2 YEARS

Happy Anniversary to us! 

 

 

 It's hard to believe it's been two years since this day.  These two years have marked happy times, challenging times, and a little bit of everything in between.  We have experienced sadness and heartache.  Success and failure.  We have been blessed beyond measure. 

 

Today, the gravity of the vows we made two years ago feels so much more tangible. The meaning of sacrificial love feels so much deeper.  I am thankful for that.  Thankful to live those vows.  Thankful to give and receive that kind of love. Thankful we have each other.

 

 

 

K is such a blessing to me. Gentle, kind, and exceedingly patient.

We are truly blessed beyond measure.

Our Wedding- The Reception

After the emotions and weightiness of our wedding ceremony, we were ready to let loose and celebrate our marriage at the reception. In planning the reception, our goals were simple - we wanted our guests to be comfortable and we wanted to everyone to have fun.

Our experience has been that the band plays a big part in setting the tone of a reception or party, so we spent a lot of time looking for a band that we thought embodied fun. For us that meant a Southern Motown band and Mo' Sol, the band that we booked, definitely fit the bill.

Once we secured Mo' Sol, we felt like we had the fun factor covered and moved on to making sure each of our guest's needs would be met. This meant selecting a yummy menu, planning seating, and lots of time selecting linens, flowers and considering the overall look of the reception. Here's how it all turned out . . .

Views from each end of the terrace. It was a windy afternoon on Sarasota Bay, so some of the chairs are leaning to keep the tablecloths from blowing away! I'm sure the wind was a nightmare for our wedding coordinator and the caterer, but it made the temperatures on the dance floor much more bearable : )

Photo Credits: Ken Luallen

Our florist, Tiger Lily, suggested using these candelabras as platforms for the flower arrangements. I thought they added an elegant touch to the tables and made conversation a little easier. Wouldn't you love to have one or two of those at home? Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

In addition to flowers, each table was adorned with cut crystal votives, gold charger plates and personalized menus. To keep the menus from flying away, we decided to tuck them into the napkins and wrapped the entire package with a monogrammed ribbon. Photo Credits: Ken Luallen

We decided to do both a bride's cake and a groom's cake. This is traditional in Texas and lots of places in the South, but we raised a few eyebrows in Sarasota - our caterer, florist and wedding planner (all transplants from the North) were somewhat unfamiliar with the tradition. We loved the classic white cake and the Duke Blue Devils cake our baker, Cakes by Ron, created for the occasion. The best part was both cakes tasted as good as they looked!Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

It was so much fun to see everything come together. All of the time we put in on the planning side of things really paid off and we were so pleased with the look and feel of our reception. The best part was that we were able to truly enjoy it. We visited with friends, ate a delicious dinner and danced the night away.

Time for our first dance!
Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Cutting the Cake
Photo Credit: Ken Luallen


Dancing the night away!Photo Credits: Ken Luallen

Photo Credits: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

If I could, I would relive our reception every anniversary for the next 60 years. It was that much fun. This first year of marriage has also been a lot of fun. K and I have learned a lot about each other, grown in our relationship with Christ and laughed more than I ever thought possible. We have also weathered some tough times along the way. Through it all, I have been repeatedly reminded of the amazing blessings that come with marriage - the love, support and devotion of a spouse should mirror the love of Christ and that is a wonderful thing indeed.

Last night before bed, I asked K what surprised him most about me this year. His answer? The fact that I can cook so well. (He is such a guy!) Then K posed the same question to me. There were two things that really surprised me - how much he really does love his sleep and his seemingly limitless patience. I am grateful for his patience every day. I love him so much! Happy Anniversary, K!


*Want to see more?  You can check out our ceremony, rehearsal dinner, bridesmaids luncheon, paper selections, and planning drama.

Our Wedding - The Ceremony

Planning our wedding ceremony was such a special thing for K and I to do together. When else do you get to select the music, hymns and scripture for a worship service? If you're a pastor or a music director, maybe every Sunday. But for us? Never. So this was special. We spent a lot of time listening to music and hymn selections - it sort of became our favorite car trip activity. And we spent even more time talking about which scripture readings best communicated our understanding of the covenant we were making in marriage. It was such a neat way to prepare for our wedding and we loved getting to share the ceremony that we planned with our friends and family.

We wanted the ceremony to feel like a worship service, so we kept flowers and other decor simple. An arrangement in the entry of the church where guests signed the guest book and two arrangements at the offering table.

My mom's friend, Miss Mimi, put the entry table together for us. It was such a personal

and thoughtful thing for her to do for us. Isn't the tablecloth lovely?

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Here's a view of the front of the church.

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

The programs reflected the traditional look of our invitation - cream paper and black font all tied together with a simple cream satin ribbon.

We actually did the programs ourselves. The former yearbook editor in me loved arranging everything and it was significantly less expensive than going through the stationary store. I downloaded the fonts and arranged all the text in Word and then sent everything in pdf files to the guys at M&S Graphic Arts in Dallas to be printed. They were so easy to work with and did such a good job that we decided to have them print the menus for our reception while they were at it.

Here's a peak at the ceremony in pictures . . .

How cute is little Miss Caroline!? I just love this image of her gleefully running down the isle.

I think her uninhibited joy perfectly captures the feeling of the day.
Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Walking down the isle was probably one of my favorite moments of the day. K was adamant that we not see each other before the ceremony and I'm so glad he stuck to his guns. There are no words to describe the emotions I felt as I saw him at the end of the isle, but I think this picture captures it well.

Photo Credits: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Looking at these pictures reminds me of the joy of that day all over again. Next stop? The reception!

Our Wedding - The Rehearsal Dinner

We went almost immediately from the Bridesmaids' Luncheon to the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner. We had so much fun with the girls that the luncheon went much longer than we expected. What a great problem to have!

K's parents went all out planning the Rehearsal Dinner and I think the yummy food provided by Pattigeorge's was probably one of the biggest highlights of the weekend. Everything. I mean everything we ate that night was delicious. And the setting was gorgeous - a quaint little boat house overlooking Sarasota Bay.

For the invitations, Kathryn used the B&K monogram that we incorporated throughout the wedding, but dressed it up with a fun orange and turquoise color scheme.

Photo Credit: Me, duh, that's why the quality is so terrible!

Kathryn also printed personalized menus to carry on the theme of the invitation. It was such a neat, personal touch and added a great pop of color to the tables.

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

K's parents put so much thought into making the dinner elegant and personal - there were speciality linens, unique flowers, tables themed after significant places and events in our lives, and a slide show detailing our lives from birth to present - it was perfect. And then there was the food. Have I mentioned the food was delicious? Seriously, I could go on and on about how good the food was that night, but if you really want to experience it, I suggest you get yourself to Sarasota and book a dinner at Pattiegoerges' - order the Ahi Tuna Tacos, Miso Sea Bass, and the Brussel Sprout Slaw and you will begin to understand how happy our taste buds were the night of the Rehearsal Dinner.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night.

Delicious appetizers? Don't mind if I do!

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Love these two!

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Let the toasts begin!

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

If K's embarrassed now, just wait until his groomsmen start talking . . .

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

K's thought bubble: "Oh no, are they really going to tell the Dr. Beer story?"

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Yes they told it. And a few other good ones :)

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

Photo Credit: Ken Luallen

It was an evening filled with love, joy and anticipation. What a blessing to be surrounded by our friends and loved ones for an intimate celebration of our relationship!

Our Wedding - The Bridesmaids' Luncheon

I enjoyed just about every minute of our wedding weekend. One of my favorite moments leading up to our wedding day was the Bridesmaids' Luncheon the Friday afternoon before our wedding. It was such a special time to share with all of the important women in my life.

The luncheon was at the Bijou Cafe in downtown Sarasota and because it was a "girls only" event we decided to have some fun and go all out with a pink and green Lilly theme. First we found these adorable Lilly invitations at the Paper Cottage.

I just love the bright colors and the combination of script and block font.

From there we took it away with lots of pink ribbon, pink flowers and monogrammed goodies.

We set each place with a pink tulip wrapped together with a pink grosgrain bow. One of the bridesmaids' gifts were the monogrammed green totes displayed in their chairs. The second part of the gift was wrapped in simple white paper, tied with a pink ribbon and set at each girl's place.

For dessert? Monogrammed Petit Fours of course!

Love these girls and love that we were able to share time together before the wedding.