Festival of Love

August 20, 2012 in
Real Weddings
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

Liz Mabry
rizukamper

Liz is a proof-reading lawyer who loves Lord of the Rings and Discworld. She is the co-guardian of four black cats, and a defender of the serial comma.

http://www.proofitgood.com/
@rizukamper

When we started planning our wedding, we quickly figured out what was important to us: a meaningful ceremony, good food and beer, great photographers, and our family and friends. After that, we knew everything else would fall into place.

The ceremony was held at our church, and the reception at Cristina’s parents’ house. So many family events have happened there over the years, so it was very special to be part of that tradition.

I spent a ton of time planning our ceremony; it was incredibly important that it reflect our faith, our relationship with one another, our church, and our family and friends. I looked through readings, hymns, and poems for months until we finally decided what to include.

Our parents walked us up the aisle, and sixteen different people took part in the ceremony, reading Scripture and poems, singing, and signing our ketubah (which included our vows and meaningful images like books, our cats, and a Cuban coffeemaker). “We didn’t have a bridal party, but we wanted our family and friends to be heavily involved.”

In the beginning, we hadn’t planned to decorate the house, yard or tents around the pool. (Honestly we didn’t even think we needed tents, and our rain plan was: it probably won’t rain.) Cristina’s mom, Lucy, aunt Maggie, and friend Sandie quickly sprang to action, building upon our vague ideas (bright colors!) to create a decorative scheme of flower balls and paper lanterns.

We transformed the patio with colors and cushions. Cristina’s cousins Fernando and Ron coordinated the gorgeous flower decorations for the tables and the walkway into the yard, and her great-aunt Josefina (who is 85, y’all!) made new fabric coverings for inexpensive pillows that we used as cushions for the stone benches in the yard.

Food is super important to us – Cristina is a pastry chef, and I just love to eat. Maggie made all the food, and we kept it comfortable and informal with heavy hors d’oeuvres instead of a sit-down dinner. Cristina designed the cake, which was inspired by the stitching on our dresses and the cobblestone design of our rings. She topped it with a colorful tree in bloom. The flavor was amazing; Grand Marnier cake with Nutella filling and chocolate whipped cream icing.

We wanted to get something special for all of the people who were involved, so we sourced our gifts from Etsy, finding items to suit each person. We especially loved the miniature books we found; when Cristina saw how tiny they were in real life, she had the idea to make “book safes” out of old poetry compilation books, which made for a double surprise when opened.

A funny thing happened on the way to the church: the hook-and-eye closures on my dress straps came loose, and I had to sew them back on. Luckily, my friend Erica had a sewing kit. We didn’t have scissors or knife, so once I was done, my friend Drew cut the thread with his teeth; he was the only one without lipstick on – good times.

In spite of the minor wardrobe malfunction, the most fantastic part of the day was getting married in our church surrounded by people we love, who love us in return. People traveled from all over the country, and the love and support that flowed around us all day long was amazing. In the end, it was the happy magical day – full of fun, food, and love – which we’d dreamed.

Photographs by Leah and Mark and Raven.

Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods
Etsy.com handmade and vintage goods

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