Sand, Glorious Sand!

So i blogged about unity sand ceremony in lieu of a candle since wind is an issue during outdoor ceremonies. Here is how I did it!

A curvy vase

plus 2 identical fat bottles w/ small necks

plus 2 corks (that have to be shaved down to fit in the small bottles)


Plus Sand From Michaels equals:



A unity sand set for hardly any money!

08.21.2010 - A Small Gathering, A Big Day

On Saturday,

I walked down the aisle

on my fathers arm

towards my best friend

so that we could take our vows

and promise our lives to each other

for better and for worse.

Photos by Trang Dam Photography

Possible Wedding Readings?

In response to my post about my officiant, I have gone to research some pop-culture wedding-worthy readings. Now i'm a bit overwhelmed with my choices. Do I go the "I have found love" route, or the inspirational route?

Below are some faves:

HEARTWARMING READINGS ON LOVE....


From Sex and the City the movie, here is the love letter that Carrie reads aloud when sitting with Big before bed:
Ludvig van Beethoven, Immortal Beloved, Letter Three

My thoughts go out to you
My Immortal Beloved
I can live only wholly with you or not at all
Be calm,
Only by a calm consideration
of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together.
Oh continue to love me
Never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved.
Ever thine
Ever mine
Ever ours

I loved The Notebook, which has a great quote:

The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks and Jan Sardi

The best love is the kind that weakens the soul,
that makes us reach for more,
that plants fire in our hearts
and brings peace to our minds.
And that's what you've given me.
That's what I hope to give to you forever


Upon inspiration from Twilight, passages Bella's favorite authors/Books:

From Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte:



I have for the first time found what I can truly love
I have found you.
You are my sympathy
my better self
my good angel
I am bound to you with a strong attachment.
I think you good, gifted, lovely:
a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart;
it leans to you,
draws you to my center and spring of life,
wraps my existence about you—
and, kindling in pure,
powerful flame,
fuses you and me in one.

From Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, with an addition in the end from the 2006 movie:

I cannot fix on the hour,
or the spot,
or the look,
or the words,
which laid the foundation.
It is too long ago.
I was in the middle
before I knew that I had begun.

You have bewitched me,
body and soul,
and I love you.
And I never wish to be parted from you
from this day on.

----

INSPIRATIONAL READINGS ON MARRIAGE

“On Marriage,” from The Prophet by Kahil Gibran

You were born to be together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in your silent memory.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another, but make not bondage of love.
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup, but drink not from one cup.
Give one other of your bread, but eat not of the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone, though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping,
For only the hand of life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together,
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.


From Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres

Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides.
And when it subsides you have to make a decision.
You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathless,
it is not excitement,
it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. . . .
That is just ‘being in love’ which any fool can do.
Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away,
and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

May your roots grow towards each other underground,
and when all the pretty blossoms fall from your branches,
you find out that you are one tree, and not two.

----

grrr... so now i'm confused



I dont know what to pick. Anyone with ideas?

A Private Catholic Ceremony

I am Roman Catholic. And Filipino.

Mr Smallville is American, and Jehovah's Witness.

Becuase of this difference, he won't allow the large wedding among family and friends to be in a church, because it would make many members of his family uncomfortable.

I respect that.

However, Catholics don't recognize a wedding if it's not held within the church.

So what do we do?

Compromise.

Isn't that what married people do?

So, on August 21, Mike and I are getting married at my church.

Very small, just my parents, his parents, my sister, my friend who is a great photographer, and another Catholic friend to do the readings.

There are a few things we have to do in order to get married there.

• Meet with the priest 4 times.
• Take an Natural Family Planning course (3 2-hour classes)
• Attend a Marriage Seminar
• Have dinner with a Parish Family

It's a lot, I know, and I love him, absolutely love him, for being a good sport and agreeing to do this with me.

The Officiant for the Big Wedding

Lance Orndorff

I checked out his website and saw that he had a sample CATHOLIC FILIPINO ceremony!

Um... where do i sign up?

Mr Smallville was actually present for this meeting for once! I was glad to have him take part in it!

Lance was funny, and had some great suggestions.

One suggestion, during they laying of the cord and veil, we sit in chairs instead of kneel on kneelers. Because the wedding is so large, he also suggested we be elevated by 1 foot, so that the guests can watch us do the cord, veil, and rings from where they sit.

Outdoor ceremony w/ a candle? He laughed. He suggested oil filled candles to withstand the breeze.

Since we're getting married in a church already in August, he suggested we do sort of a cultural wedding ceremony instead.

He even suggested we get readings from pop culture, like hit blockbuster movies, books, etc.

One movie he suggested?

Star Wars.

Cue Mr Smallville's eyes lighting up.

Of course Mr S is a bit miffed about actually using Star Wars quotes for our readings, but that opened up a new door of possibilities for me. I'll ahve to post about that another day.

Anyhow, we're going with Lance.

Ceremony Music: The Harp...

The Harp

It makes a beautiful sound.

In fact when I was in high school, my priest would play the harp during mass, and I found it enchanting.

So now...

I hired a harpist to play my ceremony music. Her name is Diana Marie Gibbs.

She has a large repertoire, and she will also learn music if she can find the legal sheet music to it, which helps a ton.

which is great because here are my music choices:

Bridal March: Michae Buble - Home (it was our first song)

Recessional: Edwin McCain - I'll Be (it was our 2nd song)

Another thing you might not know about me: I am a Twilight fan.

Yes I hear all of you rolling your eyes right now (I have superhuman hearing). Frankly, I dont care, and really, this will be my ONLY nod to the fandom in which I belong.

Selections from Twilight:

Procession of my Bridal Party:

• Riyuma's A River Runs Through You
• Claude Debussy's Claire de Lune

Prelude (played in the 30 min before I walk down the aisle) I wanted a mix of classics and contemporary music, as well as:

• Carter Burwell's "Bella's Lullaby"
• Alexandre Despat's "New Moon (The Meadow)"
• And whatever Musical theme from Eclipse, due out this June 30th.

One thing great with Diana? She said yes to playing it all!!

The Venue

So one thing I found out about my town:

Weddings. Are. Expensive.

That's just it. You just have to deal with it. Of course, there are ways around it.

I could follow in my cousin's footsteps who married into Vietnamese families and go with a chinese restaurant, with the per-head costs being half of what a standard american reception would cost here. Thing is, Mr. Smallville and his family aren't even Asian, and they're partial to American food. Not really an option there.

Then there is another option. I could always rent a community center or a moose lodge, have Aunt Mary and Cousin Jamie's family make a few dishes, buy some plastic cups and paper plates and be done with it in a couple thousand for the whole thing? Right?

Wrong.

I do consider myself somewhat of a bridey-bride. I've known (since I met him) how this day would go. In fact i did some "preliminary research" about weddings wayyy before we were engaged (like say beginning late 2007). Yes, I know I was jumping the gun but when you know.. you just... well.. KNOW.

Criteria:

• In Virginia - Though it's up here in the DC area, and all of the groom's family will be travellng for the festivities, i wanted to be respectful enough to my In-Law's side that its not blatantly have it in DC or Maryland. Somehow psychologically, I think keeping it in "Virginia" looks better.
• No/Minimal Rental Fee - Gorgeous places here have a price tag from $5,000-$12,000 JUST FOR THE SPACE! That is NOT within my budget!
• Reasonable Food & Beverage per head cost for: cocktail hour, seated dinner, and drinks
• Outdoor ceremony space - garden weddings are so lovely
• Great back-up plan for ceremony in case of Inclement Weather - because you just never know
• Seats 180-200 folks comfortably with a sizeable dance floor. - because i'm filipino, and we have big families, and we love to party and dance the night away

Anyway, after countless research into venues with rental pricetags in the thousands, and caterers with per head costs that would send you to the hospital... I found my venue.

Wait for it...

Wait for it

oh .. here it is!

The Heritage Hunt Golf and Country Club in Gainesville, VA offers a beautiful setting and lovely/elegant facilities with full service catering at a reasonable price (for the area).

It has a small fee for the site rental if you're not a member or a resident of Heritage Hunt. There is also an additional fee for an outdoor wedding set up, but nothing too outrageous compared to others.



I loved their ballroom. It was newly renovated this past spring!

Below you see the picture of a ceremony that takes place in their courtyard. Weather permitting, that is where we will have ours! If it rains, the ceremony will be held in the ballroom.