Stumble It!
Southern Wedding of the Week: Terri + Sean, Part I
Terri + Sean had a very unique Southern wedding. They combined Catholic and Buddhist wedding ceremonies and used stunning natural elements in the decor. Family heirlooms were scattered throughtout the celebration-- Terri's great-grandmother's wedding dress and family antiques were used as centerpieces. Aren't the flower girl's headpeices adorable!? How about the beautiful paper cranes? Photography by the incredibly talented Brian and Gry of {Woodward + Rick Photographers}. Enjoy!
How did the two of you meet? Sean and I are truly a 21st century couple! We met online about 3 ½ years ago. As Sean loves to inform people, I “winked at” (or contacted) him first. He sent the first email, however, which led to about a week long correspondence before we got together over lunch. We hit it off at once, and the rest, as they say, was history!
Describe the proposal: When Sean and I were first dating, we came across a children’s book that featured a character who liked to give gifts on his birthday instead of receive them. We both loved the book and talked about it from time to time. After we’d been dating for a couple years, Sean’s birthday rolled around, and he began dropping hints about a gift he wanted to give me. As you might have guessed, it turned out the gift was a beautiful engagement ring! He had designed the ring himself, and he wrote the proposal inside a copy of the book we’d found so many months ago.
What attracted me to my husband was: Aside from his beautiful blue eyes, Sean’s intelligence first sparked my interest. I loved how he seemed to know a little (or more than a little) about everything. I also was drawn immediately to his sincerity and thoughtfulness. Something else that I didn’t discover until a few days later but found just as attractive was his silly sense of humor. (It was just silly enough to match my own, in fact!)
Why do you love your husband? I could go on for pages and pages … I love Sean for his honesty, integrity, compassion, generous spirit, sense of humor, intellectual curiosity, and his kind heart. I love that he is devoted to his family and that he inspires me to try things I wouldn’t otherwise. I love that he makes me feel completely secure and cared for. And I love him for loving me just the way I am.
What attracted me to my wife was: Besides her warm smile and beautiful eyes, her sincerity amazed me. From the very first moment we talked openly about family, values, spirituality, philosophy and so much more. (Within 30 minutes on our first date we were deep into a conversation about Buddhism in America.) Since then, Terri has been someone I can share my entire life with – whether it’s talking about nonsense like why we both love ketchup or serious matters such as how to raise kids. I’ve never found anyone as sincere, caring, loving, and beautiful as her.
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: We had such an unexpectedly wonderful time on our first date. Both of us had gotten tired of the dating scene and were a bit jaded by the time we met each other. However, from the first moment we met, we completely hit it off. We had a fantastic conversation over lunch, and neither of us wanted the date to end, so we came up with excuses to spend more time together (including shopping for speakers – something neither of us needed).
Favorite design element of your big day: We loved all of our special projects, but probably our favorite was the backdrop of origami cranes we used for the ceremony. Folding 1,000 origami cranes is a wedding tradition in many Asian cultures that confers good luck and prosperity to the newly married couple. (I think we ended up with 1,083 total – too many helping hands!) We chose this project in order to honor Sean’s Buddhist beliefs and the time he spent living in Japan. To display all the cranes, we strung them on twine and hung the strings from a bamboo frame constructed by my uncle. A great number of our friends and family helped bring this project to life, and the cranes are a special memento that we’ll be able to cherish for years.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Actually, the most meaningful moment for us was the entire wedding ceremony. Sean and I had a joint Catholic-Buddhist ceremony – the Catholic component, which was celebrated by the priest from my childhood church, was for my side of the family, and the Buddhist component, celebrated by a Buddhist minister, was for Sean (he lived in Japan for several months and has studied Buddhism for years). We designed the ceremony ourselves, which took quite a bit of time and innovation, particularly since there are no models out there for this type of service. However, it was worth every bit of effort and planning. Each part of the ceremony – the readings, the songs, the vows - was intensely personal and meaningful for Sean and me. For instance, instead of a unity candle, we had a ceremony that involved adding cupfuls of dirt from our childhood homes to the base of a Japanese Maple tree that we now keep in our home – a neat symbol of our new union.
More to come from this fantastic Highlands wedding...
Friday, December 12, 2008 at 06:01AM
Reader Comments (6)
I LOVE this couple's "flea market chic" theme with so many personal items and the significance in their use. Brian + Gry did a fantastic job as always capturing their day. Just beautiful and timeless!
The wedding was wonderful. Getting ready for Sean & Terri's wedding was a lot of fun. There was lots of family time and everyone was involved in helping. The different colors melded perfectly. Having past wedding photos on display was wonderful. Lots of sweet memories!!
Terri and Sean's wedding was absolutely beautiful. I particularly enjoyed the family photographs of former weddings of parents, grandparents, great grandparents and great great grandparents. It was like all of the family members were there adding their blessings! The location was outstanding and it made for a great weekend. Terri and Sean are a wonderful couple!
I love her dress !! Where did she get it ?
Terri's dress is amazing....who is it made by...is there a style name/number? Thanks!!
Hi SW Blog Readers,
Terri wore her great grandmother's dress! Wasn't it stunning?
Laura E