A Modern Day Fairy Tale

Many who visit here know that our Dear and Precious Daughter was married 2 weeks ago. I've been asked by many to hear their story and see photos of the big event. Below is "Their Story" as written by the sister of the groom and the mother of the bride. The photos from their wedding day are provided by Salt and Light Photography.

On a lovely June day, in a small town in New Hampshire in the year 1991, a beautiful Princess was born to Mr. and Mrs. S. They named their third child Caitlin. The sweet New England babe brought great joy to their lives. Toward the end of her first year, the Sears family moved to the midwest.

In December of the year Princess Caitlin and her family arrived in Illinois, Prince Stephen was born to Mr. and Mrs. C in a large town near Chicago.  There was great celebration as their 5th blessing joined their family. But, alas, though living in the same land the Prince and Princess were not yet to meet.

Princess Caitlin’s family stayed in the Land of Illinois only a short time and then traveled far and wide for several years. At last they settled in Missouri when she was 7 years of age.

Only a year later Prince Stephen’s family followed, making their home in a nearby village. Still, for all of their closeness in distance they had yet to meet.

At long last, in the start of the New Year of 2005 Prince Stephen’s and Princess Caitlin’s families meet. Attending the same church in a nearby city, a family friendship begins that was to lead to greater things in years to come.

The years go by, the little Prince and Princess grow and play and learn under the watchful eye of their loving parents, each in their own family, the paths of their lives crossing from time to time. In the fall of 2011, each of them became involved in a group of Christian young people, learning and enjoying English Country dancing. A Grand Ball was held at Christmas time that year. Prince Stephen began to notice this beautiful princess among the people. He started to pray about his growing attraction to the lovely lady.

Meanwhile, Princess Caitlin was quite annoyed by the young man. You see, Prince Stephen has long been a good friend to her brother Luke. And now, it seemed, he was often intruding on precious time she spent with her dear brother. But with time, she found that maybe this young man was not quite so bad . . . just maybe it was rather nice having him around.

On the 17th of March, 2012, Brother Luke, as yet unaware of the growing attraction between Princess Caitlin and Prince Stephen, invited many friends to the Family Castle for a day of Paintball Fun. Many Princes and Princesses from nearby Hamlets arrived and spent the day frolicking and game-playing. At the close of day, as dusk approached, the young people returned to the Castle, piled in the back of Father's little green pick-up truck. From across the way, there was a little sparkle in the eye of Prince Stephen, and was that a reflection of the setting sun in Princess Caitlin’s eye, or something more? 

On April 16, 2012, following other Providential events and the counsel of his parents, Prince Stephen approached the Princess's Father and asked for the opportunity to court his daughter, with the intent to marry if they found it to be God’s Will. Princess Caitlin, when asked by her father if she would welcome this type of attention from this Prince, said she would. The following day, the 17th of April, Princess Caitlin gave her acceptance to Prince Stephen and the journey to engagement began!

Throughout the coming summer the Prince and Princess ate together, prayed together, played together. On September 2, Prince Stephen asked Princess Caitlin’s Father for her hand in marriage.  This Prince wasted no time, and on September 3rd, in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Twelve, Prince Stephen proposed to Princess Caitlin and she . . .

. . . ACCEPTED!!!  

All were delighted and immediately celebrated and began to plan the wedding of a lifetime. 

      

   

And on February 17, 2013, 11 months to the day since they had enjoyed their first sunset “together”, our Beloved Prince and Princess said their vows and shared their first kiss before God, family and friends and were married. . .

. . . To live happily ever after . . .

sharing this post at A Mama's Story  and The Modest Mom Blog and Time-Warp Wife and Deep Roots at Home

Something Blue . . .

My girl has her own style, her own spin on life, her own way of looking at things. She loves the Lord, loves her family, loves her new husband. She's a bit of a loner and seeks solitude and quiet when needing to recharge or work through the tough things in life. She is fiercely loyal and a non-conformist by nature. As a rule, she does not let what others say and do dictate what she says, does and believes. 

And so, this girl of mine did NOT wear or carry something blue when she walked down the aisle on Sunday. 

I love you, my girl!

But there has still been plenty of 'blue' around here. While we are all very happy for her, and excited for her, and pray for her and cheer for her, we miss her. Mixed emotions. We are all working hard to see the 'rosy' things in her new life with Stephen amidst the 'blue' that comes with missing her. 

 Crazy, isn't it, that I've been posting about this big wedding in our family and have no photos of the big event to share? The bride and groom whisked off on their honeymoon trip straight from the reception and until they have seen the photos, I think I should hold off. Once they return home and I have permission from the photographer, you can rest assured, I'll be sharing plenty!

And so, to wrap up this little wedding poem series, you can click on each line below to view previous posts:

Something old,
Something new,
Something borrowed,
Something blue.

And how about you? Did you follow this age-old tradition? I even put a 'penny in my shoe'! (When I told that to Caitlin, she rolled her eyes at me and sighed, "Mo-o-o-om!" so I dropped the subject.)

linking this post to Better Mom Monday  
and

women living well

Something Borrowed . . .

It's a done deal -- they tied the knot! 

On Sunday, our daughter Caitlin married her young man and since they have not returned from the honeymoon trip, I don't have permission to post pictures yet. Be sure to stop in next week!

But I can tell you that the beautiful bride borrowed her mother's veil for her special day. 

 

Before we removed the veiling from the headpiece I wore (nearly 29 years ago!), we had some fun dressing up the younger girls - dreaming and reminiscing and sharing. At 11 years old, we were amazed at how well my gown fit her! She's growing up fast and doing a good job filling her big sisters shoes (and mama's wedding dress!) already. At 6 years old, Rebekah was in her element. She would have been happy to trounce around in it all day long.

Next week I'll share several lots TONS of photos from the wedding, including how we re-made my veil for Caitlin's special day.

Something New . . .

 The bride will be wearing a brand new gown on her wedding day, but she won't allow me to give a sneak peak. But the flower girl (littlest sister) has agreed to let everyone have a glimpse of her new dress (made by mama).  

Our days are busy this week and the air is filled with excitement and anticipation. Only 4 more days!

Something Old . . .

As any good mom would do, I am making sure my daughter starts off her marriage right.And so I'm going to bring to you a quick little series based on that old saying:

Something old,

Something new,

Something borrowed,

Something blue.

To fill the requirement for the first line of this little poem we took my own wedding dress down off the shelf. No, she won't be wearing it. Honestly I don't think anyone will ever wear it. I remember feeling like a princess on our special day nearly 30 years ago but much of it has yellowed with age time. Besides, some of the fabric was, well, from an era long ago and of a rather polyester-ish quality.

   Ring Bearer Pillow 

I decided to create a few Keepsakes with bits and trims and layers from my gown. I'm hoping these will become Family Heirlooms, used by our children and grandchildren as they take that next big step in life, committing themselves in marriage the one they've chosen to walk through life. 

 Flower Girl Basket

 All materials used, aside from the pillow stuffing, a few little ribbons on the pillow, and the touch of red rose came from my wedding dress and bouquet. 


I thank my daughter for letting me get all mushy and sentimental, and for allowing me to take on these little projects. I hope it comes to mean as much to her as it does to me.