Friday, December 11, 2015

A Special Wedding


My oldest daughter got married a week ago. I don't think it has really registered, that I have a married daughter yet.


What a special, but crazy time the last couple of weeks have been! We've had family and friends fly in and step right up to the plate in helping us put on the wedding. 

It truly takes a village - and we were so thankful for ours!



My daughter's youth pastor from when we lived in Idaho, drove in to perform the ceremony. 

Her nephew carried her late-great-grandfather's Bible, instead of a ringbearer pillow. 

A deer snorted in the nearby bushes as if he was praying with all of us during prayer time. 

The mother-of-the-bride (me) and the bridesmaids all held hands and prayed right before the ceremony...as unknowingly to one another.... the fathers and groomsmen did the same in their dressing room.








Special moments. Special memories.





And so much love!!!




Was every moment perfect? No. It wasn't as dark as we had hoped it would be, so some of the lights didn't show up, and we ran out of some food (which I hope meant that it was yummy!) But - as I tell my daughter, it was "imperfectly perfect." It was THEIR day. They defied the odds of maintaining a long-distance relationship, and he made it through months and months of the immigration process, to come to America from England.



They have an open future ahead of them.



So, I have been very busy the last few months as we've prepared for this big day. Very, VERY busy the last few weeks! But there is no better way I would rather have spent my time, than with my precious daughter. With my loved ones. Laughing. Loving. Embracing hope for a new future in the next generation of our family.




It was all such a beautiful gift.




5 comments:

Taylafay19 said...

Hi Dionna,

We will be planning a wedding for December of this year, and I was wondering how did you do it all? We want to keep at as inexpensive as possible and still be able to take our honeymoon at Disney World (which is a stress in itself)! How did y'all manage to plan an inexpensive wedding thats still pretty?

Dionna said...

First of all, congrats on getting married! It's such a special time and it goes SO quickly!

Planning a wedding can be a part-time job! We started getting things right away and tried to pace ourselves. My daughter's wedding wasn't inexpensive; that being said - it wasn't the most expensive wedding ever, either. We did try to keep costs down.

I'd look at the things that will mean the most to you years down the road - photographer, dress, etc. And maybe spend less on what won't matter as much.

We went to a couple of bridal garage sales that reallly helped out too. See if you have those in your area - sometimes venues have them and a lot of brides sell things they didn't even use!

Utilize those you know the best you can - are they talented in any areas where you could ask them to help?

Can you get flowers from your grocery store or Costco instead of a florist to keep costs down? Do you really need corsages and boutenirs? Things like that!

Just remember - even if the wedding day doesn't go as you planned, it will still be special. So try not to get too stressed and enjoy this time!

Taylafay19 said...

Thank you, Dionna! That really helps. You should consider writing a wedding planning post!

Dionna said...

I'm glad it helps! I'll give some thought to a wedding post. :)

Taylafay19 said...

Oh yay!I hope you do! You always have such great tips and advice. Thanks again. :)