ceremony planning Archives - Southern Weddings

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My Three Favorite Things About My Ceremony with Victoria Strader

by Emily in Expert Advice on August 24, 2017

Hello, friends! I’ve got a treat for you today! Our good friend, sweet Southern gal Victoria Strader, is here to share a bit about how she planned her ceremony. She’s five years out from her wedding, but her perspective is timeless, and I think you’ll love this peek into her special day! Enjoy! – Emily

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Hi y’all! I’m Victoria, and I’ve been married to my high school best friend/college sweetheart Ben for almost five years. It seems like just yesterday I was trying to keep myself from looking at the one and only Southern Weddings blog before getting engaged, haha! :) We have a one-year-old son named Beau and we live deep in the heart of Texas.

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Photo by Blue Ribbon Vendor Meredith Teasley

As each year of my life goes by, I become more and more passionate about the deepening of relationships: the relationship with God that defines my faith, my marriage with Ben, the sweet time spent playing on the floor with my squishy baby boy, and the friendships that keep me thriving in the business of ordinary life. We planned a wedding for the winter of 2012 in our hometown, the place where both sides of my husband’s family have lived for generations.

While we were limited in some aspects of planning because this was the kind of wedding where I had to accept the fact that there would be invitations tacked up on the bulletin board of Granny’s Sunday School class, there were some things we didn’t compromise on. When planning for our wedding ceremony, our vision was for it to be deeply personal: a reflection of our personalities and our faith. We wanted every detail to ultimately point to The Lord through a celebration of the ways he has worked in us individually, together, and in other relationships. I’m thrilled to share three of our favorite aspects with y’all today!

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Photo by Caroline Joy

1. Our pastor. The first detail that we were passionate about was our youth pastor from high school officiating the ceremony. Ben and I were in the same youth group, so this felt like a no-brainer! Josh knew us so well then, and even now, five years later and with his family living a few hours away, they still mean so much to us. (In fact, neither of us felt right about announcing the pregnancy of our son until we made the road trip to share the news with them in person!) Josh did an incredible job of weaving stories of each of our personalities together with some deep and beautiful scripture. My biggest hope when attending a wedding ceremony is that I’ll walk away feeling like I know the couple more, and I think Josh hit the nail on the head for us in this way. The message of our wedding shared the gospel of our faith, as well as our own personal stories of coming to be Christians.

2. Our wedding vows. Our vows, and the completely non-traditional way that we stumbled upon them, are another favorite detail about our ceremony. When initially discussing our vows, we wanted something different than the traditional lines, but didn’t feel incredibly inspired to write our own. Enter: the Southern Weddings blog! I watched a wedding video* on the blog of a couple who had written their vows, and their words echoed so much truth from the Bible. They were beautiful, and after showing them to Ben, we agreed that nothing we had begun to brainstorm seemed even a tiny bit as beautiful as those words. I just remember Ben saying, “Nothing I write is going to show people Jesus as well as those words!” Haha!

So I did some hunting, dug up the email of the bride, and emailed her asking permission to “borrow” their vows. I explained our story and the heart behind our request, and she so graciously sent me back her approval and best wishes. I realize this method might not be for everyone (and might make any artistic, creative person cringe – ha!), but it ended up being the best possible fit for us. When we recited those vows, it didn’t feel weird to have borrowed someone else’s words at all. If anything, they felt more special because we had thought so much about them!

3. Our ceremony music. Planning for our ceremony music was not something that came naturally to me (I actually rarely listen to music!), but I knew how important it would be for our celebration. I often think of specific couples when I hear their wedding songs being played, and desired for our selections to be sweet and represent us well! One of our good friends from high school is an incredibly gifted vocalist, so we had him sing “Be Thou My Vision” during a time of prayer. My all-time favorite movie is The Parent Trap (the 90’s version!) so our recessional was to “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”, the song that plays in the closing credits :)

Something really sweet is that as I reflect on planning our ceremony five years later, I would still choose all of the same things. The meaningful part of our wedding grows more and more special to me each year, and I’m so grateful for the time we put into it!

Thank you so much for sharing, Victoria! You can follow along with her on her blog and Instagram, where she shares the most ridiculously adorable photos of her smile-y little boy. If you’re planning your own ceremony, be sure to check out our Joyful Wedding Planner – it’s an invaluable helper for something so important!

*Since the video post Victoria mentioned is from more than five years ago, it’s no longer active on our site, sadly. But the fun part? It was the wedding video of our friend Sam from LULA Hair + Makeup! No wonder Victoria found it so inspiring! :)

Written with love by Emily

2 Comments

Tags: ceremony planning, Meredith Teasley, Victoria Strader, wedding ceremony

Laura @ Laura Likes Design August 24, 2017 reply

Aw, I just love that you used the song from The Parent Trap! Such a fun little detail of the day!
Pixie Wedding Sites August 25, 2017 reply

Oh my goodness what an adorable baby boy! Just so cute :) fab wedding

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How to Order Your Wedding Ceremony Processional

by Emily in Expert Advice on July 12, 2016

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Planning a wedding can feel like fielding a continual series of questions you didn’t even know you needed to answer. For instance, what order does everyone walk down the aisle in a wedding ceremony? You’ve no doubt been to many weddings before, and witnessed many ceremony processionals, but when you actually sit down and think about it, even something as straightforward as walking down the aisle can get a little fuzzy. Of course, if you have a church lady at your side, she’ll be more than happy to set you straight (!), but in the meantime, here’s our guide to who goes where, when!

P.S. Have you signed up for our Fruitful Summer series yet? There’s so much goodness in store whether you’re dating, engaged, newly married, or have a few years under your belt! See it all here.

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From Jessica and Michael’s wedding, by Blue Ribbon Vendor Tracy Enoch

THE FAMILY: Traditionally, the mother of the bride enters first, often escorted by a special gentleman in her life, such as her brother or son-in-law, and then takes her seat to the left of the aisle in the first row. However, we like the idea of honoring the groom’s parents, as well. If you choose to have them join the processional, ask the mother of the groom to enter first, then take her seat to the right of the aisle in the first row. She can either be escorted by her husband or by another special gentleman, with her husband entering just behind them.

THE GENTS: The groom, best man, and groomsmen generally process together. If you’d like them to walk down the aisle, the groomsmen are followed by the best man and then the groom. We’ve also seen grooms and groomsmen take a more subtle approach by entering the ceremony from the side of the chapel or venue to take their place at the front. Officiants generally process in a similar manner and at the same time as the gents.

THE LADIES: The music generally changes for the bridesmaids’ processional. The maid of honor is the last in line so she’ll be standing next to you at the altar.

THE KIDS: If children are included in your ceremony, they’ll process immediately before you.

THE BRIDE: Traditionally, a bride is accompanied by her father, who walks at her right side and lifts her veil at the end of the aisle. Some brides choose to walk with both their mothers and fathers (this is customary in the Jewish tradition), others choose to walk with just their mother, others with their brother, and others on their own. In unique family situations, we’ve also seen brides split the honor, by, say, linking arms with her stepfather for half of the walk and then switching to her biological father for the remainder. This is one of the most special ways to honor loved ones your wedding day affords, so feel free to do what feels best for your situation.

One helpful tip: on a pre-wedding visit to your ceremony space, make sure you time how long it will take you and your bridesmaids to walk down the aisle–this will help you plan your musical selections, especially if there’s a particular point of the song where you’d like the doors to open or to coincide with your arrival at the altar.

For more wedding ceremony planning tips, pick up your copy of the Southern Weddings Planner! And y’all, I have to brag for a minute. I just finished typing up the final edits before our reorder of the Planner, and friends, it is SO GOOD! It is the project I am most proud of from my seven years at this magazine, and that’s saying a lot. If you’re a bride, go get yourself one – it is one purchase you will NOT regret!!

Written with love by Emily