A little church charm for a little church wedding

Does every little girl dream about her fairy tale wedding? I only remember two wishes that I had for my wedding. First of all, I wanted my father to sing at my wedding. And secondly, I wanted my Uncle George to preside over the ceremony. And I'm here to tell you that some childhood dreams really do come true.

My Uncle George was married to my father's sister, my Aunt Mary. They lived in the same city as us so she was my favourite aunt when I was little - mostly because she had a box of dolls and dolls' clothes in the closet of her den, and I was pretty sure it was only ever pulled out when I arrived! I have so many fond memories of spending time at their home in the city, and their cottage by the sea. I even stayed with Aunt Mary and Uncle George when my mother went into the hospital to deliver my younger brother, and spent Christmas with them. Aunt Mary had passed away quite some time before our wedding, but I was so happy that Uncle George, who was a retired Bishop in the Anglican Church, was able to officiate.

The Blomidon Inn

Although Mike and I now live in Ottawa, we both grew up in the Maritimes and wanted our wedding to be in our home province of Nova Scotia, some 1500 kilometres away. We didn't want either of our families to feel that they had to do much "hosting" so we didn't marry in either of our hometowns, but chose a neutral location. When I was growing up my mother took my brother and I camping every summer in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. As luck would have it, in the town of Wolfville, quite close to where we used to camp, we found the perfect venues for both the wedding and reception.

The bride at the reception

We were able to use Acadia University's chapel for the service and the beautiful Blomidon Inn, a restored sea captain's home, for the reception. We booked the whole inn for the weekend, for family and those in the wedding party. It felt like we were inviting our wedding guests to our own Victorian mansion.

The wedding was on a Saturday but the festivities started on the Friday evening when we had a small intimate dinner party after the rehearsal and then a party with the many guests who had arrived "from away" as we say. On Saturday morning I had breakfast with my girlfriends, and Mike, along with his brothers, his father and lots of guests, played a round of golf at the local course. The wedding was in the late afternoon on the Saturday with a reception on the Blomidon's large outdoor patio adorned with mini white lights. We continued to celebrate on the Sunday morning with a casual brunch at another inn overlooking the valley.
 

The Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, Canada

We wrote our own service and it was very special. The first time I saw Pandora's church charm it reminded me of this chapel, designed to look like a church in Colonial times. And this organ balcony was where my father sang the hymn "O Perfect Love" during the service. My father had a beautiful voice. He sang with the symphony orchestra and in the church choir, but most importantly he sang to me - probably every night at bedtime!

So this Danish church charm is now engraved with our wedding date, to remind me of the best day of my life, when those two little wishes came true. And I married the love of my life!

If I am completely honest, having the date engraved is not just for sentimental reasons - it's actually to remind me of the correct date! With such a weekend of wedding activities, all I can remember is that it was on the August long weekend. I know it's usually the husband we accuse of forgetting anniversaries, but in our case it's me - I can never remember if our anniversary is July 30th or 31st. It has become a running joke with us. I am terrible with numbers and my husband is the opposite - in fact, he is a little bit like the "Rain Man" - so he's happy that I can now remember the date of our anniversary without having to ask him! And it's a good thing because this summer will be our 20th anniversary, and I really should know the date by now!