Wedding The Details

[modernsparkler]

I thought it would be interesting to post about all of the special "details" that go into making weddings special and unique. Music, readings, accessories, etc.

For example, my 2 cousins who are amazing singers are singing "True Companion" by Marc Cohn during our ceremony, my amazing toastmaster grandfather is going to MC and introduce us and the wedding party, we are doing a slide show of our 10+ years together, and we are displaying our parents'' wedding pics in the foyer ballroom.

What are yours?

 

[mimzy]

i'm too lazy to type it all out, so i'm cutting and pasting from my response from the last version of this thread!
these are our 'personal touches' or details

- lanterns instead of flowers for bridesmaids and alter decor. i'm not huge on flowers and we got engaged by candlelight
- processional song: i'm walking down to a jars of clay song that i've loved since 7th grade

- sermon: my uncle is a minister in sweden and while he can't perform the whole service he is going to do the little homily/sermon portion. i'm really looking forward to that

- candle lighting: when they walk in each guest will be given a small taper candle. our moms are going to light the unity candle in the middle of the ceremony and then stefan and i are going to take the candles from them and walk down the center of the aisle lighting the first person's candle as we go (and they'll light the person's next to them and so on). that way everyone will have a lit candle when we say our vows. it's our way of including everyone in the ceremony.

- favors: we're going to make these glazed walnuts that we make every christmas (since i was a little girl) and package them with the recipe for favors. we might also do baklava in addition!

- greek stuff: not individual to me, but we'll equip everyone with a shot of ouzo for a toast and then have the ouzo dance and the kalamatiano, etc.

- music: we're having 'our' type of music played during the cocktail hour. it will only be appreciated by a handful of our friends, everyone else will have to tough it out

- cake: i dont' care what my dad says. i'm having a chocolate costco cake even if i have to pick it up and sneak it in myself!

- jewelry: i'm changing my jewelry for the reception to these peridot colored crystal earrings and brooch (cinching my dress into a sweetheart neckline). i might add a little green bolero too!

our friends are also singing a duet of 'be thou my vision' for one of the ceremony songs and the other song is going to be Greensleeves, which is one of FI's favorite song

 

[Nocturnius]

What made ours special...

My ring is a butterfly. It's the Calla Cut, so it really looks like a little butterfly. This has importance for numerous reasons, one being that the butterfly is my totem and also that the very first birthday gift my husband gave me when we started dating was a preserved butterfly.
We had a small guest list. The only people in attendance were our parents, siblings, his grandparents, and our bridal party. It made for a personal and intimate event.
I entered to the song "All I Ever Wanted" by Jim Brickman. Now, what made this special is several things. I first heard this song years ago on some miscellaneous site as a MIDI. Right then, I said, "this is my song." I saved the file, but the computer the fle was on crashed. I went back to the site years later to find the webmistress had changed all of the songs. The song had no lyrics so I couldn't do an internet search for them, and the file had been renamed to fit the page it had been featured on so I didn't know the real title of the song. I was so upset. Then, years later, my ballet instructor was helping me choose a song for my solo that year, and he had the song on a piano selections CD. But here's what really makes it special: I performed that solo at the first ballet recital my husband ever saw me in before we dated.
We wrote our vows together.
I carried the same handkerchief my oldest sister (21 years my senior) carried at her wedding eleven years ago.
I also carried an antique wishbone pin my mother wore on her jacket the day she married my dad.
We had a smoothie bar instead of a liquor bar because we are strict non-drinkers; this made for a really unique experience for all of our guests! Everyone loved it.

And then song significances...

First dance: "Babe" by Styx
We sang this as a duet together in a county talent show, and also later sang it together as the finale at one of his band gigs... right after he proposed to me in front of the whole crowd.
Father/Daughter dance: "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Midler
While pretty standard, I picked this song because of something very special: my dad made me a wooden music box when I was a child, and he hand-picked the little instrument that goes inside... and it plays this song. What made it really amazing was, I didn't tell him what song I had picked, so we got up for the dance and he gets close and says "what song are we dancing to, anyway?" And I said, "Wind Beneath My Wings." He replied, "oh, I love that song." My response, "I know. It's the song you put in my music box." And this look of realization came over his face and his eyes just watered and he said "....oh, that's right." I thought he was going to cry!
Last dance: "Lady" by Styx
This is the ringtone that plays when I call my husband. Everyone always knows when I'm calling, because "SHE'S MY LADY!"

 

[doodle]

we''re using "the luckiest" by ben folds as the wedding party processional because FI and i are both HUGE fans, and for my processional, we''re using "glasgow love theme" from the love actually soundtrack because this was what we watched on one of our first dates, and it''s also one of only 5 movies that we both owned a copy of (we''re both total movie junkies and have hundreds of movies in our collection, so this few duplicates is rather remarkable considering our similar tastes!).

i''m taking pictures of deceased loved ones and having them worked into the handle of my bouquet with ribbon so they''ll be "walking me down the aisle".

my childhood best friend and my FI''s little boy are both ceremony readers.

the floral designer is working star lanterns into part of the decor because stars have symbolic meaning for me.

we''re making donations to the diabetes and cancer foundations in honor of many of our relatives, including FI''s father, who passed away five years ago.

there are a few other things i''m considering, too, but these are the definites right now!

 

[honey22]

I am planning on walking down the isle to "our song" - Runaway by the Corrs. It has very special meaning to us. We met less than a week before my 18th birthday (we were both still students). DF used to work once a fortnight doing a nightshift at the local town bakery, and he earnt a massive $36 a shift. (Yep, that works out to be a huge annual salary of $936

, he did get youth allowance though, anyhoo...)

In the first few days of knowing each other I had casually mentioned that this was my favorite song that had just been released, and he went and spent his whole fortnights pay on their CD and a single red rose for my birthday, just so I could play that song over and over. It was so special, he has been a darling ever since. Everytime we hear that song, we are reminded of when we were young and just first in love, it still gives me warm fuzzy feelings today. And the words are so beautiful too. It''s also fitting as we are ''running away'' to get married in tropical Queensland, so I just can''t imagine having anyother song playing.

linky
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A87Mqo_yDV4

 

[modernsparkler]

Date: 8/29/2008 5:42:30 PM
Author: mimzy
i'm too lazy to type it all out, so i'm cutting and pasting from my response from the last version of this thread!
these are our 'personal touches' or details

- lanterns instead of flowers for bridesmaids and alter decor. i'm not huge on flowers and we got engaged by candlelight
- processional song: i'm walking down to a jars of clay song that i've loved since 7th grade

- sermon: my uncle is a minister in sweden and while he can't perform the whole service he is going to do the little homily/sermon portion. i'm really looking forward to that

- candle lighting: when they walk in each guest will be given a small taper candle. our moms are going to light the unity candle in the middle of the ceremony and then stefan and i are going to take the candles from them and walk down the center of the aisle lighting the first person's candle as we go (and they'll light the person's next to them and so on). that way everyone will have a lit candle when we say our vows. it's our way of including everyone in the ceremony.

- favors: we're going to make these glazed walnuts that we make every christmas (since i was a little girl) and package them with the recipe for favors. we might also do baklava in addition!

- greek stuff: not individual to me, but we'll equip everyone with a shot of ouzo for a toast and then have the ouzo dance and the kalamatiano, etc.

- music: we're having 'our' type of music played during the cocktail hour. it will only be appreciated by a handful of our friends, everyone else will have to tough it out

- cake: i dont' care what my dad says. i'm having a chocolate costco cake even if i have to pick it up and sneak it in myself!

- jewelry: i'm changing my jewelry for the reception to these peridot colored crystal earrings and brooch (cinching my dress into a sweetheart neckline). i might add a little green bolero too!

our friends are also singing a duet of 'be thou my vision' for one of the ceremony songs and the other song is going to be Greensleeves, which is one of FI's favorite song

I love all these details. especially love the ouzo toast! My grandmother is Greek and she would love this idea. Are you throwing plates too?

 

[mimzy]

Date: 8/30/2008 11:18:16 AM
Author: modernsparkler

Date: 8/29/2008 5:42:30 PM

I love all these details. especially love the ouzo toast! My grandmother is Greek and she would love this idea. Are you throwing plates too?

oh thank you! and yes, we''ll be doing a little plate breaking outside

. at the last wedding there were too many cut toes to do it on the dance floor!