Nashville Wife

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Our Wedding/Honeymoon

Favorite Wedding Gifts

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One of my readers asked me to share my top 10 favorite wedding gifts. I took a walk around our two-bedroom rental home and snapped some pictures of the items we use most often. Here they are! I would love to hear your favorite wedding gifts (or your favorite household items in general).

1. My Dresser
Definitely my favorite gift, as it comes from Mr. Handsome. He refinished it a couple weeks before our wedding and gave it to me as a surprise.


2. Cuisinart Stainless Steel Ice Cream Maker
I don’t think this one needs an explanation. It’s super easy to use and makes delicious ice cream in 30-40 minutes. We make the same flavor every time (dark chocolate) but someday I hope to get creative. Mr. Handsome absolutely loves ice cream, so this is his favorite wedding gift.

3. Noritake Colorwave Rim Place Settings (Color: Ice)
When I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to register, the lady behind the counter convinced me to
request these plates. “They can go in the microwave, dishwasher, freezer, and oven,” she explained. “That means you can leave your husband home alone, and he won’t ruin your plates!” I found that comment slightly offensive, but after looking at all the other place settings they had to offer, I decided to go with her recommendation.

4. Ceramic Pots and Pans
These things are great, mostly because they’re easy to wash and don’t give you Teflon poisoning. LOL. I have three pans and three pots of various brands, but my favorites are Zwilling and
GreenLife.

5. Ramekins 
I always thought that ramekins were useless, but boy was I wrong. I have eight (four from Noritake and four from Corningware) and I use them every single day.

 
6. KitchenAid Toaster Oven
Growing up, my family did not own a regular toaster. We did all our toasting, and some baking/cooking, in our toaster oven. (Ours was big enough to fit an entire pizza.) When I told Mr. Handsome this, he thought it was crazy. But during our first year of marriage, he began to see the light (haha) and has come to enjoy our toaster oven. He especially likes it for reheating homemade pizza. On the flipside, we also registered for a regular toaster, and I have come to realize how useful that can be for toasting bread.

7. Pyrex and Corningware Containers
Perfect for storing leftovers and a great way to avoid using tons of plastic Ziploc bags.

8. Mason Jars
Some of these are wedding gifts, and some are not, but they are all equally as wonderful. I use them to store white (non-bleached) flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, white sugar, pasta, cornmeal, popcorn seeds, and rice. Not only are they practical, but they also make for excellent decorations.

9. Cuisinart 5-in-1 Griddler
This is Mr. Handsome’s second favorite wedding gift. I think that’s because he associates it with bacon and eggs, one of his favorite meals. I usually prefer using my ceramic pans because they are easier to clean, but this griddler does come in handy sometimes.

10. Picnic Time Picnic Basket
I didn’t register for this, but I was thrilled to receive it. It has everything you could possibly need (and then some) for a picnic for two. We’ve only used it once, but it sure is cute.

Decor for a Fisherman’s Wedding

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We recently received our completed wedding video from the videographer and watched it for the first time yesterday afternoon. It was so much fun to see footage of our special day!Looking through photos of the DIY decorations from our wedding reception, I knew you all would enjoy this one. My husband loves fishing, so his sisters created this picture collage, using an old window pane.

Click here to see more photos from our wedding day and here to see pictures of our DIY wedding reception.

More Wedding Pics

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A little birdie told me that you all would like to see a few more wedding pictures. Well, your wish is my command! Let me share a few of my favorites.After Mr. Handsome’s uncle–who officiated our wedding ceremony–gave the message, we sang two congregational songs, “Mighty to Save” and “What a Friend We Have In Jesus.” Then, before officially becoming man and wife, we spent a few precious moments dedicating our marriage to the Lord. We prayed together…

…And took Communion.

This picture shows us walking out of the sanctuary, with Mr. Handsome’s uncle smiling in the background. We were the first family members to ask him to perform our wedding ceremony, and I know he really enjoyed having that honor.

Here’s a humorous one. We took photos at a nearby garden, and the photographer instructed us to walk hand-in-hand while she snapped pictures. It really was a romantic moment, but this action shot makes it look like Mr. Handsome is trying to convince me to run away with him. It makes us laugh every time we see it!

Click here to view a few more photos from our special day.

Grand Cayman Honeymoon

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After our wedding in late June, we spent a glorious six-day honeymoon on Grand Cayman. While Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands, it is only 76 square miles (196 square km), and much of the land is not built up. But for us, the size was perfect because when we left after six days, we felt like we had seen all the main attractions.The highlights of our trip were swimming with wild stingrays at Stingray City and holding baby turtles at the Cayman Turtle Farm. We rented a car because it was the cheapest way to travel around the island. It took Mr. Handsome less than fifteen minutes to master the art of driving on the left side of the road (or as North Americans call it, the “wrong” side of the road).

To save money, we rented a small condo with a kitchen, which ended up being cheaper than a hotel room and allowed us to cook some of our own food.

My Vintage Wedding Dress

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A number of you have asked about my wedding dress, so let me tell you.The day we returned from our Florida engagement trip with both sets of parents, one of Mr. Handsome’s aunts offered to let me try on her wedding dress. At that point, I hadn’t even thought about what I wanted my gown to look like, so I figured I might as well try hers on.

The minute I stepped into it, all the ladies began gushing over how beautiful it was and how easy it would be to altar. ‘Alright,’ I thought. ‘Might as well just go with this one.’ And that’s what I did.

The dress is from the 1980s and was a bit big on me, so we had a seamstress friend work her magic. To the right is the original gown

The seamstress shortened the sleeves, made the bodice a little more snug, and removed some of the lace and beads around the neck. That was all that needed to be done. The best part was she only charged us $20 for the alterations. What a sweet lady!

The dress had a beautiful train with thousands of small, sparkly beads along the edge. It also had a bustle, which came in handy for the outdoor reception. To add a little extra poof to the skirt, I wore a crinoline.

Our Vows

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Today is our one-month anniversary. (I would call it our “month-iversary,” but Mr. Handsome says that sounds cheesy.) Several readers requested that I post our wedding vows, which seems to be a fitting way to celebrate.

Our vows are a combination of lines from Mr. Handsome’s parents’ vows and vows we found online, as well as principles we learned in marriage counseling. We each read them from a piece of paper at the altar.

My Vows

Today I take you to be my wedded husband, my faithful partner, my best friend, and my
one true love. I promise to love you now and as you grow into the man God
intends. I submit to you as the spiritual leader of our family and the head of
our home, knowing that you will love and lead me as Christ loves and leads the
Church. I will strive for oneness in our relationship, with the oneness of the
Trinity as the leading example. I will be by your side as we serve the Lord
together and set a solid foundation for a ministry-focused family. I will love
and respect and be open and honest with you when we are together and when we
are apart, when our lives are at peace and when they are in turmoil, when I am
proud of you and when I am disappointed in you. I will pray for you and will
compassionately encourage you to seek God in all things. Today I pledge my life
and all that I am to you. With God’s help, I will keep these vows until my
death or yours.

Mr. Handsome’s Vows

Today I take you to be my wedded wife. I promise to love you now and as you
grow into the woman
God intends. I will strive to love you as Christ loves the
Church and to be the spiritual leader of our family. I will be by your side as
we serve the Lord together and set a solid foundation for a ministry-focused
family. I will strive for oneness in our relationship, with the oneness of the
Trinity as the leading example. You are an incredible person, and I intend to
treat you as such. I promise to respect and support you with encouragement and
understanding, to share with you the joys and sorrows of life, and to be open
and honest with you. I will pray for you and will compassionately encourage youto seek God in all things. I recommit to serving Jesus Christ and know that a
close relationship with him will be the most important aspect of our
relationship. Apart from God, you are the most important person in my life, and
I promise to stand by you as long as God gives us life.

Wedding Prep: Repainting the Barn

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We are planning an outdoor reception on Mr. Handsome’s family’s acreage. If it rains, we will move the party into a banquet hall in town, but we are praying that the weather cooperates.My future in-laws are doing a lot of work on their property to prepare for the reception. (Mr. Handsome’s six younger siblings have taken to hiding in the basement storage room whenever they hear their mom mention the word “wedding.”)

Last weekend, my future father-in-law and his brother, along with a couple of the kids, repainted the “barn.” (They call it a barn, but it is currently just a tool shed. The chickens all passed away last winter, and Mr. Handsome’s parents decided to wait until after the wedding to replace them.)

A Wedding Gift Made with Love

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On Easter Sunday, just a few weeks after Mr. Handsome proposed, we received our first wedding gift in the mail. I opened the box and found a layer of burlap and a homemade card.

We celebrate your union, as this year we celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Of all the memories, I’m reminded that the best were of the simple things from the heart.

The card was signed by distant relatives who live 2,000 miles away. I had only met them once and was touched that they had taken the time to send a gift, and so soon after the engagement. We hadn’t even finalized our wedding registry yet!

I unwrapped the burlap and found a beautiful, handmade quilt. Each square had a fruit of the Spirit and a Bible verse written in perfect cursive print. I had tears in my eyes as I showed the quilt to Mr. Handsome and our parents. This gift was definitely from the heart, but there was nothing simple about it. She had spent hours making a quilt for us, and we barely knew her. I think this is going to be my favorite wedding gift, and I look forward to hanging it in our home.