Our Wedding: Why We Chose the Temple

Cameron and I decided to be married in the Salt Lake City temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is a beautiful building with lots of history, as well as being a place where many of our relatives and ancestors were married. But it is so much more than that.

We chose this temple because it was right outside that I first told Cameron that I loved him, and also the place we were when he kissed me for the first time.

(It was right about here that it happened!)


Our families are spread out all over the country, though we both have a lot of extended family in Utah, and we wanted to have the wedding somewhere that would be mildly convenient for everyone. (We realize that, short of having 5 different weddings, it was impossible to make it really convenient for very many people at all, and we so appreciate all the love and support we got from our families, especially those that had to travel to get here!)

We chose to be married in the temple instead of a church or other setting because we believe that here, we could be married not just for this life, but for the rest of eternity as well. A lot of people I know believe that marriage only lasts until death, and that neither our spirits nor our resurrected selves will be connected to our spouse. When we are sealed in the temple, we are promised to be with each other forever.

But there's something even more wonderful than that. We're together with each other, but if we keep doing our best to live the way God wants us to, we can be with our children and ancestors as long as they do the same! We can be with our whole family forever.

For the actual ceremony, we had a lot of family that was unable to come inside to be with us. The temple is a very sacred place, and even lots of members of our church aren't allowed in. To come in to the temple, you must be strictly living the commandments, as well as have made special promises and commitments with the Lord that you will always live that way. These are very serious promises, and so members of the church are encouraged to wait until they are ready to be married or serve a full time mission, or at least are past their teen-age years, before they go to the temple and make those commitments.

It was painful for us to not be able to have some of our family with us for that short time we were inside the temple. We wanted so much to be able to share that with them. But for us, it was an easy choice. For us, leaving them outside for half an hour so that we could have the chance to be with them for the rest of eternity as well as this life was definitely worth it. I know that it's difficult for those not of our faith to understand, but we did it because we love our family and we want to be with them always.

Families are central to God's plan. He means for us to be with our families and to be happy! I know that He loves us and wants the best for us. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices in this life, and it is hard, but the reward will always be worth it. This is why we chose to be married in the temple. We want to be with each other and our family, not just "till death do us part," but through all of forever, even after we die. It is a glorious promise, and I know that God keeps his promises.

We're so grateful that our family was so supportive of us and that so many of you who were unable to come inside still came to the temple to be there when we came out. We love you so much, and hope you can understand why we made the choice that we did. We want to be with you forever.

If you would like to learn more about mormon temples, click here, here, here, or even here!

If you would like the opportunity to go inside a mormon temple, completely "legally" and without any commitment or strings attached, here and here are the next opportunities to do so. (When a new temple is built, it is open to the general public for a short time before it is dedicated. There will be a guided tour of the building and explanations of what the different rooms are used for. You do need tickets, but they are free. You can obtain tickets by following the link above.) If you are unable to attend an open house but still want to learn about the temple, many temples have visitor centers on the same property where you can ask questions about the temples and see the outside and grounds.

And here are some more pictures of our wonderful family at the temple with us, and a few of just Cam and I that I love!

Our Wedding: Our Photographer

Our photographer was great. Tyson (Building Moments Photography) came through for us pretty last minute when our original plans fell through barely a month before the wedding. We are so happy we ended up going with him! Our pictures turned out amazingly, and he was so much fun to work with. He also did the pictures for our cousin Kathryn's engagement and wedding a year later.

He helped us relax and have fun with the formal, posed pictures, 

and he captured some amazing candid shots as well! 

He wasn't scared to get creative in order to get the shots he wanted. 

He also got some great pictures of the decorations and guests at the reception, which was really nice because as much as we planned and prepared for the reception, most of what I remember of it was Cameron and how excited I was to finally be married!

Thanks, Tyson, for helping us capture these special moments on our wedding day!

Our Wedding: The Rings

Cameron picked my ring all by himself. I was so proud of him, and I am in love with his choice. It's so me. I love the leaves and the beading and the setting and everything about it. And, of course, I love what it represents: that he loves me.

Picking his ring was a bit tricky for me. How do you interpret a guy, who doesn't wear jewelry EVER, in a ring? At first I tried to find a simple silver wedding band that had a leaf motif so we could match, but that wasn't really his thing. I looked a lot at simple shiny bands, but I hinted that's what I was thinking and he didn't really like it. Finally I kind of gave up and took him to the jewelers and told him to show me the ones he liked. He found one that had all of the stylistic aspects he wanted, but it was a bit thicker than he envisioned. I looked through the cases and saw one just like it, but thinner. Bingo! I asked the associate that was helping us to write that one down when Cam wasn't looking and came back a few days later to order it. He loved it. Phew!

We got both of our rings at Sierra-West Jewelers and loved it. The service is great, our rings came with a bunch of fantastic deals and complimentary service, and we're both very happy with the finished product. They never pushed us to look outside our price range, which we appreciated very much, and were very helpful and patient. I ended up getting mine re-sized (I was constantly worried about it falling off because it was a little bit loose) and the process was quick, easy, and my ring came back looking like new!


To see my other posts about our wedding, click the picture!

Our Wedding: The Invitations

I had a great time designing our invitations. It was the first time I'd done much with graphic design since high school, and looking back there are some things I might do differently, but I really enjoyed it and was happy with the finished product.

I downloaded the script font from dafont.com and I used the word processor on my computer. If you're planning on designing something that has anything besides text, I would strongly encourage you to use a more sophisticated program like photoshop or something similar that is meant for this, because it is really hard to get everything (especially pictures) to line up the way you want in a word processor.

My mom bought the blank invitations online and printed them on our laser printer at home. They turned out great!

Why I'm Glad I Was Engaged and Married Before I Was 23

I am so in love with my husband. Why? Well, for one, he's practically perfect. But besides that, he shows his love to me. I appreciate that so much. He makes me feel so loved all the time that I can't help but be overjoyed and completely in love with him back! The last few days of break before he went back to school we spent a few afternoons just spending time with each other and it turned into sitting on the couch talking, flirting, and just expressing how much we love each other. I know it sounds totally cheesy and silly, but it made us both so happy. Because we keep feeding our relationship, we just get more and more happy and excited to be with each other.

There's been an article going around facebook that talks about why you should wait to get engaged and married, but I think most of the points are silly. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I feel like I need to stand up and say, "I support marriage and "old fashioned" values. Being born when I was doesn't mean that I automatically have to give up hope that marriage could actually mean something more than a fancy wedding and a pre-nup."

 I suppose for some people it might be easier to have adventures on their own, but being adventurous doesn't mean you have to make dumb decisions. I'm sorry, but making out with strangers is not my idea of a good time. I'd rather kiss my husband. And what's wrong with snuggling the person you love, who also happens to be your best friend?

"If a person is your eternal love", why wait? If you know that you will love that person forever and want to be with them, why are you putting other priorities ahead of them? Yes, it can be scary to have to try to coordinate two educations, jobs, cultures, personalities, but honestly, the longer you wait, the harder it will get.

I am a very timid person when it comes to trying new things. I hadn't even been on a roller coaster until I met Cameron. I am much more adventurous now than I ever was before I started dating him. Recently Cameron and I were talking about where we would like to settle our family. I said something to the effect of "I think that I could adjust to any situation we're put into, even if it's not my ideal setting." Cameron remarked that I would not have said that when we met. It's so true! He has helped me to grow in ways that I wouldn't let myself when I was single. Marriage is about growth, it's about learning to care about more than just yourself, and it's about becoming your best self. It's not being tied down, giving up your freedom, or losing your identity. All of those things are expanded in a healthy relationship.

Being married doesn't mean that you have to settle down immediately and never travel or have fun. Some people choose to settle down, and that's fine. Others take their time as "newlyweds" to have fun and go on adventures together! Cameron and I haven't had the money to travel the world, but we have tried to take advantage of the fun opportunities around us, and to make adventures for ourselves close to home.

This article also talked about how getting married means that you'll get "knocked up and fat." I really dislike the phrase "knocked up." I think it's crude, demeaning, and degrading to the sanctity that is parenthood and family. You don't have to get pregnant just because you get married. I have a lot of married friends that feel like it isn't time for them to have children yet. I also know several couples that have struggled with infertility and would give anything to have the privilege of having and raising a child. Cameron and I were originally planning to wait much longer before we got pregnant, but after praying we felt strongly that it was time to stop waiting. On our one year anniversary we were six months pregnant. This is what was right for us, but is not right for everyone. The decision to start a family, whether through marriage, or continuing through having children, is a personal choice, and no one has the right to judge others for that choice, though we as a society do it all the time.

And I'm sorry to tell you, but you'll get older (and probably gain a few pounds) regardless of whether or not you're married, so you might as well do it with the person who will help you, support you, and make you happy and build your self esteem.

Marriage, especially at a young age may not be for everyone. It is a huge commitment, and shouldn't be taken lightly, or thought of as temporary. But I know that for some people, including myself, it was the right choice. Marriage can be tons of fun and bring deep and lasting happiness. You get to spend every day with your best friend, you can find yourself and become your best self, and do it all with your biggest fan and the person who loves you no matter what.

I know that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God. I know that families are part of his plan. I am grateful for that knowledge. I'm grateful for my husband who loves and supports me in everything that I do. I'm so glad that I can make him happy and help lift him us the way he does for me.

Our Wedding: The Dress Part II

While traveling to and from the temple, leaving the reception, and at the open-houses we held in our hometowns, I wore my maternal grandmother's dress from when she was married in 1962 (Please forgive me if I got that wrong, my memory is all but gone these days.)

This grandma always seemed to have fabulous sundresses from when she was a young adult hanging in the closets. The summer that Cameron and I got engaged, we were visiting her with the rest of my family. My sisters and I were playing dress up in the kids room, but most of the things in the dress-up drawer didn't fit me anymore, so I went poking around in the closet to see if my mom's old prom dresses were still there and saw this beautiful lace dress. I tried it on and loved it. I could tell that it was older than anything my mom had worn, so I went down the hall to show my grandma and she told me that it was her wedding dress! I was embarrassed that I hadn't asked before trying it on, but she took me back in her room and pulled out an old album and showed me pictures from her wedding. Soon after, I asked her if it would be ok if I wore it for my wedding.

The morning of the wedding she came to my hotel room and helped me put it on. It was so special to share that moment with her. I also loved that I didn't have to get it altered! I'm really short-waisted so the shoulders floated a little bit, but since it was sleeveless and I wore it with a cardigan you couldn't really tell.

I love the bow at the waist. And the flared skirt. And pretty much everything about it!

Because the dress didn't have sleeves, I paired it with a shimmery pink cardigan. Even though pink wasn't really in our color scheme, it's traditional for the bride to wear pink when she leaves the reception, so I thought that was fitting.

I'm so grateful to both of my grandmothers for letting me share that special day with them, and for letting me use their wedding dresses. I love you both so much!

To see The Dress: Part I, click the picture below!

Our Wedding: The Dress, Part 1

I absolutely loved my wedding dress. I love that it was my grandmother's dress 51 years before I wore it, I love that she made it herself, and I love that her mother-in-law from Germany helped add the lace details. It was so special to be able to share that with my grandmother.

Before I met Cam I had this vision in my head of a white lace gown that was tight to the knees, had a sweetheart neckline, a long, beautiful train, you get the idea. Then, I went to my grandma's house one day. I was looking in one of her closets for an old prom dress of mine she had let me keep there since there wasn't room in my little apartment and I found her wedding dress. The satin was faded to a beautiful gold, the stitches at the shoulder were starting to pull, and the zipper was broken, but it was lovely! I fell in love with it. My grandma helped my try it on and safety-pin the back closed and took some pictures of me. I could tell she really liked the idea of my wearing her dress at my wedding, but neither of us expected that within four months I would be asking her if I could.

I had my dress altered at Avenia Bridal in Orem, UT. The ladies there did a fantastic job. They were so kind and accommodating, and they took such good care of the dress. Im very short-waisted, so to make the dress fit me they had to take a little bit of fabric out of the shoulders. They took off the lace that would have been pulled into the seams and then reattached it once the alterations had been made with the original beads. I appreciated that so much.

I love the princess seams and the pointed, snow-white-esque waistline.

I'm a huge fan of the 3/4 length sleeves. We were married in November and I was planning on having a very cold wedding. Thankfully, we were blessed with a miraculously warm day (in the low 60's when it had been snowing just a week before,) but I think that even if we'd been married in the summer I would still have kept the longer sleeves.

I love this dress, but I didn't want to transport it across the country to our reception in Michigan, so I wore my "Getaway Dress" (which was my maternal grandmother's wedding dress) at our other receptions. To see my post about that dress, click on the picture below!

Our Wedding

It's been a little over a year since our wedding, and I've been looking back and reminiscing a lot. I was recently the matron of honor at my cousin's wedding and helping her plan and prepare made me think more about our wedding, what I liked and what I would have done differently, and just how incredibly happy I was to finally be married to my best friend!

Having all of these thoughts swirling through my head, I thought I'd share them with all of you! You know, if you're interested ;)

So, starting this week, Mondays will be talking about our wedding, tips for brides planning their own weddings, maybe I'll even do some wedding inspiration posts.

Here we go!

The Dress: Part 1

   

The Dress: Part 2

   

The Cake

Invitations

The Rings