea. I could make those fairly easily by hand. Also, perhaps see-through sachets filled with candies. I could make those as well!!

    P.S. the lucky fellow is Guy, and we've been dating for a year now. This will be the shortest relationship I've even considered for marriage, but seeing as I'm a serial monogamist, I don't see that waiting "a few years" (as in the past) would make our relationship any more special or certain. I see someone I can change and grow with (who loves my cooking, does my dishes/laundry/windows, can hold an intelligent conversation, even while angry, and generally embodies my idea of someone who loves with abandon, both me and the world), and I feel ready to commit my life to him!

  • redhotchilipepper
    redhotchilipepper

    WOW! I can envision everything! You will be a picture of beauty! He is going to fall over before he reaches you to say I DO!!! I love the twigs, it all sounds original and fun! It's your special day coming together already. I bet you are excited. I'm excited for you and I really don't even know you other than a few typed words on this forum. You knock em dead with your stunning charm and beauty. It will be the best wedding ever, I'm sure. Don't really knock em dead or you'll have nobody to dance with ok. LOL RHCP (((HUGS))) He sounds a bit WHIPPED! Tee Hee!

  • maybesbabies
    maybesbabies

    Thank you!! I prefer not to think of it as whipped, we just fill in where the other is domestically challenged, lol!! I cook, he cleans. It works.

    BTW, I just found the most awful resource for writing your own wedding vows. Here's a list, complete with promises of submission and all

    Sample Wedding Vows

    Sample One

      Male

    I, _____, take you, ______, to be my wedded wife. With deepest joy I receive you into my life that together we may be one. As is Christ to His body, the church, so I will be to you a loving and faithful husband. Always will I perform my headship over you even as Christ does over me, knowing that His Lordship is one of the holiest desires for my life. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, my tenderest care. I promise I will live first unto God rather than others or even you. I promise that I will lead our lives into a life of faith and hope in Christ Jesus. Ever honoring God's guidance by His spirit through the Word, And so throughout life, no matter what may lie ahead of us, I pledge to you my life as a loving and faithful husband.

      Female

    I, _____, take you, ______, to be my wedded husband. With deepest joy I come into my new life with you. As you have pledged to me your life and love, so I too happily give you my life, and in confidence submit myself to your headship as to the Lord. As is the church in her relationship to Christ, so I will be to you. _____, I will live first unto our God and then unto you, loving you, obeying you, caring for you and ever seeking to please you. God has prepared me for you and so I will ever strengthen, help, comfort, and encourage you. Therefore, throughout life, no matter what may be ahead of us, I pledge to you my life as an obedient and faithful wife.

    Sample Two

      Male

    I love you, _____, and I know that God has ordained this love. Because of this I desire to be your husband. Together we will be vessels for His service in accordance with His plan, so that in all areas of our life Christ will have the pre-eminence. Through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future, I promise to be faithful to you. I promise to love, guide, and protect you as Christ does His Church, and as long as we both are alive. According to Ephesians 5 and with His enabling power, I promise to endeavor to show to you the same kind of love as Christ showed the Church when He died for her, and to love you as a part of myself because in His sight we shall be one.

      Female

    I love you, ____ and I know that you love me. Because of this I desire to be your wife. For _ years I have prayed that God would lead me to His choice and I am confident that His will is being fulfilled tonight. Through the pressures of the present and the uncertainties of the future I promise to be faithful to you. I will love, serve, and obey you as long as we both are alive. Christ told us that the wife must submit herself unto her own husband as unto the Lord. For as Christ is Head of His Church so is the husband head of his wife. _____, I submit myself to you.

    Sample Three

      Male

    I _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

      Female

    I, _____, take you ______, to be my wedded husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

    Sample Four

      Male

    _____, we read in Genesis, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife," and in Proverbs "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing." He has ordained that the husband be the head of the wife. He instructs me, as the one who will be your husband, to love you as Christ loves the Church. It is my desire and delight to follow this scriptural teaching. With all my heart, I make this pledge to you.

      Female

    ______, the Lord instructs me as the one who will be your wife to submit to you as unto Him. Our Father created woman to be man's helper. It is my desire and delight to follow this scriptural teaching. With all my heart I make this pledge to you.

    Sample Five

      Male

    ______, I love you. Today is a very special day. Long ago you were just a dream and a prayer. This day like a dream come true the Lord Himself has answered that prayer. For today, ______, you as my joy become my crown. I thank Jesus for the honor of going through time with you. Thank you for being what you are to me. With our future as bright as the promises of God, I will care for you, honor and protect you. I lay down my life for you, _____, my friend and my love. Today I give to you me.

      Female

    ______, I love you and I know you love me. I am confident that God has chosen you to be my husband. It is my prayer and desire that you will find in me the helpmeet God designed especially for you, and in confidence I will submit myself unto your headship as unto our Lord. Therefore, _____, I pledge to you my life as an obedient, faithful and loving wife. Whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge, Thy people shall be my people, And thy God my God.

    Sample Six

      Male

    ______, I love you and I know that this love is from God. Because of this, I want to be your husband so that we might serve Christ together. Through all of the uncertainties and trials of the present and future, I promise to be faithful to you and love you. I promise to guide and protect you as Christ does his church, as long as we both shall live. God's Word gives us the perfect example of this love in Christ's death for the Church. I shall try always, with God's help, to show you this same kind of love, for I know that in His sight we will both be one.

      Female

    ______, I love you. I prayed that God would lead me to his choice. I praise Him that tonight His will is being fulfilled. Through the pressures of the present and uncertainties of the future I promise my faithfulness, to follow you through all of life's experiences as you follow God, that together we may grow in the likeness of Christ and our home be a praise to Him.

    Sample Seven

      Male

    ______, as we stand before both God and man, making public our commitment to one another, I wish to make it known that I recognize first of all God's authority over my life which is exercised from His loving heart. He has chosen me to be one of his own, and He is now my life. I recognize also that He has blessed me and entrusted to me your life as a free gift that I have not earned. In recognition of these things, ____ I purpose to love you with His love, to provide for your needs through His enablement, and to lead you as He leads me, as long as He give us life together, regardless of the circumstances. As Psalm 34:3 expressed my heart when I asked you to marry me, so it expresses my heart now: "O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together."

      Female

    On this special day, _____, I am reminded of the verse James l:17 which says, "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." With a gift such as you, I know that many new responsibilities face me. In I Corinthians, it explains "It is required of a steward to be found trustworthy." I cannot do this on my own strength, _______, but by God's grace and power working within me I desire to be trustworthy as your wife by following your leading submissively, even as unto Christ, loving and serving you in all circumstances as long as He give me life on this earth.

    Sample Eight

      Male

    ______, I give you this ring, wear it with love and joy. I choose you to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward for better or for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live.

      Female

    ______, I give you this ring, wear it with love and joy. I choose you to be my husband: to have and to hold, from this day forward. For better, for worse, for richer for poorer; in sickness and in health; to have and to cherish, as long as we both shall live. And hereto, I pledge you my faithfulness to show to you the same kind of love as Christ showed the Church when He died for her, and to love you as a part of myself because in His sight we shall be one.

    Sample Nine

      Male

    I, ______, take you _____ to be my wife, before God who brought us together; to love and cherish you even as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it, to lead you and share all of life's experiences with you by following God through them. That through His grace, ____, we might grow together into the likeness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

      Female

    And with this ring, I, ____, take you, _____. to be my husband, before God who brought us together, to love you, cherish you, to submit myself unto you in all things, and to follow you through all of life's experiences as you follow God. That through His grace we might grow together into the likeness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

    Sample Ten

      Male

    I, ______, take you ______, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, or the Lord comes for His own, and hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

    (The Minister will quietly suggest they loose hands; then

    The Woman with her right hand will take the right hand of the Man and repeat).

      Female

    I, _____, take you ______, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love land to cherish, till death do us part, or the Lord comes for His own, and hereto I pledge you my faithfulness.

    Sample Eleven

      Male

    I ______, in faith, honesty and love, take you, ______, to be my wedded wife, to share with you God's plan for our lives together united in Christ. And with God's help, to strengthen and guide me I will be a strong spiritual leader for us in our life, for better, for worse, in sickness and in health, in joys and in sorrows, until death do we part. I give you all that I have myself and my love. (All these things I pledge to thee) In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. With this ring I seal my vow of love to you, ______and pray I may fulfill God's place in our home, in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

    Sample Twelve

      Male

    I love you, ______, and I thank the Lord for the love that has bound our hearts and lives together in spiritual fellowship of marriage. I will love, honor and cherish you always. As we enter upon the privileges and joys of life's most holy relationship, and begin together the great adventure of building a Christian home, I will look to Christ as Head of our home as I have looked to Him as Head of the Church. I will love you in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in sorrow as in joy, and will be true to you by God's grace, trusting in Him, so long as we both shall live.

      Female

    I love you, ______, and I thank the Lord for the love that has bound our hearts and lives together in spiritual fellowship of marriage. I will love, honor, cherish and obey you always. As we enter upon the privileges and joys of life's most holy relationship and begin together the great adventure of building a Christian home, I will look to you as head of our home as I have looked to Christ as Head of the Church. I will love you in sickness as in health, in poverty as in wealth, in sorrow as in joy, and will be true to you by God's grace, trusting in Him, so long as we both shall live.

    Sample Thirteen
    (sample of personally written vows)

      Male

    ______, as we stand before both God and man making public our commitment to one another, I wish to make it known that I recognize God's authority over my life which is exercised from His loving heart . He has chosen me to be one of His own, and has since been my life. I recognize also that He has blessed me, and entrusted to me your life as an unearned gift. In recognition of these things, I, _____, take you, _____, to be my wife. I purpose to love you with His love, to provide for your needs through His enablement, and to lead you as He leads me, as long as He gives me life, regardless of circumstances. ______, I look forward to establishing a home where Christ is glorified. Toward that end I promise to allow God to use you in my life as He sees best in building me into His person. I thank Him for your love and friendship.

      Female

    I ______, take you, ______, to be my husband. With the greatest joy I come into my new life with you. Today I am reminded of James l:17 which says "Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." Besides the gift of salvation, you are the most precious gift God has given me. I know that along with the new joys God has given me, I face new responsibilities that I cannot fulfill in my own strength. But by God's grace and power working within me, I desire to be trustworthy as your wife, to serve and love you in all circumstances, to obey you, to allow God to use you to build His qualities in me, as long as God give us life on this earth. I praise God continually for you, ______, and for your love and friendship.

  • redhotchilipepper
    redhotchilipepper

    Holy poo girl, that was alot of typing! You must be tired! I say "make up your own vows" SWEET AND SIMPLE!!! I'm sure he isn't whipped, I was just bugging you a little. It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it on this forum. I'm the forum brat.

  • maybesbabies
    maybesbabies

    Oh no, you're right, he's whipped. I just try to break it to him gently, lol!!! I just copied and pasted that crap from a site I found about writing your own vows. I'm too sheepish to post what I've written so far, but it's 10 times better than that pap, for sure. Thanks for your enthusiasm, RHCP, makes me feel good!

    Ok, this is a bit how I want it to go. I'm not sure though, my honey being a godless barbarian and all, if he'd mind the scriptual reference. I think he could care less, really, he's just excited about the moment he gets to slip the ring on my finger, and kiss me, and call me his wife.

    ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

    Vows:

    Rough draft:

    (Guy and I both at head of aisle, Guy with male officiator, me with female officiator.)

    Officiants

    :

    Today, we gather together to witness the union of two hearts. There is no more blessed a union than the meeting of two souls, who will now share one mind, one heart, one breath.

    Female officiant

    : Will you women,Tamars sisters, in flesh and in spirit, stand witness and approve of this marriage? ("We do")

    Male officiant

    : Will you men, Guys brothers, in flesh and in spirit, stand witness and approve of this marriage? ("We do")

    Let any who would object speak now, or forever hold their peace.

    (Led to alter by officiants and kneel, facing each other)

    Male officiant

    (standing next to Guy):

    Without love, the world has no meaning. Love is all the traits we could ever hope to find in a partner. Love is patient, love is kind, Love is not jealous; love does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. The love you hold for Tamar is shown to be all this and more. Do you promise here today to love her, cherish her, care for her in sickness and in health, and hold her in your heart forever more? ("I do")

    Female Officiant: (standing next to me):

    Without love, the world has no meaning. Love is all the traits we could ever hope to find in a partner. Love is patient, love is kind, Love is not jealous; love does not brag, is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. The love you hold for Guy is shown to be all this and more. Do you promise here today to love him, cherish him, care for him in sickness and in health, and hold him in your heart forever more? ("I do")

    (Male and Female officiants help us to rise, wrap ribbon to bind our hands)

    Officiants: We now join together, heart and mind, body and soul, these two, that their love may last forever. Please rise and give witness to this beautiful union.

    (First kiss as husband and wife)

  • Xandria
  • Xandria
    Xandria

    Hope it helps you sis! These are beautiful and different. You can mix and match and change.

    Love Ya!

    X.

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