Thursday, July 12, 2012

Looking Through the Eyes of Love

Since it's Thursday and I'm attending a wedding this weekend I thought it would be fun to link up with Thursday Thirteen and list thirteen things I remember about my own wedding day.

1. My girls used to love looking at my wedding album. I think they still do. Fun fact-my photographer was just starting out back when I was planning my wedding. I had seen a picture he'd snapped somewhere and took a chance. He was working out of his garage when I met him and the summer after my wedding he put my album on display in a big bridal show in Knoxville. These days he is one of the most sought after photographers in the Knoxville and surrounding area and needs to be booked months in advance.


Needless to say, he is not working out of his garage a.ny.more.

2. We were married on June 16th, 1984. It was one of the hottest days on record. I wonder if that's when my obsession with the weather began?


3. Although I was from New Jersey we got married at hub's church in Tennessee. We were both living there at the time and most of our friends were in the area or within easy driving distance. The pastor of my church in NJ helped officiate which was special.

4. The morning of the ceremony hubs went to breakfast with his parents and then started to drive off with his shoes on top of the car. Not much makes him nervous but I guess he was feeling it a little that day.

5. I had six bridesmaids plus my maid of honor...my two sisters and hubs sister, along with four of my college besties.


They wore long PEACH gowns. Peach was a soft quiet color back in 1984 but it kinda shouts today. Oh the 80's loved her pastels and big puffy sleeves, didn't she? My own dress had big puffy sleeves too.


My wedding dress was professionally boxed up after the ceremony and has been moving around the country and even across the pond with us for the past 28 years. When my girls are ready to marry I'm going to open it up and see how it looks. I've told them they can cut it up or have it remade or use the veil or just try it on if they want. They will definitely want to try it on. They still like nothing better than playing 'dress up'.

Oh, and my mom's dress was gorgeous. She did not wear big puffy sleeves.

6. Hubs dad was his best man and he had six groomsmen/ushers. His two brothers, my brother, and three of his college besties. Except they didn't refer to one another as besties.


Even though they were.

7. I had been to a wedding show in a lovely little home store in the town where my inlaws lived and that's where I saw 'my bouquet'. It was made up of big white orchids and so different from anything else I'd seen.


I knew right away that was what I wanted and my attendants carried smaller versions. I still think they're beautiful.

8. A friend of my sister's sang at our wedding. She had the most amazing voice. In keeping with our color scheme she wore a peach and white sundress.


Sometimes I miss you 1984.

She sang three songs-The Wedding Song by Paul Stookey, Looking Through the Eyes of Love which was aka the theme from Ice Castles (don't laugh-it was the 80's and it's still a pretty song) and then a song called Together , written by Roger Strader. I have looked and looked for that song recorded somewhere online but I can't find it anywhere. The lyrics were absolutely perfect.

9. I did not walk down the aisle to Here Comes the Bride. Shocking! I walked to Trumpet Voluntary in D Major by Henry Purcell. That's the same music Princess Diana used but that isn't why I chose it. I chose it because it's beautiful. As we were about to take our first step down the aisle my dad looked at me and said, " Are you ready?", and all of a sudden my stomach started doing flip flops.


This picture makes me miss my dad. I look like I'm about to burst into tears here but I pulled it together for the walk.


10. Hubs would say this list isn't complete without me mentioning the fact that I forgot to blow out the candle on my side when we lit the unity candle. I was feeling a little giddy at that point.

11. This is one of my favorite pictures from the day-


...my sister and I peeking around the corner into the sanctuary for a look at the groom.

12. Our reception was in a hotel ballroom and was mostly finger foods, heavy hors d'oeuvres, and cake.


Which I evidently enjoyed very much.

We had flowers atop our cake, in keeping with the peach theme of course, and we did NOT shove the cake at each other. I made it clear beforehand that I really dislike that behaviour.


13. A toast was made and we were served our champagne in beautiful silver goblets. For some reason we thought they were ours to keep, maybe a wedding gift from someone, so we took them home with us. The hotel phoned later asking for them to be returned. Ooops.


And we lived mostly happily ever after.
The End.

31 comments:

  1. I still LOVE looking through your album and cannot wait to try on your dress someday!! I never knew who that girl in the peach sundress was until now and I definitely never knew those songs were sung. Love you guys!

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  2. i enjoyed reading every single memory. after moving away, our minister traveled back home to help officiate in our ceremony, too. priceless.

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  3. Beautiful pictures. I hope your daughters will either wear or utilise some of your dress.

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  4. We had that Ice Castle song as one of our songs too!
    Happy belated Anniversary!

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  5. cute post! you were a beautiful bride.

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  6. In the 80s I hated peach... It was my mom's favorite color and she decorated the whole house in it... Except the bathroom which was green with peach touches...Oh how I hated peach... Seeing how lovely it looked on your bridesmaids almost makes me want to give it a second chance... Maybe...
    I like how everyone's weddings today are so personal, and not at all predictable, but I must admit there is a part of me that makes me miss the weddings from the 70s, 80s, & 90s that were more "traditional"... At least we all knew what to wear and what was expected of us! I went to a wedding last weekend and was WAY over-dressed... I have another this weekend and don't have any idea what to wear!

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  7. What a great post! You were beautiful (and still are) and you had a wonderful wedding!

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  8. A fun trip through your wedding day Joyce. Isn't it funny how a piece of clothing as classic as a wedding dress can change so much in style through the years? I know everyone today has strapless, but I love the sleeves!

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  9. I so enjoyed the story and the pictures! We were married June 14th, two years later. My bridesmaids wore pastel pink, and my dress also had big sleeves. Amazingly enough, my fil was my hubby's best man. Our son carried that tradition through his wedding last year.

    Thanks for the look back. : )

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  10. What a fun walk down memory lane, your wedding photos are beautiful! I never realized that our wedding anniversaries were only two days apart (ours is the 18th).

    It's fun looking back, and realizing how little we knew back then, isn't it?

    I was busy raising a six-year-old, and a two-year-old back in 1984--and Ed still had brown hair! Those were the days! LOL

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  11. Beautiful church. Mine was boxed up also but it turned yellow. I no longer have it. Your dress and bridal party dresses are lovely. Such sweet memories. We have a family wedding in Sept. in Chicago and I can't wait.

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  12. We were married in 1984 too! (I think you knew that...) I've been trying to think of what to write on that day and you've given me an idea... Thanks! ;)
    Fun to see your pictures. And I bet it's even more fun to look back and remember that day.

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  13. Ahhh, this was fun to see!

    Our wedding day was also one of the hottest on record. We wore the same color peach in my sister's (first) wedding in '81 (I think)

    Good times, the 80's :)

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  14. Very pretty wedding...it's fun looking back at who you were then.

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  15. Peach never goes out of sytle. You all look great! http://looseleafnotes.com

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  16. Thanks for sharing! I still look through my parents' wedding album all the time. (Mom went with the pastel rainbow for dresses!)

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  17. Yeah! I love it! I hope this comes out sounding right...I think you might be an even cuter couple now! I love the "sneaking a peek" picture too!

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  18. Fun post. We were married three years earlier, but the dresses my bridesmaids wore were very similar to yours, but pink instead of peach. And yes, we also had the song from Ice Castles. :) We also had a very hot day!
    I may use your idea for an anniversary post in a week or so. :)

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  19. Joyce, our similiarites continue! Since my hubby and I got married in 1984 also it does make sense. Right? Guess what? Yep - my bridemaids wore peach! And, I also walked down the aisle to Purcell's Trumpet Voluntary. And, we had (fake) flowers on the top of our cake. No plastic bride & groom. I have a few pics up on my FB pages.

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  20. Oh - I unboxed my dress when hubs abd I participated in a scavenger hunt a few years back. It was yellow. I was disappointed. My girlfriend sang at my wedding too: She sang "Longer" by Dan Fogleburg, and "The Way He Makes Me Feel" originally sung by Barbara Streisand. Since my GF was also a bridesmaid she sang as part of the prelude music.

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  21. Happy anniversary! I've been married just a little longer than you - our bridesmaids dresses look a little similar, actually, only mine were a lavender purply color. Thumbs up on this post!

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  22. Very nice. It's wonderful to have such beautiful pictures. You are truly blessed. Happy T13!

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  23. Beautiful Day for a Beautiful woman! So glad you shared that day with us!

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  24. No wonder y'all are such a happy couple- how could you not with such a wonderful start?!

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  25. What a beautiful bride! I loved looking at your wedding pictures and hearing about your special day.

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  26. We were married in 1985 and my dress was actually peach (that's another story). Your wedding was really beautiful and so are you, I guess you picked the right photographer :)

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  27. This was fun! Beautiful pictures ... thanks for taking us with you on a look back at a special day!

    The 80's not only loved big sleeves ... she loved big hair, too! ;-)

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  28. i love that song--looking through the eyes of love---what lovely pics---you had a great photographer--i have to say--back in the day, we spent what was a lot of money on our photos--but the photography studio sent us over a horrible one to do the wedding :(

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  29. What a beautiful wedding! I loved all the pics - your wedding gown was gorgeous and the bridesmaids' dresses were pretty. All of it - just happy!

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  30. I loved the walk down memory lane with you and sharing all the wedding pictures. I have a friend who lives in Knoxville and her church looks very much like the one you married in. i loved the orchid bridal bouquet. We grew orchids wild in our yard when I was a child. I loved them....they remind me of dancing fairies.

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  31. Love seeing these pictures again! Happy belated anniversary!

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