WedLog

Alright. So, we’re 7 months out from wedded bliss and I think we’re ready to bring the mainly-inspiration phase of the planning to a close. Let the planning and decision-making begin! Here are a few planning-related things on our plate this week/month …

We took a rather big leap last night while in the flowers aisle at Whole Foods last night – we decided not to have “wedding colors” in a traditional, specific sort of way. We know what we want the wedding to feel like – a modern twist on rustic charm – and it’s going to be October, so fall colors will abound. Other than that we’re ready to free-style it. As you (may or may not) know, we aren’t hiring a florist. The restaurant is providing simple flowers on the tables and I plan to head to the farmer’s market the morning of to pick up some fresh flowers for us ladies to carry around with us. So we decided not to have a specific color in mind, but to get whatever strikes our fancy that morning. We’re asking the Best Sisters to wear brown, as brown is a nice basic fall color and everything else will flow from there. Jeff will probably wear some sort of green tie, or green and brown, or maybe a little orangey/yellow with green – we’ll see. I think it will all come together and we will easily avoid the matchy-matchy look, which isn’t really our style.

We hired some musicians! A string trio to be exact. We’re pretty excited about them and now all we have to do is decide what songs they need to play. I have some ideas for soloists but I haven’t nailed anything down, yet … it’s on my to-do list.

We need to schedule our marriage prep program. We have some options, one of which is a weekend retreat upstate. That’s what we’re leaning toward … I should email them. Other than that we’re all set with the Church – we just need to figure out the order of things for the ceremony. It’s going to be a mix of traditions. So far, this is what we have come up with:

*Processional – Jeff, me, and our families get to the altar one way or another.

*Greeting/Opening Prayer – by Father Murphy (hopefully with some kind of introduction to this multi-religious event)

*Old Testament/Torah Reading – by someone in Jeff’s family who can read Hebrew and English, as we want this read in both languages

*Secular Poem/Reading – (if permissible, we have to double-check) by one or two of our non-religious friends (Ben, Nick, Emily, Sarah, someone like that …)

*Psalm – sung by the above mentioned soloist

*New Testament Reading – by a friend/family member from Cara’s side (to be determined) … we found a reading about charity and good works that we both liked

*Gospel Reading – by Father Murphy … we found a good reading about building on a solid foundation that we both liked

*Prayers of the Faithful – by someone in Jeff’s family who can recite a Jewish blessing before the prayers, which are usually general intercessions and will include prayers for deceased family members

*Sign of Peace – not usually part of a non-Mass but one of my favorite things, it’s just a brief moment of shaking hands and/or embracing those nearby to extend peace to them

*Lord’s Prayer – maybe/maybe not … haven’t decided

*Wedding Vows

*Signing of Ketubah – this is a Jewish marriage contract, it’s basically signing your vows and it’s usually pretty and something we can frame and hang in our home. We plan to make it ourselves/with the help of Kelli

*Blessing of Rings

*Stomp on a Glass – Jewish tradition symbolizing that even at joyous times we must remember the destruction of the Temple (i.e. we can celebrate and be joyous but we should still be mindful of the fact that there is suffering in our midst)

*Recessional – we leave the church and begin our marriage with a party!

So we need music/songs for the processional, psalm, sign of peace, Ketubah (maybe), and recessional. Any suggestions??

Also, should we have a hupah? If so who can make it? I’m thinking something simple – 4 natural looking (read: sticks/branches/etc) poles and very simple/sheer fabric. Hmmm…?

Okay, and most exciting thing right now is our Save The Dates. They’re in the process of being made and they’re awesome! Here’s a sneak peak …