"Beauty pierces her heart and draws her into the sacred. She wants not only her wedding, but her marriage to reflect this in every way: through awe-inspiring liturgy, decor, and photographs, each infused, above all, with the radiant beauty only made manifest in sincere holiness. No matter her past, she has a love for all that is pure. She desires nothing more or less than to make a complete gift of herself. She chases fearlessly after virtue, knowing excellence is the path to true freedom, and freedom is for love. Deeply, profoundly, she is in love..."

Newlywed Life | Making the Most of a Rental Home

August 11, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Remember the scene in the film 500 Days of Summer when Tom and Summer are running through Ikea holding hands, stopping here and there to banter and pretend the showrooms are theirs? It's a dreamy idyll--upon repeat viewings, I've realized that scene is actually meant to function as more of a dream than a reality of domestic bliss--yet shopping together for your first home, picking out items you'll use daily, imagining the rooms and items and meals and nighttime whispers that will be yours, really does impart a powerful allure.

August 09, 2016

Dominika + Joseph | English Garden-Inspired Wedding

August 09, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

When Dominika first spoke to Joseph at a college Christmas party, she immediately fell for the kind, gentle, well-dressed graduate student she'd just met, but he didn't have romance in mind at the time. The following May, Dominika checked out a book from the campus library where Joseph worked, solely with the intention of talking to him more. Soon after, Joseph asked her out to a poetry reading picnic. A woman approached them at the picnic and asked if they were married! At that moment, Joseph thought, "Oh, that I would have such a wife!"

August 04, 2016

Elise's Wedding | Elise + Hunter's Love Story

August 04, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Save the date ... our director of Social Media Outreach, Elise Crawford, is marrying Hunter, her college sweetheart, on August 5, 2017. We're overjoyed for her and are thrilled to share with you a peek into one bride's real-life wedding planning. Over the next year, we'll feature monthly pieces from Elise on marriage prep, choosing wedding details, and her spirituality as a bride-to-be. Join us in praying for Elise and Hunter during this sacred time of anticipation!

August 02, 2016

Vendor Spotlight | Horn Photography and Design

August 02, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

The Rule of St. Benedict calls hospitality "the way we come out of ourselves. It is the first step toward dismantling the barriers of the world." In the case of photographers Michelle and Brandon Horn, it's also the first step toward creating a warm, personal, and unforgettable client experience--this Georgia-based husband and wife team embodies Southern hospitality.

July 28, 2016

Faith-Inspired Gifts for Flower Girls + Ring Bearers

July 28, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

A lovely, thoughtful wedding tradition is to give each member of your wedding party a small gift thanking them for their support during your engagement and for all the ways they are contributing to your special day.

July 26, 2016

Erica + Chris | Romantic Blush + Gold Wedding

July 26, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

She met Chris at a Theology on Tap to exchange the papers, after which Chris invited the entire group out to karaoke and sang Michael Buble's "Just Haven't Met You Yet" that very night. Erica found out from a friend that Chris had asked if Erica was single, and two days later he called, saying, "I would like to be in your presence again."

July 21, 2016

Witness to Love: Introducing a New Model for Marriage Prep

July 21, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Look around the chapel during your average Sunday Mass, and you're likely to see a mix of older couples, families with school-age kids, families with toddlers and babies, and...maybe a small handful of engaged or newlywed young couples. Certainly, there are exceptional communities of Catholic young adults across the country, yet those preparing for or just starting to live out the married vocation is a specific, and often rare, subgroup.

July 19, 2016

New Love, 5 Years Later: an Anniversary Reflection on What It Is to See

July 19, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

"Right now I'm imagining you reading this letter; when you finish and look up at me from the page, I want to look at you with honest, brave eyes and smile, both of us knowing that yes, we have stepped fully into this vocation and the promises we've made."

July 14, 2016

Newlywed Life | The Weight of Glory

July 14, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

To please God...to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness...to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain.

July 12, 2016

Sara + Calvin | Sophisticated Handcrafted Wedding

July 12, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Great are the joys in marriage, as there is the lifting of progressive veils, until one is brought into the blazing lights of the Presence of God. - Ven. Fulton Sheen

July 07, 2016

Our Vows: Introducing Blessed Is She's Scripture Study for Couples

July 07, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Marriage is such an incredible sacrament to live out, and our flawed human nature and marriage's inherent challenges make it even more incredible. When we, as Catholic women, can share our struggles, not for the purpose of being a “downer,” but to reach out for affirmation and encouragement, our vows become easier to live out. We need grace from God, and love and understanding from our fellow women, to stay the course.

July 05, 2016

Vendor Spotlight | When Beauty Met Truth

July 05, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Pope St. John Paul II proclaimed in his 1978 Christmas Day homily that "the human being is single, unique, and unrepeatable, someone thought of and chosen from eternity, someone called and identified by name." If anything, the sacrament and vocation of marriage are so deeply personal: it is a singular person we are drawn to in marriage, a specific love with which we honor and serve that person, and a mirror of the Father's reckless, divine pursuit of each individual human heart.

June 30, 2016

Wedding Tips | How to Spiritually Make the Most of the Moments Before Your Mass

June 30, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Shoulder to shoulder we knelt, evening light falling across the tabernacle, and as my about-to-be husband whispered a prayer, my tears came fast and free. The memory of having our confessions heard and then receiving the Eucharist together for the last time as an engaged couple is one of the most cherished memories of my life, one where the divide between heaven and earth, between the moments I'd dreamed of for years and the reality they were about to become, felt so thin.

June 28, 2016

Laura + Alexandre | Spanish Mission Wedding

June 28, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Discernment illuminates each of our specific paths to Heaven. The story of a couple whose longtime friendship led to striking clarity, a two month engagement, and elegant, romantic celebration

June 23, 2016

Editors' Picks | Vol. 1

June 23, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

At Spoken Bride, we love a good book, a good meal, a standout statement necklace, a heel you can dance in, and the list goes on. And when we make those discoveries, we want to tell everyone. So every month or two, we're sharing our latest and favorite finds in everything engagement, wedding, and honeymoon related. Help our community grow and share your latest favorites in the comments!

June 21, 2016

Love Is an Act of the Will.

June 21, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Love is an act of the will. It is not a feeling. Our emotions are fleeting: one minute we feel madly, passionately in love, and the next we're arguing about whose family to spend Christmas with.

June 16, 2016

Newlywed Life | The Practicals of Changing Your Name

June 16, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Your Social Security Number cannot be verified. Please renew in person. Was this really happening? My state MVA begging me to come renew my Driver's License in person after an hour's worth of automated phone menus and a page of instructions requiring that all residents under 40 spare them the crowds and renew online?

June 14, 2016

Melissa + Antonio | Springtime Ballroom Wedding

June 14, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Melissa and Antonio (AJ) crossed paths almost every day in the Adoration chapel on their college campus, though AJ was discerning the priesthood at the time. Around the time he realized he never wanted to spend a day without seeing or talking to Melissa and his spiritual directors encouraged him to pursue dating, Melissa prayed a novena to St. Therese of Lisieux.

June 09, 2016

Wedding Tips | A Wedding Coordinator Shares What's in Her Emergency Toolkit

June 09, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Even when you spend months planning every detail of your big day, you still can’t plan for the unexpected. I carry around my silver toolbox, filled with essentials that might be otherwise forgotten, to each wedding I coordinate. You can also use a clear plastic storage bin and designate a friend or family member to hold onto it throughout your wedding day. If you're working with a wedding coordinator, remember to ask if they have a similar emergency kit!

June 07, 2016

Vendor Spotlight | Mel Watson Photography

June 07, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Scroll through Mel Watson's portfolio and among the images of couples walking out the doors of their wedding Mass and praying together before Our Lady, you'll spot a scapular peeking out from a neckline here, a Rosary bracelet there. And her Facebook images feature profound quotes from Scripture and the saints on love and marriage. Down to the details, this amazing photographer is undeniably Catholic.

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