Our Ceremony

Many people struggle to write a "script" for their ceremonies. I took great care to compile mine from several sources as well as writing out some of it myself. I hope this may help at least someone with their writing of their own ceremony script. It also includes links to all of the songs used and pictures of things as they occurred.

Wedding of Marlissa Doss and Ian Cunningham

Prelude:

Four Tops	Baby I need your lovin'
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell	You're All I need to get by
Ray LaMontagne	You are the best thing
The Turtles	Happy Together

Processional

J. Benjamin

Marry Me (Violin Cover, originally performed by Train)

Officiate: Terri Schlag walks down aisle. Takes place at gazebo.

Ian Cunningham walks down aisle to place on gazebo

Tom Cunningham walks Rosemary Cunningham down aisle. Seats her. Takes place beside Ian.

Seth Wooten walks Phyllis Doss down aisle. Seats her. Takes place beside Tom.

Caleb Hutcheson walks with Bailey Cunningham and both take their places.

Sara Cunningham walks down aisle, takes place on far left.

Kayla Brown walks down aisle takes place in front of Sara.

Courtney Terry walks down aisle, takes place in front of Kayla

Aliya Johnson walks down aisle pulling Ivy Johnson in wagon. They take their places.

KJ Hagan throws petals down aisle and goes to stand beside Sara.

Bride’s Processional

Artist	Song Title
Vitamin String Quartet	Hallelujah

Glenn Doss walks Marlissa Doss down aisle. Both stand in front of Terri Schlag.

(I thought I would be so emotional. I was laughing and singing down the aisle with Dad)

TERRI              You may all be seated.

Welcome, friends and family. Ian and Marli have invited us here today to share in the celebration of their marriage. We come together not to mark the start of a relationship, but to recognize a bond that already exists. This marriage is one expression of the many varieties of love. Love is one, though its expressions are infinite.

(To Marli)       Marli, do you take this man to be your husband; to live together in the covenant of marriage? forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?

MARLI              I do.

TERRI              (to Ian)       Ian, do you take this woman to be your wife; to live together in the covenant of marriage, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?

IAN              I do

TERRI              Who gives this woman to be wedded to this man?

GLENN:        Her mother and I do.

(kiss my cheek, put my hand in Ian’s, sits next to Phyllis)

TERRI              1 Corinthians 13 tells us “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” And so today we come to celebrate those traits that Ian and Marli have found in one another.

As you have all been a part of their lives in some way in the past, I ask now that you give your affirmation to continue to be so in the future. To lift them up both as individuals and as the new united pair they become today. Will all of you here as witnessing to these promises made in love, do all in your power to uphold these two persons in their marriage? If so, please answer, “We will.”

Audience answers “we will”

(one of my favorite shots of the whole day)

TERRI              Ian and Marli, the symbolic vows that you are about to make are a way of saying to one another, “You know all those things we’ve promised and hoped and dreamed- well, I meant it all, every word.” Look at one another and remember this moment in time.

Pause to take in the moment

Before this moment you have been many things to one another- acquaintance, friend, lover, companion [maybe add more here]

You have learned much from one another in this time since deciding to meet a stranger off the internet and take a chance at love.

(pause for laughs)

Now you shall say a few words that take you across a threshold of life, and things will never quite be the same between you. For after these vows, you shall say to the world, this – is my husband, this – is my wife.

Please join hands

(I pass off bouquet and take his other hand in mine)

Ian, repeat after me.  I Ian Raymond Cunningham

IAN              I Ian Raymond Cunningham

TERRI              Take you, Marlissa Paige Doss

IAN              Take you, Marlissa Paige Doss

TERRI              As my lawfully wedded wife.

IAN              As my lawfully wedded wife.

TERRI              To have and to hold.

IAN              To have and to hold.

TERRI              From this day forward.

IAN              From this day forward.

TERRI              For better or worse

IAN              For better or worse

TERRI              For richer or poorer.

IAN              For richer or poorer.

TERRI              In sickness and in health

IAN              In sickness and in health

TERRI              To love, honor, and cherish until death do us part

IAN              To love, honor, and cherish until death do us part

TERRI              Marli, Repeat after me. I Marlissa Paige Doss

MARLI       I Marlissa Paige Doss

TERRI              Take you, Ian Raymond Cunningham

MARLI       Take you, Ian Raymond Cunningham

TERRI              As my lawfully wedded husband

MARLI       As my lawfully wedded husband

TERRI              To have and to hold.

MARLI       To have and to hold.

TERRI              From this day forward.

MARLI       From this day forward.

TERRI              For better or worse

MARLI       For better or worse

TERRI              For richer or poorer.

MARLI       For richer or poorer.

TERRI              In sickness and in health

MARLI       In sickness and in health

TERRI              To love, honor, and cherish until death do us part

MARLI       To love, honor, and cherish until death do us part

TERRI              May we have the rings?

(Marli crouches down and calls Bailey. Bailey eagerly trots over to Mommy. After a quick kiss she removes the rings from his collar. He goes to sit with Phyllis and Glenn)

TERRI              Ian, please place the ring on Marli’s finger, and repeat after me: “I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.”

IAN              I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.

TERRI              Marli, please place the ring on Ian’s finger, and repeat after me: “I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.”

MARLI              I give you this ring as a daily reminder of my love for you.

TERRI              (gets out handfasting chords)

Handfasting is an old Celtic tradition, and Ian and Marli have chosen to use it to be an outward sign of the commitment they make here. The Chord is made of many strands of ribbon, and intertwined are pieces from each of their respective families, signifying that not only do two people become one today, but two families become one.

Ian and Marli as your hands are bound together now,

so your lives and spirits are joined in a union of love and trust.

Above you are the sun and stars and below you is the earth.

Like the sun and stars your love should be a constant source of light,

and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow.

Please hold the chord between your ringed hands.

(Groom palm up, holding chord, Brides hand resting in his)

Ian and Marli, this chord is a symbol of the life you have chosen to live together. Until this moment you have been separate in thought, word, and deed. But as this chord is tied together, so shall your lives become intertwined. With this chord, I bind you to the vows that you have made to one another. With this knot, I tie you, heart to heart, together as one.

May this love knot always be a reminder of the binding together of two hands, two hearts, and two souls into one. And so you are bound to one another, for all the days of your lives.

(Officiate ties love knot)

And with the knot tied, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Ian, you may kiss your bride.

(We kiss.)

TERRI              I would like to officially present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Ian Cunningham.

Recessional

Artist	Song Title
Chris Maghintay	My Player Two

Ian and Marli

KJ

Rosemary & Tom

Aliya, Ivy, Caleb

Phyllis, Glenn, & Bailey

Courtney

 Wooter & Kayla

Sara

Handfasting

HANDFASTING              

1. A handfasting is an old Pagan custom, dating back to the time of the ancient Celts. A handfasting was originally more like an engagement period, where two people would declare a binding union between themselves for a year and a day. The original handfasting was a trial marriage.

After seeing the handfasting ceremony that had been a part of my bestie's wedding in June of 2013, I had fallen in love with the idea and tradition of binding hand to hand and heart to heart. I also liked that you could put charms on to celebrate the members of each side of the family, and that the braided cord was like a symbol of the two families becoming one through the love of the couple.

So, I decided that handfasting would be the best choice for us as a couple. We're not overly religious. I was raised in the church. He wasn't. But I still wanted a ritual to be performed that symbolized our union, and this seemed perfect as it was "tying the knot" in a literal sense. And it left a physical manifestation of our bond for us to see forever.

The Chords

A three stand ribbon chord of our colors: Red, Yellow, and White. 

My charms on our handfasting chords:

 My half of the heart Ian gave me for Christmas (his broke. Can't find it), 

pieces of Ian Cunningham's grandmothers silk scarf (tying on) 

a blue gemstone charm for one of my grandmothers necklaces, 

the wish pearl I got when I was 8 on my first cruise where I wished to find my true love,

and a lace flower from mom's wedding dress.

This is how our chords are displayed now afterward in a shadow box with the bow ties and flowers and a napkin for the ceremony:

The Ceremony

In the next post I will post our entire wedding script, but below I have included the portion that was about handfasting:

(gets out handfasting chords) Handfasting is an old Celtic tradition, and Ian and Marli have chosen to use it to be an outward sign of the commitment they make here. The Chord is made of many strands of ribbon, and intertwined are pieces from each of their respective families, signifying that not only do two people become one today, but two families become one. Ian and Marli as your hands are bound together now,so your lives and spirits are joined in a union of love and trust.Above you are the sun and stars and below you is the earth.Like the sun and stars your love should be a constant source of light,and like the earth, a firm foundation from which to grow. Please hold the chord between your ringed hands. (Groom palm up, holding chord, Brides hand resting in his)

 Ian and Marli, this chord is a symbol of the life you have chosen to live together. Until this moment you have been separate in thought, word, and deed. But as this chord is tied together, so shall your lives become intertwined. With this chord, I bind you to the vows that you have made to one another. With this knot, I tie you, heart to heart, together as one.May this love knot always be a reminder of the binding together of two hands, two hearts, and two souls into one. And so you are bound to one another, for all the days of your lives. (Officiate ties love knot)

 And with the knot tied, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Ian, you may kiss your bride. 

THE OFFICIATE USED IN BOTH CEREMONIES WAS TERRI BREEDING SCHLAG. IF YOU ARE IN THE GREATER ATLANTA AREA AND ARE LOOKING FOR AN OFFICIATE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT HER:
https://www.facebook.com/terrischlag

I hope you all enjoyed this. Feel free to take anything from the wording you'd like. I pieced several different handfasting ceremony wordings I found in order to achieve this. I also just free wrote some to add in as well.

Tutu Mania!

So everyone on Pinterest has been seeing the adorable homemade tutus that are "so cheap and easy" according to every pin description. 

And, I can tell you, they are pretty easy to accomplish. It doesn't take a lot of skill. What it does take a lot of is:

Time

Patience

Tulle

First:

Determine what you want

Do you want a tutu that stands out like a ballerina? 

Do you want a knee length tutu skirt? A full length one?

Do you want a tutu dress?

Do you want a tutu table skirt?

Second:

How big of an area are you covering?

Is it a baby?

Toddler?

Child?

Small adult?

Large adult?

Side table?

8' round?

12' rectangle?

Third:

How do you want it to attach?

Do you want it on a ribbon you can tie?

On elastic you can slip on?

A "tutu" top or headband?

Fourth:

Materials

Ok. So. Once you've answered your core questions you get to start to look for materials. I will tell you personally I've gotten things from China (eBay), save-on-crafts, & Joann fabric.   There are TONS of places to look. Those are just my go-tos. 

To give you an idea of how much tulle it truly takes I'll post my completed tutus below with approximate yards and time. 

Custom "ballerina style" tutu skirt for infant and headband. 

1 bolt of pink tulle

54" x 25 yards

1 spool of 2" zebra ribbon

1 baby headband

Time: about 2 hours

My neice's 1/2 birthday baby carrier skirt

This started out as an attempt at a table skirt. I ended up running out of tulle. 

1 bolt (54"x25 yd) white tulle

1 bolt sky blue tulle

1 bolt pastel blue tulle

5 yards of 1/4" thick elastic. 

Time: about 2 hours

Flower girl skirts

1 6 month floor length flowing skirt

1 6 year old floor length flowing skirt

2 yellow knit headbands

1 bolt (54"x25yd) stiff burgundy tulle

1 bolt normal burgundy tulle

2 large spools (6"x100yd)

2 yards burgundy lace cut in strips

Time: about 6 hours

Adult tulle skirt

4 bolts (54"x25yd) light pink tulle

2 bolt (54"x25yd) taupe tulle

1 large bolt (60"x40yd) ivory tulle

1 spool 2" ivory satin ribbon

Time: about 8 hours

This guy was a beast. I'm 5'7 and it was knee length. I'm a size 16 and it went around me. It was a MONSTER. 

But it turned out beautifully for my boudoir shoot. ((Warning almost nudity. Covered boobs in hands.))

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Close if you don't want to see my hold my boobs in my hands!

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Ok you were warned. 

Good luck in all your tulle adventures!

Tell or show me your tulle tales in the comments!

DIY Flowers

So as many of you may know, I'm a Floral Designer by trade. I did all of my own flowers for my wedding and would never suggest doing that, but if you're trying to save money and can handle the stress...I'm going to give you a tutorial. 

First:

Decide what flowers you want. 

Not all flowers are year round. Some are only in season certain months. Also, some only come in specific colors. 

This site has a great list of lots of the flowers you can get in which colors and their names. It also has great pictures for sizing options as well:

https://weddingtips101.wordpress.com/2014/01/30/flower-names-by-color/

Second:

Check to see if they are available at the time of your wedding. There are two ways to do this. Google: x flower in (month you're getting married). 

Or go straight to the websites that you will be ordering from and check to see if they have a month-month availability section once you've looked at that flower. 

Third:

Find them and price them. 

Locally: farmer's markets are great places to get flowers locally. Also, many Kroger stores will have a good quality and variety of flowers available for small bunches. 

If you are buying in bulk there are some sites online that sell to the public (and that ice used and know are reputable)

Http://samsclub.com

Http://flowerexplosion.com

Http://fiftyflowers.com

If buying silk or dried flowers to add to your arrangements I suggest:

Save-on-crafts.com

Afloral.com

Etsy.com (and search for specific items. Read reviews before you buy, but I've had positive experiences with sellers on etsy). 

Step Four

Order your flowers. Schedule the delivery for 2-3 days before your event so that your flowers have time to be delivered, come back to life, and be made into arrangements. 

ARRIVAL DAY

As soon as your flowers are delivered bring them inside. Cut open the boxes they will look like this:

Use scissors or a knife to cut open the box and unwrap the flowers. They will be wrapped in plastic (and possibly also cardboard)

If wrapped in cardboard they may look something like this:

As you unwrap the plastic keep

The small pouches of "plant food." It will look like this (about the size of a tea bag):

Take this and add it to buckets or vases of water. I normally put mine either in 5 gallon buckets (from lowes or Home Depot), or spare vases if I want to keep them in smaller group:

Before you place the flowers in the water you need to take a few steps:

Remove all leaves that you know you don't want / will fall below the water line. 

Cut the stem off at least two inches at an angle

This will allow the plant to soak up more of the nutrients and keep it alive longer. 

If it is a flower that needs to "bloom" put it in sunlight. 

If it doesn't need to bloom put it somewhere cool. 

If you have a basement that can be a cool enough area. Or if you keep your house in the upper 60s that should be fine. They will live longer if kept cool. 

DAY 2

So "Day 2" is after your flowers have had the opportunity to soak up the flower food and try to bloom out. If some still need to bloom leave them in sunlight while you work with others. 

Arrangements such as bouquets can be made and put back into water afterward to stay alive. Remember to get fresh water and flower food before putting your arrangements into a container to give it maximum life. 

I cut all of my arrangements with blunt ends. It doesn't give it as much ability to soak anything up, but it also keeps what was in there inside. So say you "dye" a flower. The food coloring the flower soaked up will stay in the flower after you cut from a pointed to a blunt end becaue you've stopped it from "going back out."

Arrangements that are completely wrapped in ribbon should not be put back in water. It wont do anything except get your ribbon wet. So put those in the fridge away from the cooling apparatus so they don't get freezer burnt. 

Arrangements that are small such as Boutineers and corsages should also be kept in the fridge to stay fresh. 

For more delicate flowers try to keep them cool for as long as possible (hydrangeas especially). 

EVENT DAY

Take the flowers from wherever you are storing them and put them into something to carry. If they're in cases I generally use a clothes basket with towels weaved between the bases to keep them steady. Put cooled pieces inside a cooler bag (like you get at a grocery store) for transport. 

Cooler bag from SAMs club

Once you arrive at the location put the arrangements either in a cooler or somewhere dark and cool until time for use. (Or if you're getting married in gal or winter and it's below 50 degrees outside you can leave them outside). 

Don't forget to wipe off the ends of bouquets before handing them to he bride or bridesmaids (if they've been in water). And to put corsage pins with corsages and Boutineers so they can be attached easily. 

If you have any questions or would like a price quote on what it would cost to have your wedding done by me visit: http://marlipaigefloral.com