"Something old represents continuity; something new offers optimism for the future; something borrowed symbolizes borrowed happiness; something blue stands for purity, love, and fidelity;" http://thefeministbride.com/superstition-something-old/
So it's no secret that this is my second wedding.
(For those of you who don't know, here's a quick recap: When I was 19 I married my highschool sweetheart. We were married for 17 years and had 4 awesome kids. I got ill, my wife had an affair, we got divorced and I came out of the closet. My plan was to just date discreetly until the kids were adults, and remarriage was completely out of the question. Then came Mark. This man came into my life as a complete disruption. And I am forever grateful he did! So fast forward 3 years, he asked, I said yes, and now we are less than 3 months away from our wedding!)
So many things are different this time around. There is so much more depth and meaning to the ceremony. Mark had a painful past relationship, and we are so much more confident as individuals, that we know what we want from life and what direction we are heading in. There is the excitement and hope of a new journey, without the uncertainty. One of the things that has made this wedding plan so much fun, as well as presented some challenges, is that we are not bound by any tradition whatsoever. Their is no traditional way in which two men get married, even in this day and age. That gives us the freedom to make our wedding truly ours. A true representation of who we are and where we are going. Turns out, there are some very traditional elements to our ceremony, which is fitting for us. Traditional in a very untraditional way!
For instance, we still have women standing up for us as well as men, but they are groomsmaids and groomsmen. Although it no longer serves as a church, our venue is an old 1800's church that now belongs to a local historical association, and we are beginning the ceremony with a doxology. So I figured I would share one of the traditions we are keeping, and what those items represent.
Something Old
We have a few different somethings old. Perhaps the most important one is the venue! This is a building in a very small hamlet called Borodino that was built in 1833. It was built as a church, used at a town hall, and the a Grange. It currently serves as the home of the local historical association. We picked this venue specifically for it's connection to the past. It is probably very close to it's original style, except with modern upgrades. Exposed beam ceilings and original cobblestone walls are exposed in the first level, which is where our reception is. The upstairs has wooden chairs and pews, and is complete with a choir loft. Tall windows flood the space with light, and there is a peaceful, homey feeling that comes over you while you are on the property. It hearkens back to a simpler time, when family was everything, church had Sunday dinner in the town square, and weddings were decorated with simple, handmade decorations that people had available to them at the time. So our something old is the generations of weddings and baptisms and new starts that took place in this building. It's the hopes and dreams of the couples married in this building generations past. Something very traditional, but totally unique.
Something New
Our something new for this wedding is our decor. Seems like an odd thing to have as something new, but there is a reason! Most of our decorations are repurposed household items, or things made from materials from something else. For instance, many of the mason jars we are using are not antique. Some of the bottles we are using for the window vignettes are just repurposed wine bottles with a mercury glass finish. My favorite decoration is the fabric streamers we are running across the church, overhead. That is a new decoration made from old and vintage fabric, and hand tied. For us, perhaps the biggest benefit from new décor, is that it will all be used in our wedding rental business! Our somethings new represent a new purpose, a new creation, and a new start for our family business.
(For those of you who don't know, here's a quick recap: When I was 19 I married my highschool sweetheart. We were married for 17 years and had 4 awesome kids. I got ill, my wife had an affair, we got divorced and I came out of the closet. My plan was to just date discreetly until the kids were adults, and remarriage was completely out of the question. Then came Mark. This man came into my life as a complete disruption. And I am forever grateful he did! So fast forward 3 years, he asked, I said yes, and now we are less than 3 months away from our wedding!)
So many things are different this time around. There is so much more depth and meaning to the ceremony. Mark had a painful past relationship, and we are so much more confident as individuals, that we know what we want from life and what direction we are heading in. There is the excitement and hope of a new journey, without the uncertainty. One of the things that has made this wedding plan so much fun, as well as presented some challenges, is that we are not bound by any tradition whatsoever. Their is no traditional way in which two men get married, even in this day and age. That gives us the freedom to make our wedding truly ours. A true representation of who we are and where we are going. Turns out, there are some very traditional elements to our ceremony, which is fitting for us. Traditional in a very untraditional way!
For instance, we still have women standing up for us as well as men, but they are groomsmaids and groomsmen. Although it no longer serves as a church, our venue is an old 1800's church that now belongs to a local historical association, and we are beginning the ceremony with a doxology. So I figured I would share one of the traditions we are keeping, and what those items represent.
Something Old
We have a few different somethings old. Perhaps the most important one is the venue! This is a building in a very small hamlet called Borodino that was built in 1833. It was built as a church, used at a town hall, and the a Grange. It currently serves as the home of the local historical association. We picked this venue specifically for it's connection to the past. It is probably very close to it's original style, except with modern upgrades. Exposed beam ceilings and original cobblestone walls are exposed in the first level, which is where our reception is. The upstairs has wooden chairs and pews, and is complete with a choir loft. Tall windows flood the space with light, and there is a peaceful, homey feeling that comes over you while you are on the property. It hearkens back to a simpler time, when family was everything, church had Sunday dinner in the town square, and weddings were decorated with simple, handmade decorations that people had available to them at the time. So our something old is the generations of weddings and baptisms and new starts that took place in this building. It's the hopes and dreams of the couples married in this building generations past. Something very traditional, but totally unique.
Something New
Our something new for this wedding is our decor. Seems like an odd thing to have as something new, but there is a reason! Most of our decorations are repurposed household items, or things made from materials from something else. For instance, many of the mason jars we are using are not antique. Some of the bottles we are using for the window vignettes are just repurposed wine bottles with a mercury glass finish. My favorite decoration is the fabric streamers we are running across the church, overhead. That is a new decoration made from old and vintage fabric, and hand tied. For us, perhaps the biggest benefit from new décor, is that it will all be used in our wedding rental business! Our somethings new represent a new purpose, a new creation, and a new start for our family business.
We will have much more on our décor in a later post, and you won't want to miss that. Especially if you have a wedding coming up. Look out for part 2 of this post within the next couple days, where I will talk about our something borrowed and something blue!
