"Next came the hunt for the perfect dress. As so many brides do, I changed my min
d time and time again. In May 2006, I decided to go to a local dress shop and look at their gowns because I wasn't really happy with the one I'd chosen. The first one would have been better suited to getting married in my Mom's backyard (my original plan). I went in and found the dress. Since it wasn't a designer gown, it didn't have the designer pricetag. But it was based on Maggie Sottero's Dion so it had an expensive look for a low price. The dress, veil, and shoes came to $440.00.
I splurged on one area. The person doing the ceremony. We're not religious so we didn't want a church wedding. We also didn't want the Mayor doing it in a cold, impersonal ceremony at the courthouse. ("Do you? Yes. Do you? Yes? Good! You're married. Kiss her!" - Spaceballs) So what are the al
ternatives for people like us? In my research online, I came across an organization called Celebrant USA. They helped me find our officiant, Lois Heckman. And she was worth every penny. When we met with her for the first time at Shawnee, she was very personable and answered every question that I had. She was also intrigued with some of our ideas for the wedding, including the handfasting. I wanted something different from the unity candles and sand ceremonies that I had been seeing online and I wanted to incorporate a little bit of the Celtic flavor that has always interested me. Thus the theme was born: Our Favorite Things.
d time and time again. In May 2006, I decided to go to a local dress shop and look at their gowns because I wasn't really happy with the one I'd chosen. The first one would have been better suited to getting married in my Mom's backyard (my original plan). I went in and found the dress. Since it wasn't a designer gown, it didn't have the designer pricetag. But it was based on Maggie Sottero's Dion so it had an expensive look for a low price. The dress, veil, and shoes came to $440.00.I splurged on one area. The person doing the ceremony. We're not religious so we didn't want a church wedding. We also didn't want the Mayor doing it in a cold, impersonal ceremony at the courthouse. ("Do you? Yes. Do you? Yes? Good! You're married. Kiss her!" - Spaceballs) So what are the al
ternatives for people like us? In my research online, I came across an organization called Celebrant USA. They helped me find our officiant, Lois Heckman. And she was worth every penny. When we met with her for the first time at Shawnee, she was very personable and answered every question that I had. She was also intrigued with some of our ideas for the wedding, including the handfasting. I wanted something different from the unity candles and sand ceremonies that I had been seeing online and I wanted to incorporate a little bit of the Celtic flavor that has always interested me. Thus the theme was born: Our Favorite Things.Lois was the best decision I made second to agreeing to marry Lance. She took the handfasting and ran with it. She also took the time to get to know us and really custom wrote a ceremony that was just so ... us. I recommend her to everyone I possibly can.
Since I wanted to incorporate our favorite things, I started looking for things that were reminiscent of us. I found our invitations online at The American Wedding Company. What says wedding better than a motorcycle draped in flowers? :o) Our favors and our cake were chocolate. Our centerpieces were made of candles and coffee beans. And I made our table numbers and table cards myself using a book theme, since I am a huge reader. That was about it in my DIY skill.
Our DJ was Lance's friend so he gave us a discounted rate. I found our photographer on Craigslist as he was just starting his business at the time. I found the woman who made our handfasting cord on eBay.
All in all, we had a fantastic day. The food was good. We got married in the most beautiful place possible for us. And we're living our happy ending."
