Wedding Pictures Part 3: It's All About Family

Our take on the wedding was that it's not just about us. It's not "my special day." It's not even "our special day." It's a day for our families. Believe me, if we wanted it to just be about us we would've met up with a priest and a couple of friends in a church any old day over the last year. OR gone to the courthouse. Either way. No, instead we wanted our families to be included and honored. We chose the reception venue (Salty's) specifically because it could accommodate a guest list that would include our entire families. We included family traditions. We had little family keepsakes displayed or included in the ceremony and reception. We had as many family members taking on roles in the ceremony as we could. BUT, if you didn't know what they were looking for, you wouldn't have known what all those little things were about. So, with that, here's a bit of explanation.

A rosary which I think was my mom's mother's, but may not have been. Either way, it was in honor of Granny, who had a rosary in every purse, and a very worn one next to her bedside.  The book, I've mentioned before, but to the inscription from my dad's great-grandmother to my grandmother on her wedding day, my Grandma Johnston added her own little inscription to me on my wedding day.  The rosary was borrowed from my sister Sara. The prayer book was old-- 60 years next month. (My blue was in my earrings, my new was my dress and veil, and I had a lucky sixpence for my shoe, but it wouldn't stay in my shoe and I carried it um... elsewhere...)

Along with the prayer book and rosary, I carried two garden roses-- one in honor of each of our grandmothers who have passed away. They were both were good Catholic women of deep faith, and in their honor, we laid those flowers for Mary during Ave Maria. (Ave Maria has been sung at every family wedding on my mom's side since my great-grandfather sang it at the wedding of each of his children. My granny also laid flowers for Mary at her wedding, but she did it as she left the church rather than during the ceremony.) 

Granny died only a year and half ago, so as much as I tried, I couldn't keep from crying during this part of the ceremony. Nor could I keep the tears from coming as her name was mentioned during the prayers of the faithful. I'm a crier-- it's what I do.

My "Catholic bling," as one friend called it. The cross I wore has been worn by all the women in Kenneth's family on their wedding day except one. The cross was worn every day by Kenneth's grandmother, and came from her parents' jewelry shop they started in Montana after emigrating from Ireland. It was an honor to wear it on my wedding day. (And, the cross is backwards here. It's the one picture I have that shows it well without totally being a boob shot, and it's twisted around. D'oh!)

Kenneth's Auntie Kathleen (who also threw me two wonderful bridal showers!) loaned me a chain to put the cross on. The cross is so big, that most chains are too long when worn with wedding dresses, but Auntie Kathleen has one that makes the cross sit just right. Kenneth's cousin Emily (one of our readers, Kathleen's daughter) wore Kathleen's shorter chain for her wedding day too. Kenneth's mom, Elizabeth did the honors of putting the cross on me. 

Granny's cake topper-- it was used on her wedding cake, and then my cousin Ashley used it as the cake topper on her cake at her wedding in October. It may end up as a new family tradition. The scariest moment of the whole day was when a small, adorable child knocked it off the cake. For a brief moment, I thought I was going to become THE COUSIN WHO BROKE GRANNY'S CAKE TOPPER! Luckily, it survived unscathed. Phew! 

There's a whole lot of family stuff in this picture above. Going from the left: Kenneth's mother's cake knife (Kenneth's grandmother's cake knife?), my dad and step-mom's cake-topper,  Kenneth's grandmother's champagne flutes, a picture from my mom and Eric's wedding, and a picture from my Granny and Granddad's wedding. We would've had pictures and wedding day keepsakes from our other grandparents, but this display was forgotten about until a week before the wedding, so this is what our parents were able to get together with only a few day's notice.  Oops. Anyway, thanks parents for putting this together for us!

Cake knife in action:

The pitcher with garden roses was a gift to my grandmother for her wedding. The picture is of my dad and step-mom on their wedding day 20 years ago this June.

We wanted tradition and to honor family, and I think we did that. Next up is more about how we included family in the wedding, including who's who of the wedding party.