Brides Who've Been There: 9 Laugh and Cry-Worthy Proposal Stories

I'm taking a blogging break to soak up our sweet Lily Grace (and, let's be honest, to keep my head above water through this beautiful newborn chaos), so I asked some of my married friends to contribute in my absence.  Today I'm concluding my series on other brides' take on wedding planning, bridal beauty and style, and newlywed life.  

I love proposal stories and asked them to share!

My mother had passed away a few months prior, and there was so much work that needed to be done on my house--I lived with my mom to help take care of her, and any home repairs just went by the wayside with all her appointments, surgeries, and hospitalizations.   I applied for a Catholic youth group  to help with repairs.  The mission group that worked on my house was wonderful, and we became very close.  They invited my (then) boyfriend and I to join them for dinner each evening.  On one of these evenings, my boyfriend got up and said how encouraging the whole group was, and then he got down on one knee.  There's nothing like having 100 teenagers to share your joy!  A couple of them even were able to come to the wedding!  My engagement ring is my mother's diamond in a new setting. - Jenn

My husband is very romantic and always loves to surprise me.  One day, he blindfolded me and drove me around town so I would lose my sense of direction.  He eventually stopped the car and told me to wait inside for a minute.  Then he came and got me and pulled off my blindfold.  We were at a park, and in front of me was a picnic on a blanket.  There was a vase of roses, two candles, and my favorite Chinese food.  I was so thrilled.  As we sat down, my then-boyfriend asked if I noticed anything unusual.  I said no.  He then drew my attention to a ring slid down on the candle stem.  I was so overjoyed.  I pulled it off and we hugged.  The funny thing was that while we were hugging, my husband whispered into my ear, "Will you marry me?"  The day was kind of chilly, so I had a hood on and I didn't hear him whisper through the hood.  When we pulled back from the hug, he had this look of panic on his face.  I asked him what was wrong and he said, "You didn't answer me."  Then I realized what had happened, gave him a big smile and said, "You never had to ask.  I've known it was you from day one."  We've been married for 14 years now and he is still the one.  My ring is very simple, but I love it.  It was bought by a poor college boy who couldn't wait to ask me, and for that reason alone it is priceless to me.  It is also a reminder of how far we've come.  We were 22 when we married and didn't have much, but we have grown a beautiful life together.  The ring symbolizes our simple beginning, and I cherish that beginning.  - Amy

My husband proposed to me in the same park where he first told me he loved me. It's a pretty famous park in our city, and there was a lot going on there that day. A high school was having their senior prom. There were a lot of people from concerts at near by concert halls and theaters. But the thing that makes the proposal most memorable was that right after he finished getting down on one knee, and right after I said yes, we were accosted by a homeless person asking us for money! - Anna

My husband's proposal was very simple. After an evening event in downtown Annapolis, Maryland (where I was living at the time), we walked down to the City Dock. He proposed by the water. Sailboats were anchored nearby and lights shone on the surface of the water. It was quiet. There was no kneeling and the words were few, but the sentiment was real. Afterward we walked around in quiet excitement, and nine months later we married a few blocks up the street. The area remains one of our favorite places to visit and reminisce. - Julie

In a nutshell, my husband Anthony finagled me into running through the rain to meet him at the chapel on our college campus (Franciscan University) the night before we both headed home for Christmas break, telling me that Adoration was going on there and he thought it'd be a great time to get in a little prayer before we left.  So, I did.  But upon walking through the big double doors, I didn't see Jesus anywhere, only stems of roses and candles lining the aisle towards the front of the chapel.  He led me up that aisle and told me all these wonderful things that went in one ear and out the other because I was so shocked, and then he got down on one knee, asked me to be his forever, and opened wide my tear ducts. - Sheena

The short version of the story (the long version can be found here) is that my husband proposed at the Shrine of St. Thérèse in Royal Oak, Michigan. He wanted to propose in the Adoration chapel, so naturally I wanted to look at every single nook and cranny of the church before we finally made our way to the chapel. I love that he proposed there because we both have a huge devotion to St. Thérèse, so much so that our first daughter's middle name is after this great saint! My ring has five diamonds.  The middle three symbolize the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, and the outer two symbolize my husband and I, and we are only united through the Trinity. The inside of the ring has a design of vines and branches to remind me of John 15, one of my favorite Bible passages. The full story on the ring can be found here. - Amanda

Dec. 2, 2006: I came home from an 8 hour shift at the bridal store where I worked to my then-boyfriend Matt mom preparing dinner with my mom. I was floored when the table was covered with red rose petals and red and white Hersey Kisses (my mom had been in charge of disposing the green ones from the Christmas bag). I spied a ring box, but said nothing as I went upstairs and changed into a cute dress. After eating homemade lasagna, Matt drove me to the little grass park overlooking Corona Del Mar Beach, where a few months prior we'd stood in the same spot around 4 a.m. and decided to get married (good things CAN happen after 2 a.m!). We looked at his family albums, and he brought the third and final one down from his parents house. At the end I closed it and he told me to open it again. Whoops! I had missed the last page where he had put a picture of us and a note. I thought it was so sweet but I still missed the main event, so he shone the flashlight on the ring that he had taped to the back inside cover and my jaw dropped. He got on one knee and said something neither of us remember, but we are both pretty sure that's when he proposed! My ring has a diamond in the middle with a sapphire on either side. We both love blue and had decided to marry on Sept. 8th, Our Lady's birthday.  He told me the diamond was to represent Mary above the moon and the stars. - Andi

I was sitting on my computer in my apartment my senior year of college, doing some homework. My husband was also there doing homework, but he randomly stopped and sat in the chair directly behind me. And then he pulled out a paper and started singing (which isn’t completely out of the ordinary-- he’d done that before). However, this time the last line was “Will you marry me?” and I just stared at him asking him if he was serious... a few times. Poor Jim had to ask again because I couldn’t believe that just happened!  I’ve always really liked three stone wedding rings because they represent the past, present, and the future, and that is the type of ring Jim chose. - Emily

My husband spent months planning his proposal. Two months into our dating relationship, he began giving me a little gift at every one-month anniversary.  All of those gifts worked together to spell out the proposal on our 7-month anniversary. He proposed at the place where we'd had our first date (a museum), with several more gifts that had special meaning from our relationship. He'd actually been bugging me about the ring for months, asking what I wanted. My answer was only that I wanted a simple, pretty, gold ring and that the engagement ring and wedding ring should be a set. - Bonnie

How about you?  I would LOVE to hear your proposal story in the comments!

The Truth of Discernment and Vocation: Guest Post from Jiza

Jiza and I connected a few years ago when I was doing this every Sunday.  We found out we had a few friends in common from the Theology of the Body Institute, as well as shared hearts for ministry through beauty and Marian devotion.  I'm so inspired by her quietly devout spirituality and her artistic flair.  She and I have a new project in the works that I can't wait to share with you soon!  Meantime, please pray for our creative process as our project gets underway, check out Jiza's gorgeous photography business, Olive & Cypress (where you'll find more of her reflections), and enjoy this here piece of her heart.  I asked her to share some of her love story and spiritual journey; read on for her beautiful insights into walking the path to your vocation.

“My God, since I am not worthy to be Your Spouse like my sister, I shall enter the married state to accomplish Your holy will...” – Saint Zelie Martin, Mother of Saint Therese of Lisieux

Much like Saint Zelie, I had originally thought I was called to be a religious sister.  Throughout my years of college undergrad, I had mentally prepared for the day I would enter & start my postulancy after finally receiving my degree in psychology. However, as my entrance date drew near, the numerous doors started to close, and like most college students, I began the typical journey of looking for a job and living a life as a young professional.

In the summer of 2008, I was a volunteer photographer for the Bike for Life Pilgrimage in the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina. It was a peaceful 2 weeks, but my future was still heavy upon my heart. I had just been through a failed dating relationship, was getting ready to quit my job as a special education itinerant in VA, and was eagerly awaiting a reply on an internship application for the Theology of the Body Institute in Exton, PA. As far as I knew, my life at the time was looking really unknown.

The pilgrimage ended on Feast of the Assumption, August 15, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. As the pilgrims were preparing to go our separate ways and back into everyday lives, Fr. Lawrence, a then newly ordained priest with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, asked me if he could pray for me and if I had any intentions. I replied very matter-of-factly: “I thought I was called to be a religious. And then I had a dating relationship and that didn’t work out either. I don’t know what God is calling me to do anymore.”

He replied, “Entrust everything to Our Lady. Place it in the hands of Mary and she will open doors. She always leads us to Christ and to God’s Will.” “Entrust everything to Mary,” he kept repeating. Then he paused and looked at me intently and said “And I have a feeling that you will find out what that is very soon.”

I did just that, and well… Fr. Lawrence was right. A couple of weeks later, I soon met my husband, Mark. Actually, we were re-aquatinted online (via-CatholicMatch.com) but we had originally met at a Theology on Tap just a couple of months beforehand. We had a prayerful courtship while he finished his final year at the United States Naval Academy and during my internship at the Theology of the Body Institute. That early January we were engaged.

Later that month, I bumped into Fr. Lawrence at the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. When I spotted him, I quickly ran to him and asked him if he had remembered the advice he had given me. He said “Yes! How is that going for you?” I eagerly threw up my left hand and yelled “I’m engaged!” After a congratulations and a hug, he then asked me “So, when is the wedding?” Without a thought, I blurted “August 15”, a date that Mark and I had mindlessly and quickly decided on the day before due to his deployment schedule. 

“That’s the Feast of the Assumption. Exactly a year from when I told you to entrust everything to Our Lady,” Fr. Lawrence said.

In a crowd with millions of people on the way to the Capitol Building, a silence fell upon me and Fr. Lawrence in that moment. We just stood there, stunned. Then the tears of joy started to well up in both of our eyes along with a burst of laughter.

I honestly don’t remember how Fr. Lawrence and I parted ways that day. I want to say that our original groups that we were accompanying for the March had caught up to us. However, what I do remember is the peace that overcame me and that never left me. I wasn’t searching for a confirmation or a sign regarding my vocation to the married life with Mark because the peace and the knowing was already there. However, God gave me one anyways. Perhaps because He knew I would often look back at that moment to reflect on His Love for me and the intricate part that Mary, with her Immaculate Heart full of love, always desires to point us to her Son, Jesus.

Today, younger women will sometimes ask me how I discerned my vocation. Bill Donaghy of the Theology of the Body Institute said it best, in that “The truth of vocation is that it’s a dialogue, not a monologue. A dance more than a cold directive.”  In the beginning, my vocation discernment was overzealous and self-centered. I was blind in the fact that I just wanted God to dictate to me what He wanted, rather than what I should have been doing all along, which was--is--to surrender myself daily in love to Him, and with a willingness and docility to grow in my relationship with Him.

Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being (St. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio, n. 11). Vocations are “peculiar to persons, and the very concept takes us into a very interesting and profound area of man’s interior life… A person who has a vocation must not only love someone but be prepared to give himself or herself for love… ‘What is my vocation’ means ‘in what direction should my personality develop, considering what I have in me, what I have to offer, and what others – other people and God – expect of me?’” (St. John Paul II, Love & Responsibility, p. 256).

Sometimes, I wish I could go back and tell my 22 year old self to not be so easily disheartened, assuming that she would have been willing to listen. However, I also know that my conversation with Fr. Lawrence on that faithful day was the catalyst for me realizing that my vocation is not about me, but about something greater than me. It is about Love and Love itself.

Entrust everything to Mary.

Thanks so much, Jiza!  Feeling inspired by her total surrender to Our Lady? If you missed it, click here for a roundup of Marian posts.  Have a wonderful weekend; I'd love to know what you're up to!

Veritas: Bridget and David

{real-life love}

Not many couples can say they met while playing a father and daughter in a high school play! But hey, the Holy Spirit. When Bridget, who blogs at Musings of a Queen B and is a Blessed Is She contributor, shared her love story with me, I loved hearing about the beautiful spirit of creativity that infuses her relationship with her fiancé, David. Read on for how their longtime friendship turned into romance and for some wonderfully practical wedding planning advice!

David and Bridget met in high school when they were 16 and 17 years old. They were both cast in the fall production of Little Women. David was swinging Bridget around the stage in their roles as Father March and Jo March. At the time, both didn’t quite know what they were looking for in relationships. 

To Bridget, David was always her Gilbert Blythe. He was (and is), she says, always steady, and she knew she could ask him for advice or talk through a problem. He would offer insightful ways for Bridget to approach a situation or to think about something in a whole new way. David challenged Bridget to think differently and to grow, which she says has always been a huge gift.  

To David, Bridget was always his Jo March. In Little Women, Jo is the sassy, hard-to-get older sister and always a leader in any situation… and it turns out she was cast perfectly. Bridget has a grace and quiet beauty that David says he was immediately captivated by. She was ever a source of firm reasoning and moral support for him in the midst of high school chaos. 

David and Bridget were friends throughout the rest of high school after the play. Although David had expressed interest shortly after Little Women, he was always Bridget’s dearest and most true friend; she knew that she could rely on him as a constant, which she grew to appreciate in their relationship more and more. Bridget was always a refuge and understanding heart in David’s busyness and search for identity during high school. He remembers that anxiety and confusion would fall off him like a jacket when he saw her. Their attraction wasn't immediately romantic, though, and they both dated other people throughout high school and during Bridget’s first year of college, yet always remained the closest of friends. 

As they matured, David became convicted that Bridget may not only be “a” friend, but “the” friend.  At the beginning of Bridget’s sophomore year of college, they took a “mini roadtrip” to visit a friend up north. David gave Bridget an adorable, vintage mini-book on romance as they departed for the trip--it’s still displayed on her bookshelf today! After the trip, they were on a walk and David asked Bridget if she'd like to go on a date with him. Of course, she said yes, and their first date was October 6, 2012, at a sushi restaurant David had once loved eating at with the middle-school mentor who was like a grandfather.

Bridget and David's proposal story involves two more plays and a date filled with surprises. You can read it in full and see photos here on Bridget's blog!

Bridget and David both felt that the moment they became engaged, there was something so much deeper and permanent about their relationship. They both loved that there were no more “what ifs” or “this might happens” about their relationship moving forward.

They say they haven’t found wedding planning too strenuous yet, which they both credit to honesty; it is awesome, they say, having great family, friends, and a loving God to pray with and pray to when things become overwhelming. They spent the summer after their engagement working out some of the big details: confirming a church and priest, booking a venue, finding photographers, nailing down catering, and finalizing the wedding party. 

David and Bridget want to include friends and family members into their wedding planning who can offer their talents in unique and fun ways. One of their friends is a graphic designer and will be designing invites and programs for the wedding. Another friend took their engagement photos, and they know others who work in worship ministry who have offered their services to play music for their wedding Mass.

In fact, there are so many of these good friends that Bridget and David say picking and choosing whom to include in the wedding party and whom to invite to the wedding has been a complication simply due to the size of their venue. Through trial and error, they've discovered and shared two tactics for deciding the invite list: 1) View their friends and family (and each other's opinions) not as two competing parties, but as one community that they will continue to participate in, and 2) Don't make hasty decisions. They advise letting conversations and choices sit for a time before pulling the trigger. 

Another reality they face is maintaining a reasonable, cost-effective budget, yet fun for them and for their guests to celebrate the beautiful commitment and sacrament of marriage. They've already decided that throughout their planning, they'll make an effort to save money by getting creative with Save the Dates, flowers, and decorations.

Bridget and David have been surprised by the amount of searching they had to do in order to find opportunities for marriage preparation. They'd expected a treasure trove! It is totally worth it, they say, to send emails, use Google and call individuals involved in marriage prep to figure out what is available and identity a few different ways to can grow together during preparation and planning. Through an online search, Bridget found a local parish that holds monthly marriage preparation courses on Saturday morning that follows the Beloved curriculum from the Augustine Institute. This has been incredible, they say, as a way to intentionally set aside a morning each month to focus on marriage in light of Christ. 

These two are amazing at creating rituals to grow together--towards each other--in their faith and prayer lives. They say they've found that prayer and scheduled date nights are a must! They recently went through their schedules for the fall semester and scheduled in at least one date per week to ensure that they weren’t just getting together to talk about wedding planning or going over details. With scheduled date nights, they say theyre' able to enjoy each other and talk about what’s going on in daily life while spending quality time together.

David and Bridget also schedule time each night at 10:00pm to say a set of prayers and read from a devotional book over the phone. Both have found that prayer is a beautiful way for them to grow as a couple and form a habit of intentional worship. Throughout their relationship, David and Bridget would pray together, often after dates, but didn’t specifically schedule in daily prayer. Since this year is so busy for both of them, they've found prayer to be an anchor to growth in holiness, faith, and trust in each other. They also go to Mass together on Sundays, and say it's been wonderful to taste married life in the form of worship together!

Two of their favorite quotes, including one that played a role in David's proposal:

“Alone man does not completely realize this essence [of being a person]. He realizes it only by existing ‘with someone’ – and even more deeply and completely – by existing ‘for someone’…The communion of persons means existing in a mutual ‘for,’ in a relationship of mutual gift.” - Pope St. JPII, TOB January 9, 1980

‘"The weight of these golden rings",

he said, "is not the weight of metal,

but the proper weight of man,

each of you separately

and both together.

Ah, man's own weight,

the proper weight of man!

Can it be at once heavier,

and more intangible?

It is the weight of constant gravity,

riveted to a short flight.

The flight has the shape of a spiral, an ellipse—and the shape of the heart …

Ah, the proper weight of man!

This rift, this tangle, this ultimate depth—

this clinging when it is so hard

to unstick heart and thought.

And in all this—freedom,

a freedom, and sometimes frenzy,

the frenzy of freedom trapped in this tangle.’” - Pope St. JPII, The Jeweler’s Shop

Join me in praying for Bridget and David as they prepare for their August 20th wedding! Want to see your love story featured on Captive the Heart (you don't have to be a blogger!)? Email me at stephanie.captivetheheart@gmail.com.

Precious Words: Ways to Pray For Your Fiance or Husband, and Why I Sometimes Find It Harder Than I Expected

At least in the correspondence category, I sometimes feel like I was a better wife to Andrew before I even knew I was going to be his wife--you can read about all the letters I wrote to my then-future husband here.

We exchanged a lot of notes back and forth while we were dating, some that made me all twitterpated and anxious for marriage and some that just made me crack up.  I was reading some yesterday during a nesting/reorganizing rampage and just laughed in joyful disbelief and gratitude for what we share. 

Now that the gushing is out of my system…a few years ago for Christmas, I gave Andrew a journal we could write in together as a way to hold our letters in one spot.  We filled up a lot of pages quickly…at first.  Then we petered out a little.  I'm fine with things being unforced and just naturally having different seasons for different things--I prefer it that way, in fact--but at least on my part, the lack of writing started to feel like a lack of effort rather than a lack of actually wanting to start writing to my husband again.  

So, in a fit of Pinspiration a while back, I set out to do a 30 Days of Prayer-type thing for Andrew, and…well, failed.  I got as far as making a list of 30 intentions specific to him and faithfully wrote him a note about each day's intention before I went to bed, so he could read it before work in the morning.  For about two weeks.  The biggest problem for me, I think, was intentionality.  I sometimes fall into not viewing self-imposed projects, in this case writing a letter every day for 30 days, as real obligations, even when they should be--not that the writing was a duty in the sense it was a burden, but it became too easy for me to push it aside in favor of other things I wanted or needed to do…if I'm being honest,  it was more things I wanted (if the only choice was between a letter or dishes, my answer would've been obvious...).

Anyway, I gleaned at least two fruits from this.  The first is that in all things, not just in letters, my husband deserves the best of me, which includes a willingness to follow through on commitments and to sacrifice my time for him.  Not exactly a revelation, but an important reminder for me nonetheless.  The second is something I've always known and loved: that words have immense significance, and can become such a gift to another person.  It's easy for me to pray constantly for Andrew in my head throughout the day and to frequently thank God for our relationship, but I really do love the idea of creating occasions for more focused, intentional prayer.

That being said, I'm eager to reignite my attempts at daily written prayer for Andrew, maybe with less pressure on myself this time yet with a renewed effort to willingly give this gift to him, and I'm also curious to know how other couples do the prayer for each thing.  What's your experience been?  Do you and your fiancee have specific or creative ways you pray for each other? And do you encounter any of the same consistency struggles as I do?  I'd love to know!

P.S.  I'm SO excited to be attending Pope Francis' canonization Mass for Bl. Junipero Serra in Washington, D.C. tomorrow!  I would love to pray for you--please do get in touch if you have any special intentions!

Fall Roundup: Dates, A Playlist, Dressing Your Dress, and Wedding Inspiration

Our last two annual family apple picking photos.  I suspect this year's will more resemble the former...

I fully admit, it's still all hot-town-summer-in-the-city around D.C.  But the breezes that have snuck their way into the evenings lately are giving this third trimester perpetual sweater hope that the best, most crisp days of the year are close at hand.  If you're planning a Fall wedding or if, like me, you're just antsy for all things commercially pumpkiny, I offer you this roundup of Fall posts past from the blog…

Autumn wedding DIYs

A Fall playlist and date ideas

Cozy, chic wedding gown toppers, to add a layer of personality and keep you toasty for outdoor photos

Incorporating rustic-glam feathers into your wedding details and accessories

In the spirit of the new school year, what I wish I'd known about relocating for love, academic-style

Why I get sentimental this time of year, and how meeting myself prepared me to meet my husband


... as well as a few other favorites:

The fondue party I've never yet attempted, but have always wanted to host

The most beautifully seasonal engagement shoot

A stunning reminder of our mortality and God's mercy from one of my favorite poets (apologies for the hilarious website design…)

The yummiest homemade pumpkin spice syrup I've ever tried


What about you?  Anything big happening in your life over the next few months?  What's your favorite way to spend a Fall afternoon?

Love Notes: Catholic Engagement and Wedding Ring Inscriptions

{small ways to show great love}

My nosiness beckons: do you have an inscription engraved in your wedding or engagement ring, and what's the story behind it?

Natalie Franke Photography

In one of the first emails Andrew ever wrote me, long before we were dating, he asked me what my favorite prayer is.  Mine is the Miraculous Medal prayer, and he told me his is the Memorare.  Truth be told, I'd always found the Memorare slightly depressing, what with the line, "before thee we kneel, sinful and sorrowful," and with what I then perceived to be a vibe of desperation.  When Andrew described to me his understanding of the prayer as complete reassurance and comfort in Mary's motherly love for us and the promise of her faithfulness and intercession, my view started changing for the better, and after a sort-of-funny-sort-of-argumentative period of choosing what variation on the words we wanted to say when we prayed together (Not that the words and meaning of the prayer itself are up for debate!  We had each just learned slightly different versions), it quickly became one of my favorite, most consoling prayers, too.

When the time came to choose words to be written in our wedding bands, we decided we wanted something personal to us beyond something like our initials or wedding date.  We prayed, and I asked Andrew what he thought of engraving "before thee we kneel."  From the holy ground where we met to the fact that I'd always prayed my husband would have a devotion to Our Lady and, unknown to me, Andrew had just started doing a daily Rosary around the time we became friends, the Blessed Mother has had our relationship in her hands from long before the start.  A line from a prayer to her, one that would remind us to constantly come before her, together, in complete humility and trust was the perfect choice for us.

I never want to change my ring, but I do sometimes consider other meaningful words I wouldn't mind permanently wearing; namely, in a tattoo that I will probably never choose to get, and I like "be not afraid," "duc in altum," and "verso l'alto."  But enough about me.  So tell me: what's the story behind your ring inscriptions, if you have them, or do you have one in mind for the future?  Scripture verse?  Saint motto?  I would love to know!

Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue Linkup

Get this graphic for your post here

If there is any dwelling of a Catholic twentysomething out there without at least one Save the Date magnet, wedding invite, or bridal shower invitation on the fridge, I would like to see it.  It's that stage of our lives, and summer wedding season is upon us, yeah?

I've loved watching my friends get married over the last few years--in addition to the complete joy of witnessing two souls promise their love and fidelity to each other for eternity, before the One who brought them together, I particularly enjoy all the little reveals a wedding day brings: the bride in her dress (no matter if you've already seen the dress, or even her in it, there's something entirely different and special about watching her wear it as the doors open and she makes her way up the aisle), the music and readings the couple chooses for their liturgy, their first dance, and the funny stories I might not have heard before that come up during toasts.

Those sorts of wedding deets are the big, surface-level ones, which, don't get me wrong, are awesome in their own right.  But I also love hearing about the more hidden aspects that go into the day, which brings me to this linkup.  Tell me about your somethings old, new, borrowed, and blue!  Often, these items have the most special, traditional, or romantic stories attached, and they aren't always obvious or well-known.  I think they deserve to be shared, so if you're up for it, spill!  I'll go first.

I didn't initially put a huge amount of thought into my special somethings until right before my wedding.  Everyone in my family was so stressed leading up to the big day, and I was trying, probably a little too hard, to make a point of being laid-back.  So, while the idea of carrying these four items as a bridal tradition was appealing to me, I sort of figured they'd just fall into place.

All photos by Natalie Franke Photography

That was why, until about a week beforehand, I figured I had the Something Old box checked with the pearl earrings I wear almost every day.  Honestly, I just buy a new, cheap pair from Claire's every year or so, the bigger the better, and I didn't see a reason to get new ones for my wedding day when the ones I'd been wearing were perfectly serviceable.

My mom surprised me, though, with a last-minute DIY.  She bought a locket to attach to my bouquet, its frame intended for a photo of me as a baby with her dad, my grandfather, who died when I was three.  In went the picture, out flowed my tears, and on the back she wrote "Papa te ama," Spanish for "Papa loves you."  Yes.  That little photo from years ago was a treasure, and a much worthier something old.  My sister will carry the same locket (with a different photo, of course) when it's her turn one day!

Something New is an easy one when getting married means buying more stuff than you've ever bought in your life.  I'll go with my dress, which you can read more about here.  This was a little before the dawn of photogenic, Pinteresty hangers, but here she is, accompanied by my grandma (She's been a seamstress her whole life and disapproved of the hemming job that was done.  The gown was still a little long, so she actually basted a new hem for me, making me stand perfectly still while eating cocktail meatballs--she also in her very Grandma way made me eat--between the Mass and reception!  She's a champ).  It's a strapless, slub-textured silk ball gown  with a sash.  Clean and classic, just like I wanted.  And it had pockets, which I actually used!  I wish it were socially acceptable to wear it again.

I didn't have anything Borrowed picked out, but I should've known I was bound to forget something important until I realized I needed it.  The wedding was on Andrew's and my college campus, which meant getting ready about an hour and a half from my parents' house and all of my stuff that still resided there.  As I was getting ready for bed the night before, I found out the only outfit I'd packed for all the prep time was a low-cut dress I usually wear as a layer, but I hadn't brought an extra cami or sweater to wear it with.  Since I didn't want a bunch of my wedding photos to have all the goods on display, I called my friend and bridesmaid Beth around midnight and asked her to bring me a button-up shirt I could wear over the dress while I got my hair done and put on makeup, one that I told her I shallowly hoped would look okay on camera.  "Only the best for my Stephy," she assured me.  She delivered.  Here's photographic evidence that I was moved to hug her for letting me borrow that gingham.

My Something Blue was the only item I'd had chosen for ages. Blue undies, y'all.  Self-explanatory.

An InLinkz Link-up

No problem if you don't have a blog--I'd still love to hear about your special day!  Leave a comment and share your wedding Somethings there.