Fatima + Jonathan | Tuscan-Inspired Summer Wedding

/
Fatima + Jonathan | Tuscan-Inspired Summer Wedding

Fatima and Jonathan met as teens on a youth retreat--but they were from two different states. They maintained a long-distance relationship for three years, only seeing each other at various retreats and youth conferences. Before college, Fatima broke off their relationship; through the pain of their breakup, they both felt God asking them to trust him and grow on their own. Fatima had no idea the Father was preparing their hearts to reconnect, but Jon sensed otherwise.

Read More

Editors' Picks | Vol. 2: Love Songs

/

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.

Late summer's got us thinking about long, leisurely talks outside as the sun goes down and evening sets in--how could a little music not improve on the atmosphere (and maybe encourage a spontaneous dance)? Below, a few of our favorite love songs and first dance contenders. Click on the titles to listen in Spotify!

 

Andi, Business Director

 Colbie Caillait, "I Do:" I love how just casual and playful this song is and it brings a smile to my face. Definitely a good pick for an informal reception, maybe even one with a beach theme.

The Lumineers, "Ho Hey:" I coordinated a wedding where this was the song, and it made me love it a million times more than I already did. Sweet lyrics, with a fun beat and just a hint of quirk.

Michael Buble, "The Way You Look Tonight:" I chose Michael Buble's version of this standard because it's a little more upbeat and jazzy than other renditions, yet still a classic you can dance to every anniversary and never tire of hearing.

Matt Maher, "Set Me As a Seal:" It's a classic! I loved when my husband would sing this to me while we were engaged.

Elise, Social Media Coordinator

Jason Mraz, "I Won't Give Up": This song came out when I was studying abroad in Rome, during which my fiance Hunter and I had not seen each other for five months. The song gave me courage to keep pursuing our relationship though we were hundreds of miles apart. I love the line, "And God knows we're worth it".

Sleeping at Last, "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles)": This is a bit of a slower song but I recently discovered it through a friend's wedding video and I fell in love. Such a dreamy song!

Harry Connick Jr., "It Had to Be You": This was my parents' wedding song, so I grew up with these tongue-in-check lyrics filling my household. I think it's a fun song and is great for a first dance.

Aretha Franklin, "At Last": An absolute classic that I've loved since college, this song always reminds me of the joy found in marriage, as it's expressed perfectly in Scripture: "Then the man said, 'This AT LAST is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man" (Genesis 2:23).

 

Jiza, Co-Founder + Creative Director

George Strait, "I Cross My Heart:" Just a good, classic country love song.

James Taylor, "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You):" Another classic throwback!

Jack Johnson, "Better Together:" So cute, laid-back, and fun.

Stephanie, Co-Founder + Editor in Chief

Dee Simone, "Lovesick:" The bride in the Song of Songs is all of us: deeply longing to find her love; on edge with hope and anticipation; freely willing to give herself to him entirely. "Is that your hand at the door?" Simone begins. I felt a pang in my chest, then sobbed the first time I heard this song written from the bride's perspective. The poetry and soaring piano and string arrangement makes me ache and is, in a word, breathtaking.

Jon Foreman, "In My Arms:" "Love, we sleep apart for the last time," sings Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot, on this solo recording; a tender whisper of a song that speaks to the dream and promise of two lives becoming one.

Brooke Fraser, "Something In the Water:" Hand claps, a driving beat, and relentlessly sunny images of wine on a summer night, lazing in a hammock, and daydreaming about your beloved: this is the sound of being joyously, boundlessly in love.

Peter Gabriel, "In Your Eyes:" This song is a classic, and with good reason. Most mainstream ballads don't touch on the less emotional, more spiritually-based aspects of love, and because "In Your Eyes" does, maybe that's why it's endured since the 80s. "The grand facade so soon will burn/without a noise, without my pride/I reach out from the inside:" looking outside of your own self, making yourself a gift, vulnerable yet unafraid of being truly seen and known, is the stuff marriage is made of.

Listen to all of the editor's picks on various playlists over on Spotify. We love making new discoveries through each of you! Help our community grow and share your favorite love songs or first dance pick in the comments!

Newlywed Life | Making the Most of a Rental Home

/
Newlywed Life | Making the Most of a Rental Home

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.

Read More

Dominika + Joseph | English Garden-Inspired Wedding

/
Dominika + Joseph | English Garden-Inspired Wedding

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!"

Read More

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

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

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!

Read More

Vendor Spotlight | Horn Photography and Design

/
Vendor Spotlight | Horn Photography and Design

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.

Read More

Erica + Chris | Romantic Blush + Gold Wedding

/
Erica + Chris | Romantic Blush + Gold Wedding

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."

Read More

Witness to Love: Introducing a New Model for Marriage Prep

/
Witness to Love: Introducing a New Model for Marriage Prep

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.

Read More

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

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

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.

Read More

Vendor Spotlight | When Beauty Met Truth

/
Vendor Spotlight | When Beauty Met Truth

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.

Read More

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

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

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.

Read More

Editors' Picks | Vol. 1

/
Editors' Picks | Vol. 1

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!

Read More

Newlywed Life | The Practicals of Changing Your Name

/
Newlywed Life | The Practicals of Changing Your Name

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?

Read More