This Week in Weddings: 10 Wedding Facts You Might Not Know!
All of these facts were taken from this article.
1. In the United States, there is no law or religious dictate that says the bride must take the groom’s last name. However, approximately 70% of Americans agree that a bride should change her last name.
2. The phrase “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, and a silver sixpence in her shoe” symbolizes continuity, optimism for the future, borrowed happiness, fidelity, and wealth or good luck, respectively.
3. Wedding rings are often placed on the third finger of the left hand because ancient Egyptians believed the vein in that hand (which the Romans called the “vein of love”) ran directly to the heart.
4. The phrase “tying the knot” initially came from an ancient Babylonian custom in which threads from the clothes of both the bride and bridegroom were tied in a knot to symbolize the couple’s union. Literally tying some type of ceremonial knot at a wedding ceremony can be found across cultures.
5. Some scholars claim the word “honeymoon” comes from the Teutonic custom when newlyweds would hide out and drink hydromel (a fermented honey and water mixture) for 30 days until the moon waned.
6. In America, T.V. soap opera weddings attract more viewers than a presidential address.
7. The bachelor or stag party supposedly started in fifth-century Sparta where military compatriots would feast and toast one another on the eve of a wedding, like warriors going to battle.
8. “Matrimony” is from the Latin matrimonium, from matrem (“mother”) + monium(“action, state, condition”)
9. Before the church declared marriage a sacrament, couples often sought sacred places in nature to wed, such as a hilltop or cliff, where the earth supposedly meets heaven.
10. Wedding bells are an important symbol of a wedding. Traditionally, it was believed that demons were scared off by loud sounds, so following a wedding ceremony, anything that could make noise was used to create a diversion.
This Week In Weddings: St Patrick’s Day Theme
Wedding Inspiration
We found some awesome boards to follow on Pinterest, if you think you may want to have a
St. Patrick’s Day themed wedding! Green, clovers, and lucky symbols galore!
Wedding Music
If you are looking for traditional Irish songs to play at your wedding, here is an album we found on Amazon called the “50 Must-Have St. Patrick’s Day Favorites: Irish Pub Songs & More. And it’s only $7.00!
Wedding Style
Adding a touch of green on your dress or garter is always popular, even putting your bridesmaids in tartan plaid!
Photo from Michael Paul Photography / http://www.michaelpaulphoto.com/ Found on http://en.paperblog.com/styled-st-patrick-s-day-wedding-465438/
Photo found on http://vagencyevents.com/2012/12/05/detroit-event-planner-created-christmas-wedding-palette/
Wedding Favors
Options are endless when it comes to favors.
Here’s a few of our favorite St. Patrick’s Day inspired favors from Etsy!
Celtic Love Knot Bubbles
https://www.etsy.com/listing/100317213/100-wedding-bubble-wands-favors-celtic?ref=market
Shamrock Cork Coasters
https://www.etsy.com/listing/169617125/shamrock-shaped-cork-coasters-and?ref=market
Wedding Cakes
From funky to traditional!
Honeymoon Ideas
Well OF COURSE, we are going with Ireland. Here’s a great link to some package deals. From pubs to castles, sprawling greens and picturesque countryside, Ireland is a romantic and unforgettable honeymoon destination.
WW Renee – Special Showers and Parties of Fun!
Wow! Time is winding down to the big day. Typically, I am not the kind of girl who would want to have a bridal shower, but my Mom and bridesmaids wanted to host one for me. It was by far such a special day, and I am so happy we did.
Renee ad her bridesmaids at her shower
We decided to have my bridal shower and bachelorette party on the same day since one of my matron of honors lives in North Carolina so she would be able to attend both. The day started with a shower luncheon at Cedarbrook Clubhouse Grille. We had 53 total guests and it was just so awesome to see so many friends and family all gathered at one place in honor of me. It truly made me feel so special and touched!
After my shower, my bridesmaid, Nicole and I loaded up her truck and headed back to my house. We put all the gifts into my garage and packed for an overnight bachelorette party in downtown Pittsburgh. The girls and I first went to the Melting Pot for dinner and then had a table reserved at Buckhead Saloon. We just had a blast and it brought back so many memories. The girls also bought me some crazy things to wear and everyone kept asking me if it was my birthday!
Renee in her bachelorette gear!
All in all, if you are debating whether or not to have a bridal shower the best advice I can give is to do it. It is such an honor and an amazing day. I’m sure glad I did!
WW Melissa found her bridesmaid dresses ~ See how Pippa Middleton fits in this blog!
Hello everyone! Well here we are in March already and now only eight months to go until our Wedding! It’s hard to believe it’s getting so close, so quickly. When we got engaged in April of last year, it seemed an 18 month-long engagement was such a long time to wait, but the time has really flown by so quickly. We have been extremely busy and sometimes I can’t believe how we fit in wedding planning with our already too full schedules, but I’m having a blast doing it all.
Over the past ten months or so, we have checked off quite a few of the big to-do’s on our list. It has been difficult at times, being that I grew up in the Washington, DC area, and my parents still live there so not having my Mom here is definitely a challenge. Luckily I have a close Aunt who lives nearby who has helped tremendously, as well as the girls in my bridal party. We booked a lot of our vendors as early as possible to make sure we booked the top vendors that we wanted. We have our photographer, our DJ, limo, and of course our amazing venues, our beautiful church and The Willow Room. I ordered my dress from MB Bride in Greensburg, and I loved every minute of the dress shopping process. I wish I could wear them all, but the dress I chose was absolutely perfect. It was not at all the style I thought I would want, but my friend who is the receiving manager at MB Bride picked it out for me. The second I put it on, I knew it was the one!!
Recently, bridal party attire has been my main focus. We picked our colors first, mostly shades of whites and grays accented with deep navy blue, which is my favorite color. We chose November because we wanted to have frosted/wintery theme, but more about that later. We chose the tuxes first, which helped me a lot when I was looking for our bridesmaid dresses; I wanted the colors and formality to flow together well. I found a picture on Pinterest of bridesmaid dresses that I immediately fell in love with, midnight blue dresses with a lace top and delicate cap sleeves. I showed the picture to Sarah, my friend from MB Bride, and once again she found the perfect dress! The dress is by Jim Hjelm, and it was actually inspired by/ designed after the world-famous “Pippa” dress! I absolutely love it.
Next on the agenda is looking for Mother’s dresses for my mom, Chad’s mom and my stepmom which I can’t wait to do. I also need to start shopping for accessories as well, like my shoes, veil and jewelry. It’s so exciting to see that as the big things get checked off, the little details are beginning to take shape. Having the bridesmaid’s dresses picked has really helped me to see how to the theme is coming together. Eight months to go and lots more to do!!
Gwen’s new post, snow in NC and lots of updates with pics!!
Greetings from the Arctic… I mean New Bern, NC.
I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I do understand what a blizzard is, as well as what single digit temperatures feel like (I promise), HOWEVER here in North Carolina when the temperatures drop below 50- people begin to look like Eskimos. Equally as comical, the entire town shuts down for a bit of snow due to the inability to clear the roads. We have no access to plow trucks, salt, or any other form of assistance in snow removal for the 9 inches we acquired. Curled up on the couch with David while we were both enjoying said snow days was wonderful. 🙂
After the snowball fight with our neighbor’s kids
Snowball fight
Gwen and David’s street!
I mentioned in my prior post about the joys of planning a wedding from three states away. I was home in late January for “wedding prep weekend” which entailed driving the eight hours home on a Friday night with David and returning to New Bern on Sunday. We managed to meet with our priest, pick out cake flavors, choose our flowers, do a trial run for my make-up on Saturday, and do the food tasting at The Willow Room on Sunday followed by a meeting with Melody to choose linens, etc. David picks on me sometimes about my need to plan everything, and that weekend was no exception. We had just finished at Bethel Bakery and my Mom wanted to pick up some cupcakes for my brother-in-law at home but sadly there was not time in my itinerary for the wait at the counter. No worries, we made it up to him later.
I mentioned before about our flower girl, but I hadn’t mentioned much about our “honorary” ring bearers. Our church has a rule that the flower girl and ring bearer have to be at least the age of five to participate in the ceremony. I am hoping they will allow my brother-in-law to carry them/lead them down the aisle. I can’t wait to see them in their little tuxes with Converse shoes! These are our nephews Christian and Landon on their first birthday a few short weeks ago. I’m prepared for a few different scenarios at the wedding including: “MOMMY NO!!” in the back of the church. It will be perfect no matter what. No illusions about two 15 month old boys in a church being perfect.
Christian and Landon
Our invitations from Wedding Paper Divas have arrived and are being assembled by my wonderful Mom. My sister is doing the calligraphy for the addresses which is really beautiful. I have neat handwriting but not pretty. I’m glad she is able to do that for me. I did personalized picture stamps for our save the date cards and wanted to repeat this for our wedding invitations. Our friend Bob, of Open Aperture Photography, (Cal U Alum by the way which is how I know him) got together with us to take some pictures for the stamps as well as an engagement announcement for the Herald Standard as requested by my Mom. Unfortunately it was REALLY cold and windy the day we tried to take them. We managed to make it work,
but not without some of our usual shenanigans… No, I have no idea what he said to make me laugh like that. I can’t tell you how many pictures I have of us looking a lot like that.
My shower is next weekend and a few boxes have arrived in the mail already. Registering was the most STRESSFUL and anxiety-inducing day I’ve had recently. (Does anyone else feel like that??) Unfortunately with my Mom, sister, and most of my close female friends living out of state and the closest stores two hours away, it all had to be done in one day.
Anyone ever try to register at Bed Bath and Beyond as well as Williams Sonoma on a Saturday? I do NOT recommend it. As an OT, I have a very clear picture of what sensory overload is, especially after that day. Kudos to the ladies at both stores who were willing to help us! My poor Mom called to ask me a question about my registry and I thought she might be speaking Greek to me. I just gave her my log-in and told her to do whatever she needed to do. I love my Mom for her tables of organization and David for supplying me with frequent refills of my wine glass that weekend.
Next on my list is my first dress fitting (WOOOOHOOOO I’m down 15 lbs. since we bought the dress) and running the MCAS Cherry Point half marathon at the end of March. The snow has melted (for now) and the days are clicking away! 70 days according to my phone. One of my patients asks me that every time she comes in to see me for therapy. I can’t believe how close it is getting! Truth, I’m looking forward to being Mrs. Morris and our life together more than our wedding. I feel so lucky to have my wonderful man to make me laugh every day.
Have a wonderful week. I’ll be back after my shower.
Words of Willow 
