If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

With that, our pastor turned to us with a big smile.

Mr. Bunting and Miss Bunting, there is a wonderful life ahead of you. Live it fully. Love its changes and choices. Let life amaze you and bring you great joy.

Our best wishes go forward from this day with you. May the grace of this day carry forward with you all the days of your life. We wish you a fulfilling life, rich in caring and in happiness. We wish for you a gentle and peaceful life that nurtures and comforts you. We wish for you a noble life, which reflects your honesty, kindness and integrity. We wish for you adventures, exploring the fullness of life.

But in order for that to happen, we really need to marry you first!

And so, Mr. and Miss Bunting, as a minister of the Church of Jesus Christ, and by the authority by which the state of Michigan has invested in me, I now pronounce you, Mr. and Miss Bunting…. husband and wife.

…….it was at that moment that Mr. Bunting leaned in for the big kiss. And I backpedaled in horror. It wasn’t the right time! It was too soon! Our pastor hadn’t delivered that final line yet! But Mr. Bunting had mistook the pastor’s words as being final, so in his anticipation he was diving right in.

I averted the near-disaster of a premature kiss by tilting back.

He almost got it.

Pastor: “He can’t wait.”

We burst into laughter and Mr. Bunting hung his head in good-humored shame. I’m sure he’s going to be mortified by me sharing this… but let’s watch a little animated clip because it’s just so awesome.

So close, you sneaky groom! I absolutely adore this moment and his innocent eagerness. It is absolutely one of my favorite memories of our day and I feel so blessed to have married a man who just couldn’t wait to kiss his bride.

To reward him for his determination, our pastor gave him permission to sneak a little quick kiss: “You can kiss her twice, go ahead.”

And then he delayed no further.

And NOW in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, may this blessing and this pronouncement be permanent and as we say it on earth it is said in Heaven,”What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” Congratulations. You may kiss the bride… one more time.

I was ready and willing this time.

We turned, raised our hands in triumph, and let out a whoop of joy. In the audience, Daddy Bunting let one of his famous ear-piercing two-fingered whistles fly while everyone applauded and cheered.

Pastor: “Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you proudly, Mr. and Mrs. Bunting! Husband and wife!”

Then the music started….

And guests waved the little flags that said “Yay” and “Woot!” that I made just for this moment.

Because the carriage was a surprise, Mr. Bunting hadn’t been privy to our real exit route. He whispered his uncertainty to me as we left the aisle, and I directed him along the path and up to the waiting carriage.

We couldn’t resist another good kiss for ourselves the cameras.

The lovely horse, Jack, was urged forward and we waved to all our guests as the carriage started to pull away.

Where are we going? Stay tuned!

*Marked photos are copyright Bryan and Mae Photography. Unmarked photos are personal or guest photos.

Follow the adventure:

• We had a fluffing party and rehearsed.
• I woke up and got ready with my girls.
• I step into the prettiest white dress I’ll ever wear.
• Mr. Bunting recounts getting ready at the Man Cave.
• Wishin’ and prayin’ and hopin’  and thinkin’ for perfect weather.
• I received the most important Post-It Note. Ever.
• We race toward one another for our first look.
• Mushy-lovey photos ensued shortly after.
• We strutted our stuff as one big happy Bunting Bunch.
• Our guests started to arrive: welcome to our wedding.
• I went into hiding… and panicked.
• Our wedding party assembled on time, but the bride was missing.
• I arrive fashionably late in a horse-drawn carriage.
• We listen to a reading and turn to wave at our guests.
• We exchange our vows, which inspire both tears and laughter.
• Mr. Bunting slips on my wedding band, and I his.
• Collected sand and earth offer a twist for our Foundation Ceremony.

I would tell you that the concern for our guests’ comfort on a potentially hot summer day was the leading deciding factor to use paddle fans, but honestly, the cuteness factor had just as much influence. I just cannot resist things that are both adorable and functional.

We didn’t finalize the order of our ceremony up until the one-week mark so I had to find a quick and easy DIY method to create these puppies in a crunch. Regardless of whether you can finalize your ceremony before the final week or not, I would highly recommend having the design and layout for your program finished in advance. I had our design sitting around for months, just waiting for my  rough draft or filler text to be replaced with the final verbage. This way when I actually did figure everything out, I could go straight to the printer instead of having to spend precious time designing.

For this DIY project, you will need:

• Printed program fronts and backs (ours are 7″ x 6″ on 100lb matte coated coverstock paper)
• Corner rounder (optional)
• Wood paddles from Hobby Lobby or similar craft store
• Double-sided adhesive
• Packing tape

The first thing I did after having my programs printed and cut to size was round the corners on all of the front pages and all of the back pages. The corner rounder I had access to worked best punching a handful of flat sheets at a time, but depending on paper thickness you may be able to save this step until after the program has been fully assembled.

I used clear packing tape to secure the wooden paddle to the back of one side. Using strong tape instead of double-sided adhesive will keep the stick in place and ultimately help prevent the two pages from pulling and separating completely because, honey, that paddle ain’t goin’ nowhere. I’ve found that double-sided adhesives are good for securing a flat surface to another flat surface, but then leave something to be desired when you introduce any three-dimensional objects. Packing tape is the cure-all for Wandering Stick Syndrome. (WSS is serious, folks.) Use it, and use it well. Do let your perfectionist side relax a bit for this step, though. You’ll notice all the tape crinkles in my photo… those won’t show at all in the finished program so don’t worry about getting the tape flat and smooth.

Double-sided adhesive wins the round for gluing paper to paper in this project! I decided to try a permanent bond glue runner by Ad tech, as shown above. It worked very well, though I did need at least six re-fill cartridges to assemble 100 programs.

You don’t need to use a lot of pressure to lay down the glue strips with this runner, so application should be very swift. It was hard to see where the glue was in the photograph, so I added red as a guideline for what areas to glue.

Tip: The closer you can get the strip to the edge of paper, the less noticeable any splitting between the two glued pages will be. Don’t forget to add a strip to the taped wooden stick, either!

Laying down the other side is probably the trickiest part because you need to get the two pages aligned. Start by aligning the top edge and corners while trying not to let the adhesive touch the paper yet. Once you’re confident the top is aligned just right, begin pressing the page down to the glued paper while working your way (slowly) from top to bottom. After it’s flat and glued, press firmly over the glue strip areas to make sure the bond is holding.

Tip: Working from top to bottom is a little more forgiving than laying down the entire page in one motion. You’ll want to avoid bending the paper so much that it creases, but this way you can make any necessary shifts and adjustments as you go.

Voila! Now you can admire your newly assembled program paddle fan.

Go ahead…. wave it around and try it out. You know you want to make silly poses like I did.

left: "tee-hee"; right: "uhhhmuhguuhd it's so hoooooot."

One last thing to note: I assembled these a few days before our wedding, and by the day-of some of the glue strips had started to separate at the bottom around the wooden stick. (This is where the packing tape is really important because the stick won’t loosen and fall out.) Just keep this in mind if you’re assembling yours in advance. The tops and sides held well, but you may have to pinch the bottom ones back together unless your glue is stronger than my little runner strips.

A mild case of separation disease, which can lead to WSS without packing tape.

How are you assembling your programs? Did you find it was a quick and easy project or did it consume more time than expected?

*all photos within this post are personal

But we can’t all be as lucky as J.D., unless of course you’re rich and hire someone to be your personal guitarist stalker. Hmm, now I almost want to save up just so I can go into the city with my guitarist stalker and see how people react. It would be a neat experiment… but I’m getting off-topic! What I’m really getting at is that music has forever been a vessel to convey messages and invoke emotions, and with this power (and the right song) it has the ability to enhance any given moment. Especially important moments, like, oh I don’t know, a wedding ceremony. Yeah, that’s a pretty important sequence of moments.

Since music affects how people respond emotionally to that particular moment, if you make your selections very carefully then your ceremony music will subtly influence their moods and emotions. That’s right, you can manipulate the mood of your guests without breaking a sweat. This is like mind-control, but with emotions! Doesn’t that idea make you want to tap your fingertips together and release a deep cackle that slowly builds into full-out evil laugh? I watch too many movies, I know.

thanks mr. burns  / © the simpsons

Okay, okay, so it’s not exactly mind-control, but it is pretty neat to think that your music may subtly influence your guests. For this reason, I’ve been searching for the perfect songs to create the ideal mood for our ceremony. I’ll tell you up front that none of our music is traditional, though some of these songs are starting to make more and more appearances in weddings.

Prelude

I’ve found some fantastic background music that would be perfect for a prelude. In fact, I didn’t even know we would have prelude music until I found these.

I really love Explosions in the Sky’s song, but I’m not sure if it’s too…. somber.

Bridesmaid Processional

For the bridesmaid and groomsmen processional, we wanted something a bit different but nonetheless fun. I don’t know which of these is my favorite yet, but Mr. Bunting informed me last night that they play Tristan Prettyman’s song at his work all the time, so if we went with that one he’d only be thinking of work. That kinda ruins it, so maybe someone else will enjoy it at their wedding instead.

Bridal Processional

While my 12-year-old self may tell you differently (y’know, if you had a time machine and wanted to use it to go visit my 12-year-old-self because you had nothing better to do), I just don’t see myself walking down the aisle to Canon D or any traditional bridal march. I am having a hard time finding just what it is I’ll be walking down the aisle to, probably because this is the most important song. These two songs are very lovely, but they just haven’t clicked with me yet. That probably means I should keep searching.

Recessional

I am SO excited for this song to start playing as our recessional after we’ve been pronounced husband and wife. It’s just so bubbly and happy! I can just imagine us dancing back down the aisle as everyone waves little flags and Daddy Bunting whistles (you know those ear-piercing two-finger whistles? I just know he’s going to do one).

While that wraps up the main contenders thus far, I’ve got one last song to share with you today. It was originally in the running for our recessional song, but I think it would be more appropriate as a reception song to dance to.

I just know all of the Disney-loving girls are going to flip when they hear this one. The Little Mermaid was one of my favorite movies as a child, so this is very fitting for me. Some girls loved Cinderella, some loved Snow White or Sleeping Beauty, but I was an Ariel girl all the way when it came to the Princesses (sorry, Jasmine, you’re my second fav). This remake is just so incredibly awesome-sauce.

What are your plans for your ceremony music? Are you going the traditional route or are you doing something different? Any suggestions that I may not have discovered yet?

At 5am that morning, I had left with a group of classmates to go on a 2-month geology adventure to the canyonlands of the southwest. By the time I got the call, we were already several states away in our van. There is no greater feeling of helplessness than when your loved one is in need, and you can’t even be there. But I have amazing parents and they arranged an emergency return flight for me, so by 11pm I was finally pulling into his driveway.

I know the anniversary of his father’s death is, and always will be, a sorrowful time for Mr. Bunting. I also know that this year may be especially hard as our wedding day approaches, knowing is father won’t be there. I never once fathomed that we would be missing one of our parents when we finally exchanged vows, but you can never really see sudden tragedies coming.

I think it’s important to honor those who are with us in spirit at our wedding, especially since they have played such crucial roles in our lives. So I’ve taken it upon myself to find a way to incorporate his father into the wedding in a way that will commemorate his memory without detracting from the celebratory mood of the day. I already plan on including some memorial wording on our programs, but I almost feel as if that’s not enough tribute.

image via Daniel D. Eubank’s Blog

Both of Mr. Bunting’s parents served in the Navy, so when his father passed away, his family received a folded American flag as is customary. (If you’re curious as to what the 13 folds signify, read about it here.) I’ve read about weddings that have a single rose or flower placed on an empty seat for those who have passed, but seeing as how his father was not really a flower guy, I thought it might be more appropriate to use the folded flag in addition to a rose. I do need to run this past Mr. Bunting and his mother for full approval, as I don’t want to draw attention if they would prefer otherwise, but I think it’s a touching gesture.

While searching for creative ways to honor the deceased, I came across a multitude of sentimental ideas for all situations. Some of them are subtle, some of them are not, but  if you’re struggling with ways to honor a loved one at your wedding then you’re bound to find one that speaks to you or at least inspires you.

Prayer: One of the easiest ways to remember those who have passed in a religious ceremony is to include them in the prayer.

Moment of Silence: Including a moment of silence to acknowledge the dearly departed is another thoughtful gesture that can be including in the prayer, after the prayer, or separate entirely.

Remembrance Table: Setting up a memorial table at the ceremony or reception allows you to display a collection of photos and personal belongings or symbols of those who passed.

Candles: If you’re performing the Unity Candle ceremony, both mothers traditionally light a candle to represent their branch of family. After lighting this candle, the widow can break away to light a separate memorial candle in honor of a lost father. You can also have a special candle lit in memory even without the rest of the Unity ceremony.

image via Flickr

Something Old: Incorporating a piece of jewelry or clothing that belonged to your loved one in your wedding-day attire is a great way to carry them with you. I’ve seen some brides that include a brooch or charm that belonged to their mother or grandmother in their bouquet or wedding jewelry. Don’t have a charm? No problem, you can get a small photo laminated, glued to felt, and woven into the bouquet with ribbon. Or you can sew a piece of lace in the lining of your dress (this can also be a family tradition passed on from mother to daughter over the generations). One bride who had lost her father was still able to walk down the aisle with him with shoe charms that held his photo. I won’t lie, that one really pulls on my heartstrings.

To honor the men, think about wrapping the bouquet stem with the father or grandfather’s vintage handkerchief or having the groom wear a set of his father or grandfather’s cuff links.

Dance Away: Dedicate a song in memory of your loved one either at the reception or even during the ceremony. Though I personally know I would start bawling, you can even consider walking down the aisle to their favorite song.

In Memory Of: Select a reading or poem that was a favorite of that person to be read during the ceremony. If you feel like a reading would choke people up too much, consider including it in the program with a “In Loving Memory Of” line for people to read at their leisure.

image via My Spiritual Wedding

Remembrance Vase: I found these hand-blown glass vases that can be personalized with an etched phrase or name. These would work as a subtle honorarium piece to include on a Remembrance table or to even hold the bride’s bouquet at the reception.

By the time most of us get married, we have already lost someone dear to us. These are people we grew up with or have come to love, who have helped in one way or another shape us into the people we are today.  While I don’t think you should focus solely on the sorrow of their absence at your wedding (afterall, this is an affair that celebrates new beginnings), I do encourage honoring them in a way that is personal and special to you so that it keeps their memory alive.

If you or your partner has lost someone, are you planning on including them in some way? How are you going to do it?

And then we found it. A small park tucked away on a rural road. Set aside from the main park area was a lower grove designated for special events, complete with a large wooden trellis with vines clinging to its structure. There were winding paved walkways, a well-maintained pavilion building with overhang areas, and enough trees to make a squirrel gleeful. But best of all? There was a natural spring on-site, which fed a natural stream that meandered through the park. There were flowers and plants and all sorts of vegetation, and while the park does maintain the greenery, the landscaping is minimal so everything looks oh so natural. Perfectperfectperfect. After scoping out the spot with Mother Bunting and Daddy Bunting, we returned later with Mr. Bunting and he gave full approval.

personal photo

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Hello, little waterfall!

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I thought choosing a venue for the ceremony was the hard part. Oh, no, that wasn’t so. Falling in love with our park was easy. Booking it was an entirely different story. We soon found out you cannot reserve the building and trellis for a wedding any more than 365 days in advance. So we spent several months waiting patiently (and sometimes not-so-patiently), all the while joking about how we hoped the park would be our official ceremony location.

personal photo

When the week of the 365-day mark arrived, we put our heads together to come up with our final game plan. Reservations could be made online, over the phone, or in person. The online option left too much chance to internet connections, so we didn’t want to risk that. Going in person meant you could get to the office early and be first in line, but if an employee got to the office early and wouldn’t let you in quite yet, someone else could be calling on the phone while you’re outside, and game over, phone-person gets the reservation. This system of first-come first-serve is the most frustrating and innane system I have experienced.

So we may have cheated.

image via icanhascheezburger.com

Alright, it wasn’t exactly cheating, though it did involve finding a loophole in the system. But we had to, because in hindsight, we would have lost our date to someone else. I should probably mention that by this time, we had already booked several other vendors with our specific date, so changing dates was not a viable option. Plus, I was already attached to it and was unwilling to give that number up. But back to, ahem, our clever ploy. We discovered that with online booking, dates became available at 12:00am on the 365-day marker. This was a little known secret that the park doesn’t mention, because they consider it a glitch that creates an unfair advantage. I am certainly not below taking advantage of this glitch when it comes to our lovely park. So with several friends and family members, we refreshed our browsers late that night until the booking was available, and then we raced to make the reservation. I was the first of our party to complete the form and submit it. Success! We had a confirmation and booking number! Seven hours later, we had another group ready to start dialing the office number 10 minutes before they officially opened. One of us got through to a person before the others, and we confirmed our reservation. Whew! What a rush! But this was only for the rehearsal dinner. We had to do the same thing again that night for the actual wedding. We had no problems with the online reservation trick the second time, and after sleeping for a bit we got up early to make the phone round again.

Our phones were ringing. Nothing. Hang up and try again. Ringing. Nothing. Hang up and try again. Over and over, until I got a busy signal. Someone must have got through! I crossed my fingers and hoped that it was someone from my calling party while I continued to hang up and re-dial. Finally, a voice picked up and I tried to calmly tell them I wanted to confirm my reservation.

“Oh, are you with the Buntings?”

“Yes!”

“Heheh, you pissed off a lot of people this morning.”

Whoops. Apparently I was the first of my calling party to connect, but there were two separate callers that got through to the operator before me. And they were told that sorry, someone already made a reservation for that day. Wow. We were that close to not getting our park on our day. If it hadn’t been for that online trick, I would have been one sad Miss Bunting. But I’m not, and the park is all ours! (Bwahaha!) What a huge relief! I do feel bad for the other parties who wanted that date, but honestly, they could have very well been booking for an open house or family picnic instead of a wedding and I regret nothing.

Did anyone else have to jump through ridiculous hoops to book their venue or vendor?

Simply put, creative and colorful ceremony spaces rock my world.

image via Green Wedding Shoes / photo by Ashley Rose Photography

Some of you may have seen this arch made by the bride using paper flowers and pinwheels. I would have loved to be there to see this.

image via Ruffled / photo by Katherine O’Brien

This bride’s brother made an entire wedding stage from upcycled fence boards for her wedding. Don’t you just want to dive into that photo and prance across the stage? I certainly do!

But don’t get me wrong, there are some very pretty altar spaces that take a more minimalistic approach. Even a simple banner or garland adds a delicately romantic touch to the space.

image via Ruffled / photo by Jamie Delaine

I just keep going back to the color, though!

image via Offbeat Bride / photo by xatomicbettiex

image via Style Me Pretty / design by Bash, Please / photo by Raya Carlisle

I’ve talked about my love for suspended things, so it’s no wonder that I love the colorful hanging tissue poms at the altar like in this last photo. We won’t be having tissue poms lining the aisle, but we will most definitely have them hanging from the trellis at our park. Now if only I could transplant a great tree to hang multiple window panes and buntings from…

The exception to altar decor is, of course, if your ceremony location is so amazingly beautiful it speaks for itself. Like this intimate wedding on the bluffs.

image via Once Wed / photo by Allyson Magda

If you can go cliff-diving or step into a waterfall from the altar, you probably don’t need to add anything else except for your gorgeous self. The same goes for locations with epic architecture.

image via Style Me Pretty / photo by Hudson Photography

Oh who am I kidding, every place could use some bunting! Yes, I may be biased.

image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / photo by Our Labor of Love

What are your plans for the altar space? Are you going for simple and delicate or bold and colorful?