"And Their Story Begins..."
There were aspects of our wedding that were specifically planned for personal reasons. Here is the starting list of items along with their reasons:
(click on images to enlarge)
The Dress
I wanted a modest dress that no one else had - I knew I wanted to make it unique and make it my own! So with the help of my grandmother and mother, we hemmed the bottom, added a sash with beading, and added tulle for the shoulder. The dress was
The Something New.
The Flower Girl: Dress and basket...
Macy Anne (4 years old) is my second cousin, on my mother's side. Her parents are Rachael and Greg. Macy wore a dress that has been worn in two family weddings prior to our wedding, one of which was Macy's parent's wedding back in 2006! So special :) The basket Macy used to carry the rose petals was made by my mother over 15 years ago!
I call Macy "Princess", which I love and I have no idea how she feels about it! But it comes from working at Medieval Times for two years. So as a gift to her for being my flower girl, I bought her a Princess coloring book and it was so precious to watch her open the present. (it also had her "crown" in it so she could "match" the bride) ;) judging by her tongue hanging out of her mouth, I could only assume she liked the gift... Either that, or she hated it and wanted to throw up.
The Ring Bearer
Jace (6 years old) is also my second cousin on my mother's side. His parents are Angela and Mark. Jace carried our rings in a box that my cousin/bridesmaid, Kailie, helped me make. (I got the idea for the box from Pinterest) The box contained our rings and our written vows.
The Something Old
I am so honored to wear my late grandmother's ring! I never got to meet her but I will carry her always in my heart and now I carry her ring on my hand. Though I took a different last name, 'Kolacki' will forever be apart of me!! :') We love and miss you, Gramma Kolacki! Thank you for raising my daddy to be the best daddy I could ever ask for! Wish you were here!! Mahal kita <3
The Vows
Some couples say the traditional vows, but we chose to write our's personally. Without revealing anything to each other, we wrote them by individually. We chose not to memorize them in fear that we'd freeze up, so we hand wrote them and placed them under the rings in the ring box.
They read as follows:
Daniel:
"Jennifer, today we enter into the covenant of marriage. Today, I take you as my wife and I vow before God and these witnesses to be your godly husband. The foremost of my responsibilities is to always keep God first in our marriage. Christ is, and will be, our foundation and our rock.
I love you, and I promise to always love you, knowing that love is not primarily a feeling but rather, it is unwavering commitment and service.
As your husband, I will always nourish and cherish you as Christ does the church, even to the point of giving up my life. You are my life, and I vow to protect and shelter you from physical, spiritual, and emotional harm.
I know despite my best efforts, we will face trials and tribulations. That is life. And while I cannot promise you a life without trials, what I can promise is to always stand by your side. To faithfully love, comfort, and strengthen you throughout life's difficulties, no matter how hard.
I will pursue you, my beautiful bride, for the rest of my life, keeping the fire of our attraction alive and burning hot; And I will delight in you, the wife of my youth, all my days.
I love you, Jennifer. We are entering into the covenant of marriage and I vow before God to be the man you need me to be."
Jennifer:
"Today, I take you to be my husband. It will always be you whom I vow to. I vow to give you my all and to give you love, loyalty, fidelity, and security.
When you speak, I promise to listen with my heart; not just my ears. And I will respect the times when you feel that speaking nothing is necessary. I will respect your leadership and submit to you and cherish you as my husband.
While we go through changes; our health, our location of residence, the number of children God may give us, the important things will remain; the assurance of having each other by our sides, having God as our guide, and having love. Always.
I promise to stay physically fit and active so that our years together are not cut short.
I'll take lots of pictures so we always hold great memories and silly occasions in our hearts and our home. I will put your happiness before my own. I vow to maintain your trust with my actions.
I will be your companion; never your competitor. And I will be your biggest supporter and your devoted admirer.
I will encourage you daily while we keep Christ the center of us. And during conflict, I promise to work together with communication. And I promise to compassionately and patiently communicate with loving words on my tongue.
With the Lord's help, I will strive to be the wife you deserve and the best Christ-like example of a mother to our children. When I say "I love you", I verbally commit to grow closer to you, and to grow old with you. I promise to be your loving caregiver in sickness and your caring lover in health."
The Something Borrowed
This was one of the top personal touches that I personally loved! We used the same cake topper that Daniel's parent's used at their wedding! We displayed a picture of them cutting their cake next to where our cake sat at our reception.
The Bride's Cake
In college, I was blessed to have met one of my best friends for life. Ashley Davidson and her family have been a great part of my life over the past four years! As their wedding present to Daniel and I, Mr. Davidson made the cake of my dreams (design idea taken from Pinterest) for our wedding!! Such a sweet family and I am so thankful for them, and for all they mean to me! Even through the toughest family times, they always made time for me.
The Groom's Cake
Daniel is a book nerd (hence, our wedding theme of "And Their Story Begins...") so it seemed appropriate to have the Groom's cake be designed to look like a book. So I took to the handy-dandy Pinterest for design ideas, and found something I wanted. Sure enough, Publix bakery did a good job and it didn't cost us nearly as much as it would have been had we gone to a wedding cake designer. Granted, Publix did not design it exactly the way I said, but little details like that just do not matter at the end of the day. Take note, future brides! ;) The cake has "And Their Story Begins..." written as the book title, displaying the theme of our wedding.
The Something Blue
Stars were/are our "symbol". The night before Daniel left for Texas, we went up to the mountains to look at the stars. So for our wedding, when I got my nails done, I had the nail technician paint a blue star on my ring finger nail and a blue star on my toe nail. And now that we live in Texas, stars are everywhere and I put them out wherever we go...I firmly believe this drives Daniel nuts! But he puts up with me :)
In addition, as a surprise, Daniel bought me a wedding gift, and it made me cry! It was my very own dog togs. The first item that had my new name :) The dog tags had blue silencers so that was an added, last minute, S
omething Blue. I carried his dog tags and my new dog tags around my bouquet.
Our Gifts to each other
He gave me dog togs and even though we told ourselves that we were not going to buy each other anything, I surprised him too by buying him a gift as well! I named a star after him, in honor of our symbol :) His certificate and coordinate map now hang in our master bedroom.
The Centerpieces
Books and pictures - it describes us! A huge Thanks to Nanette Klinect, Charlotte and Jason Wood, The Klinect children, Auntie Beth, and our families for helping with the reception decor!! They all did everything so that I didn't have to worry about anything! And they were able to capture Daniel and I's personalities perfectly! I am so thankful to have so many wonderful, caring people in our lives!
The Jewelry
The bridesmaids and I wore handmade jewelry made by my beautiful mother! During chemotherapy, mom picked up the hobby of beading and she is dang good at it too! So when she told me she wanted to make the jewelry for my wedding, I was so honored and excited!! I told her what I envisioned and she made it ten times better than what I had pictured!
The Flowers
Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not big on flowers. But I did want my girls to carry a flower that had meaning. The girls carried one single [lily] flower, symbolizing the simplicity of our friendships. I cherish friendships that are drama-free, simple, but lovely all the same!
The Slideshow
As guests were entering the ceremony, there was a slideshow showing of Daniel and I as kids and leading into our relationship. My sweet cousin, Rachael, did a great job with it!! She volunteered to put it together and with all the craziness of planning, we got the images to her very last minute but she was still able to create a beautiful aspect of the ceremony that I loved. It allowed the guests to see special images of us, past and present. Thanks for that Rach! :)
The Venue
Daniel and I met at Hebron Baptist Church on a Wednesday night during the college worship. It was special to us to be married in the chapel of the place we met! The venue also had a gorgeous bridal room where the girls and I got ready with last minute touches and ate Chick-Fil-A nuggets before the ceremony started!!
The Photographer
My very talented cousin, Angela, has a photography degree from Savannah College of Art and Design. I still remember staying with her in Savannah when mom and I used to travel there for GMEA. Angela has a passion for photography and it very good at it! :) When I was in college, her and I discussed her photographing my wedding and she agreed to be my second photographer because she knows how special it is to have two perspectives on the big day. She was sweet to volunteer and I am so grateful she was willing to share her talent to bless us for our wedding! Thanks Ang! :)
The Reception
Due to the venue being a Baptist chapel, we were not permitted to have any dancing or alcohol at our reception. But, our venue was great for many reasons! We were able to have the ceremony and reception all in one room (huge money-saver!) and because of the set up, it was great for my desire to have a dessert reception. Family made the desserts and that was a great personal touch instead of bringing in strangers with strange food. I wanted each item to be labeled with the name of who made it. Originally, the goal was to have the ingredients listed as well, but I ran out of time to plan all that out.
There was a Manly Dessert table set up that displayed what the groomsmen made for the reception. It was a hit with the guests!
After we left and after the clean up, our wonderful family friend, Nanette, that helped with the whole reception, took the leftover food to two fire stations and a children's clinic! I am so thankful Nanette's beautiful heart used our day to bless others! It is exactly what we wanted! :)
The Ceremony
Our pastor also did our pre-marital counseling and helped us more than he will ever know. He really got to know us and invested in us! To have him marry us meant a lot to us. He has nine children and his wife's name is also Jennifer! They are a precious family and we are blessed to have them in our lives. We still keep in touch with him and look forward to attending his church every time we are back in Georgia. So many of our guests commented on how the ceremony touched their hearts and that is what makes my heart happy! The Lord is the center of Daniel and I and we desire for all to see that! So we are so thankful that pastor Chris was able to speak to the hearts of our guests through the ceremony. Weddings are so much more than the reception and unfortunately, so many have lost sight of that.
The Girls
These gorgeous, skinny chicks are what I call my Bridesmaids :) They mean so much to me and I was so honored to have them by my side on my big day!! Sticking with the Filipino tradition, I had six bridesmaids. My big sister was such a trooper as my Maid-of-Honor - she kept me in line and made sure I had everything I needed on the day-of. :) Next to her, was my cousin, Kailie, who had just been married a year and change prior. Being by her side on her day was so special and I could never imagine my big day without her by my side! The remaining four girls I met in college and they are each a special part of who I am. They are all godly women that carry me through anything and everything! Even with 900+ miles separating us all, these women still keep in touch, and that is something I will always cherish. (though, Jeanette and Kailie are family... so, they are pretty much
obligated to keep in touch ;P)
The Men
Daniel's groomsmen were his two brothers, his father, his cousin, and his two best friends from middle school!! This group of guys were such a joy and so goofy, just like Daniel ;)
"We Decided On Forever and We Live Happily Ever After"
