relish your life: Not Just for Funerals...

It's funny how times change. This past weekend, as my family gathered to celebrate the life of my Grandaddy, my little girl climbed upon my Grandmother's lap, and proceeded to ask,

"Grandmother, how did you and Grandaddy get engaged?"

As my sweet Grandmother retold the beloved story, I sat stunned at all that has changed in the way of weddings. They had been dating for a while, and Grandaddy was in the War. Against others suggestions to wait until after the war was over, they decided on Thursday evening while he was home to get married the next day! They each went home to their families to announce the news, and the following day, told everyone they saw in town to come up to the church that evening for the wedding. The church was just about packed that evening, and they were hitched.

Now days, the first thing my Grandmother will ask me, when inquiring about someone's plans for their big day is, "They're not gonna have black dresses are they? Black dresses are for funerals!" I smile, and reassure her they're not just for funerals anymore.

Many times, brides love the thought of allowing their girls dresses to continue to be functional after the wedding as well as during the grand celebration. So, they suggest for the bridesmaids to simply pick a black dress of their choosing. Or they might choose a bridesmaids dress that looks like a fun black cocktail dress that would be able to be worn time and time again. Either way, black is not just for funerals anymore!

I ran across this collage on Wedding Chicks and loved the varying bouquets with all of the uniform black lace dresses.

Or, you can have the opposite, where everyone's dresses are the same color, but different styles, and the bouquets are uniform. This below storyboard was from a wedding I did this past August. The girls were so cute in their short black dresses and cowboy boots.