There is no way I can choose one favorite thing about this Florida wedding! I really love that Kathy wore the earrings her great grandmother wore on her own wedding day. Another favorite is the traditional Cuban wedding cake in honor of Kathy’s roots. Also, there are all the neat DIY ideas! The bridal party canned 4 gallons of Georgia Honey as party favors. Everything came together at the {Perricone’s Marketplace and Cafe} and Kathy looked stunning in a dress by {Maggie Sottero}. Other fun details: Flowers by {Gerardo}. Catering by Perricone’s Marketplace and Cafe. Wedding cake by {Sweet Art by Luclia}. Thanks to Karen at {The Wedding Couple} for sending these images our way!
How did the two of you meet? Marshall and I had both just started our first year of graduate school at UGA. It was the first week of classes and all the first-years went out to eat at a local restaurant. While standing in line, we introduced ourselves to one another. Marshall told me he had just received his masters from Duke and I told him I’d just graduated with my bachelors in chemistry. I asked him what he had done over the summer. I don’t know what I was expecting, but when he told me he had spent his summer landscaping, I realized how down-to-earth he was. I told him I spent my summer working as a waitress at a restaurant in my hometown. We hit it off instantly and haven’t been apart since.
Describe the proposal: It was perfect and a complete surprise for me. Marshall had been away for a month on a research cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, so we planned a camping trip at Bahia Honda in the Florida Keys to celebrate his return home. After snorkeling all day, we went back to our campsite on the beach for a picnic on the shore at sunset. It was a romantic candlelit dinner of sandwiches, baked beans, and beer. After dinner, we were sitting and looking out over the ocean, admiring how dark it was and how many stars we could see. Marshall pulled out the ring box and I was speechless. So much so, I think I frightened him a bit. Of course it was a, “YES!”
A date we went on that we’ll always remember: Our first surf-trip to Cape Hatteras. We were camping on the beach and it was insanely cold and wouldn’t stop raining. Still, it was the best trip ever.
What was the design inspiration for your wedding? Rustic and earthy
Favorite design element of your big day: We had two antique, nine-pane windows that we used as picture frames. Each pane held a different picture from our childhood. It was a big hit.
Describe your wedding flowers: We had a lot of green and white flowers in mason jars. Chrysanthemums, orchids, and hydrangeas were the main flowers but we had many others. The floral arrangements were absolutely gorgeous and our florist was amazing. We’ve recommended him to everyone we know.
Describe your wedding cake: I come from a Cuban family, so Marshall and I wanted to have a traditional wedding cake. It’s customary to have a three-layer cake from which a ribbon hangs for each of the bride’s single girlfriends. During the reception, all my single girlfriends pulled a ribbon from the cake. The tradition is, the girl who pulls a wedding ring is the next to get married, and the one who pulls a thimble will be an old maid. I didn’t include a thimble, but my younger cousin pulled the wedding ring. It was a wonderful moment, and our guests really enjoyed it.
Were there any special family traditions you included in the wedding? My great-great-grandmother bought a pair of earrings that she gave to my great-grandmother on her wedding day. Since then, they’ve been passed down to the first-born daughter on her wedding day. On our wedding day, my mother passed them on to me and they were the earrings I wore.
What was your most memorable moment about your wedding day? Cutting the cake with Kathy. We were busy for so much of the wedding, but at that moment I felt it was only us two.
What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding? Focus on the moment and on each other. Also, choose a photographer, vendor and florist who you can really relate to. Marshall and I are so very grateful to them all; without them, we wouldn’t have had such a memorable and wonderful wedding to remember.
Any DIY items? Marshall, my bridesmaid, Rachel, her husband, Aaron, and I canned 4 gallons of Georgia Honey to be given as favors at the wedding. It was a tribute to my late-grandmother. My mom and I decorated the favors, and made the place-card holders. For the place cards, we bagged M&M’s with special messages in small burlap bags and attached a small wooden name-card on each bag. My mom has beautiful penmanship and so she wrote everyone’s name on each card.
Congratulations, Kathy + Marshall!
Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation – too many of the women in my life are affected by this horrible illness.
Clay and I hold rescued dogs near and dear to our hearts. Our bigger of the two, Toby, was rescued after his mother was hit by a car when he was 6 weeks old. We quickly adopted him into our family. We rescued our other dog, Ozzy, in November before he ran onto a frontage road. Once we move into a house we are planning to foster dogs until they find homes.In lieu of favors at the wedding we are planning to donate to the local animal shelter and we are also hoping to spend a day with family volunteering at the shelter before the wedding.
Special Olympics!Growing up my mother taught special education and we would always volunteer at the local Special Olympics games. We even went to the World Games one year! Volunteering with my family brought us closer together and the athletes made such a huge impact on my life.
It may sound strange, but I love donating to my alma mater. Think about the impact you can have when you’re helping turn out thousands of leaders each year who will make a difference in the world? That’s powerful!
The charity I hold close to me is the American Cancer Society. I lost my aunt to cancer after a long battle about 2 years ago now. She was the most amazing, loving, kind-hearted person, and I miss her every day.
I am a forever fan of the Samaritan Center in Ooltewah, Tennessee. They are a nonprofit social services company who helps the needy with food, job placement, rent, etc. They have a store and donation center, similar to a Goodwill, and I constantly give to them. The college that I went to would regularly hold donation service days and now I volunteer sometimes. They have a God-centered mission and help so many each day. This January some friends and I joined the Samaritan Center and collected cans from those attending the concert. We almost filled a moving truck full of cans! It’s nice to know that people are still willing to help others even when the economy is rocky.
Our local animal shelter is one of the two charities that my fiance and I will be donating to in lieu of favors at our wedding. We will be delivering our financial donation along with a basket of cookies for the shelter employees, as a small "thank you" for the difficult – and often thankless – job they do every single day. We admire their hard work and dedication, and hope that our gift will help out in some small way.
Since reading Three Cups of Tee by Greg Mortenson (a MUST read) I’ve been extremely dedicated to the Central Asia Institue.This is a non-profit organization with the mission to promote and support community-based education, especially for girls, in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.I’m a big believer that one of the keys to ending war starts with education, especially for women.I will always hold this organization and the work that Greg Mortenson does close to my heart.
Both my fiance and I are huge animal lovers, we adore both our local humane society and a shelter known as Four Footed Friends. I am the president of my university’s animal rights club and do everything I can to help save animals from being abandoned, tortured, and beaten. We take in any animals, and even as husband and wife, we will continue to do just that in order to gave our four footed friends a safe home.
My grandfather just passed away in February. He was a man that didn’t have to be. He was a man who in the 50’s married a single mother who had two children. My mother and my Aunt. He was a man who would give you the shirt off of his back. Always smiling, always laughing…even through his pain. In 1987 he had his first heart attack, not because he was over weight or smoked, but because his heart (physically) was not strong. In the years that followed he have 3 other attacks. In 2002 he was put on a heart transplant list. But no heart ever came. Then as all of us had really given up hope, and basically said our last goodbyes, A friend in my grandfathers past mentioned his name to a our state senator who was working on a new experimental Heart pump. They bay flighted him to the Heart Hospital and installed the VAD, Heart pump. This miracle of a device gave us 3 more years with Pop. Last year he was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. They did surgery again…and through a miracle they got rid of it. This year on year four of living with the VAD, he had beat all the odds, all the experiments. His body just gave in. He went home on February 10th. Instead of flowers, we asked people to give to the American Heart Association. There is still so much we don’t know about the heart. They need the help! Thanks again for the opportunity to share! Here is a link to a story of my Pop.http://www2.hernandotoday.com/content/2009/feb/12/ha-he-sought-to-make-hernando-a-better-place/news/
Compassion International. We support a beautiful little girl in Tanzania, and I love getting letters and drawings from her!
The American Heart Association will forever receive my support and dedication. My father had a heart attack about 3 years ago and made a dramatic lifestyle change, but my fiancee’s mother was not as lucky. We work tirelessly to educate community members on living "heart healthy". -christi
I think for me it would be the make a wish foundation in memory of my little brother. I would have loved to see him live long enough to have his last wishes come true, although I think they did.
Make a Wish Foundation is very very special to me. When I was much younger, I had an online pen pal that I talked with all the time. We spent a whole summer talking and introducing our friends to each other and forming a little online chat room that we would go hang out in when we needed a break from the "real world." He had a great attitude about everything, always positive and uplifting, he was the most loyal and supportive person I’d ever met. Although our lives grew apart in high school, we stayed in contact and talked once a month or so. It was such a joy to see his name pop up on my messenger and receive a friendly message from him. About a year ago I stopped seeing his name pop up, and I just assumed that he must have gotten a job or gotten married and no longer had the time to chat with childhood friends. However, a few months ago I got an e-mail from one of our mutual friends that he had lost his lifelong battle with cancer, and that’s why he had stopped appearing online. Although I had known he had cancer as a child, I thought he was in remission and doing fine. He never wanted to bring anyone down by discussing his illness, so it kept it a secret from all of his friends, and it totally took us all by surprise when he passed. I then found out that when he was younger, and it looked like he wasn’t going to beat the cancer, he asked the Make a Wish Foundation to grant his wish for a laptop and internet so that he could make friends online while he was stuck in the hospital. He wanted people to know him for who he was, not pity him as a cancer patient, and his online friends (including me) gave him that. I had no idea that I had been part of someone’s Make-a-Wish, and knowing that I was has really changed my life, and I know it changed Andrew’s. Without the Make a Wish Foundation, Andrew and I would never have met and never have become friends, and I’m eternally thankful to them for that.
My charity of choice is Operation Smile, http://www.operationsmile.org/. I think it is very important to give a child the gift of a beautiful smile. I have seen how much this can change a child’s life from dreading socal situations to taking pride in their appearance and truly becoming their own person. What a commendable idea Catherine has!
Breast Cancer Awareness! Early detection is the best protection. My grandmother had a masectomy a couple of years before I went to college. When I went through soroity recruitment, I knew that Zeta Tau Alpha was the place for me becuase our philanthropy is Breast Cancer Awareness and Education. Even though I have long graduated I am still active in my alumni chapter and promote this cuase whenever possible!
I support Save the Children and its programs to support children both domestically and abroad.
Since high school, I have been involved in soccer and volunteer coaching the inner-city children of Allentown. The program is run by a soccer coach I have known since elementary school. John Kukitz devotes much of his time to these kids and I saw why when I did it for several years. The children look forward to this activity (runs on Saturdays in fall & spring) and it takes them away from a lot of problems. I remember one girl, whose mother was killed, being on the team after this happened and she said soccer made her feel good. I realized what a good life I have! My twin sister, Amanda, and some friends all participated and we probably learned more than the kids in terms of life’s lessons. Presently, I am a 3rd grade teacher in the Allentown school district and on occasion, I see a studnent or two from soccer and they say hi. I would definitely contribute the the Allentown Soccer program which runs on our Lehigh County fields by John Kukitz. It provides an escape and exercise to all the kids that played soccer.
This is a charity that I just discovered right in my own backyard — The Priceless Gown Project. It helps girls who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to go to their prom find dresses. The girls also get shoes, accessories, the entire works to make their night special. With so many things going wrong in the world, I know all the problems can seem overwhelming, but I think every girl should have at least one "princess moment" in their lives. It’s so nice to have found a place that makes this happen. http://www.pricelessgownproject.org/get_dress/index.shtml
The American Diabetes Association is near and dear to my heart (http://www.diabetes.org). My Dad has diabetes and I worry about him all the time. It seems like every day I learn something new about the disease that is even more horrible than the last – if you suffer from depression you are more likly to get diabetes, diabetics are more likly to suffer from dementia as they age, diabetics can loose their sight, they can loose limbs! It is just horrible. My Dad is having surgury in 14 days for a burst achilles, I dont think he is going to be healed and able to walk by my wedding. We need to find a cure so that people don’t have to suffer from this nasty disease!
After watching Hotel Rwanda a few years ago, I was touched and horrified with what happened out there. After watching the horror of what the people of Rwanda went through, I started monthly contributions to American Refugee Committee. I chose a charity with a low administrative expense ratio and also serves the refugee committees around the world. Seeing how tragic things are out there, I’m incredibly grateful for how easy we have it here in America.
I’m a huge animal lover, so I am in favor of all charities devoted to encouraging adoption (SPCA & Humane Society of America). When I start my own business I too am planning on contributing 10% of the proceeds to an animal-related cause, and also have the goal of one day starting my own charity to rescue and rehabilitate animals.
I’d donate to the American Diabetes Association. My brother has diabetes, it’s a disease that affects a lot of people. Though it’s something a person can learn to live with, it has a other financial and health ramifications that most people are unaware of.
Donors Choose! I love being able to support projects that are near and dear to my heart – sports, music, arts in schools.
This past winter it was announced that the Angel House in my home town would not receive the funding they needed to keep the doors open. Angel House is the only abuse shelter for women and their children in the area. Some donors have stepped up to help them keep their doors open, but I know they still need as much help as possible.
Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA).BIAA is close to my heart because my older brother Josh was involved in a terrible car accident 7 years ago, has severe brain trauma, and must live in a nursing home for continuous care. Due to the extent of his brain damage, he will not be able to attend my wedding, which breaks my heart. Because of this, we are videotaping the ceremony and sending him a flower arrangement identical to our centerpieces. The arrangement will be in a photo cube vase with photos of him, my sister, and me in it. Also, we are donating to the BIAA in lieu of guest favors to honor Josh and all of our guests. The BIAA has state chapters and the North Carolina chapter has been helpful to my parents, which is another reason why the BIAA is an obvious choice for our donation and our support. Since the BIAA is important to brain injury research and gives support to families affected by brain injuries, I couldn’t think of any better way to spend our ‘favor’ money.
I’m a fan of Heifer International. They provide third world families with livestock to raise– for example, your contribution could go towards a water buffalo that helps a family plow their field, or towards sheep to breed and sell wool from. A cute gift idea is getting a small stuffed animal version of whatever your gift is, and tying the donation card around its neck.
We support the National Multiple Sclerosis Society because of my diagnosis, and Kiva to support women using microfinance in developing countries.
When I was little things were definitely less than perfect, and United Way helped my mom, little brother, and me through many hard times. I can’t wait until I graduate and have some extra time to dedicate to volunteering with them — gotta pay it forward! :)
Randy and I rescued our "baby" Sabastian after a terrible loss. Our local animal shelter had it’s government funding taken away last year because of it’s "No Kill" status. Apparently they decided that a shelter that aimed to keep all of it’s residence alive wasn’t worth investing money in. The shelter is now run on donations alone and they are suffering to keep afloat in this economy. I feel that it is our job to take care of those that can’t take care of themselves, and speak for those who have no voice. I don’t know where my life would be without Sabastian. He’s gotten me though so much. He’s always there when I need him. I want those in my community to be able to find a companion as wonderful as mine and to play my part in making that happen, I want my donation to go my local animal shelter.
Smile Train all the way! It is so wonderful what they do for these kids, many of whom suffer a poor quality of life or even malnutrition due to their facial deformities. Smile Train has developed one of the most cost efficient programs out there, and they have the lowest overhead of any cleft charity. I donate regularly to this charity because I know that my givings will be used effectively and efficiently to help those children. smiletrain.org
I hold a tribe in Western Kenya called Pokot very near to my heart. My parents went to the tribe on medical missions when I was 14 years old. I watched them both go several times and went for the first time myself when I was 19. Since then I have been 5 times working on medical trips as well as doing construction for the orphanage. Thinking about charities right now really strikes a chord as the economy has really affected people giving in these uncertain times. My mom was told earlier this week that the children in the orphanage are having a hard time finding food, as most of their food supply nearly of all medicine received is based on donations. In a tough economy it is easy to think about what you don’t have, but we could always be in a more desperate situation.
There are two charities that I have been loyal to donating. The first one is ASPCA. Both of my dogs were adopted through shelters, their names are Harley and Mona Lisa. They have it made. I tend to spoil them and they know they have a good life. Unfortunate not all dogs do. It breaks my heart when I hear animal cruelty. I try to help by sending them money or donating supplies. The second one is Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Last year I was part of the 2 day walk at LA. My godmother has breast cancer . Her cancer has been spread and she has never shown me her weakness. She is always smiling and she has so much strength that I sometimes don’t know how she does it. She is very special to me and if there is anything I could do to help cure breast cancer, I will :)
The Ronald McDonald House Charities—because my family and I benefitted greatly from them when my younger sister battled Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Susan G. Komen. Several women in my family have been diagnosed with breast cancer and fortunately all are in remission with the exception of my Great Aunt who passed away from complications after treatment. I think this is a fabulous organization and I also support Save the Tatas and D’Feet Breast Cancer.
I support the MDA / Jerry Lewis telethon. My aunt , who I am proudly named after had muscular dystrophy and they helped her get the medical operations and hospital attention she needed with out it I don’t know what my family would have done. Sadly she is no longer here. But they are the charity I donate too and every march they have clover leafs they sell at major stores to support MD. Hopefully they’ll fine a cure for such a devastating disease.
I support the Chron’s and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) that is dedicated to finding the cure for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. CCFA provides supportive services to help people cope with these chronic intestinal diseases. I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis in 2006, and living with colitis has been very difficult, but with the foundation I have learned about the role of nutrition with colitis, and coping and managing the emotional/sopcial impact of this disease.
I support the Marjoree Mason center. It’s a battered womans shelter that does amazing work in our county.
Kiva.org This organization empowers people all over the world to improve their lives.
My favorite cause is Doctors without Borders. They are truly heroes who endeavor to provide care for the most needy, and often work in war-torn countries. When I was in med school the mentors I looked up to most were the ones who had committed to international work for a period of time, and practice medicine with a much more experienced perspective than most doctors in the US tend to have.
The Humane Society is near and dear to our heart. My fiance, Zac, and I have been volunteering there every Saturday for about a year.
I also support Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I always supported them and always donated to friends who did the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in my area because I knew many of my friends mothers who had been breast cancer survivors, and some who were not as lucky.Now, it has become ever dearer to me to support this foundation. My fiance’s mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy 2 weeks ago because the cancer already started spreading. I asked her if she wanted us to postpone or change plans for our wedding since she still has to undergo chemo. She told me the one thing she was looking forward to, even if she had to wear a wig and a baggy blouse, was our wedding. I will be walking for the cure in honor of her this spring.
Every year I had participated the Revlon Run/Walk because this focus on all women’s cancer. This year I can not participate but my cousin is. She just found out she has cervical cancer. I am helping her raise money.
For the past couple of years my fiancee and I have participated feeding the hunger at The Midnight Mission that is located downtown LA. During the holidays we gather toys from our co-workers or friends and family and send toys or clothes to the needed kids at Mexico. Why we choose Mexico is because we both have families that live in Mexico and every year that we have gone to visit our families, we have seen so many hungry and neglected children.
I support our local humane society! Animals cant speak for themselves so we have to do what we can to help them when they need it most. All the dogs I’ve had throughout my life have been rescues. I can’t do it all but I do what can by donating money, not supporting puppy farms & giving loving homes to the few that I can.
My Charity would be Eckard Youth Alternatives http://www.eckerd.org/Their mission is to develop and share programs that promote the well-being of children and serve at-risk youth and their families. This program is important to all of us because the children are our future. Not only are adult Americans under additional stress, but our children are too. You have children being raised by single parents or families who do not spend quality time together. Children become angry or lost and make wrong choices. They end up trying to get attention from others and are often mis-diagnosed as being ADHD. I think we often put kids on medication without getting to the root of the problem. Some parents are not educated on how to raise adolescence and they end up making matters worse with ignorance. Eckard Youth Alternative programs offer methods that reach out to children and families in a positive manner. Education and Patience is key!