August is a special month full of wedding anniversaries for our family. My parents from 57 years ago, ours 30 years ago and our youngest Justine and our “son in love” Kaden Angell who celebrated their first anniversary this month too. A lot has happened in their first year of marriage- with graduating from University with her education degree as well as the birth of their first child, our second grandbaby Kylen:) What a year!

Hard to believe how quickly time flies by! It seems that it was only yesterday that she was playing with her big sister’s playing dress-up, role-playing ‘house’ with their dolls, learning to ride a trike, bike, skate, snowboard, getting her license or trying out for club volleyball among other adventures. And here she was, beaming with joy alongside her dad escorting her down the grassy aisle not far from our home in front of family and friends. The day was absolutely beautiful! The love that had matured between these high school sweethearts was evident. Their adventurous creative romantic nature was shared throughout with the many details on their special day.

Choosing the Date

Before the big day, Justine and Kaden were engaged nearly 10 months before, and when researching sites it was apparent that all the Saturdays in the summer of 2019 were all taken in the venues we researched in Saskatoon. So when we checked out the new venue option of The Barn at Winds Edge and they suggested a Sunday of the August long weekend, it blew me away that they said yes- as they’d share the same anniversary as Tim and I (August 4th. 1990).

Praying God’s Love

One of my teary-eyed, catch my breath momma moments was when I was asked to come up and pray for them during the ceremony. Yah, she did give me a heads up the month prior, but I didn’t come prepared with a written prayer. I just trusted God would give me the words to pray over them. Heck, I had other things to plan that day, I just knew prayer just shouldn’t be, well- you know, scripted.

Walking up there, I had faith to believe I wouldn’t trip over Justine’s train when handed the mic from Dean (Kaden’s dad) who performed the ceremony. I felt the Spirit within give me peace by breathing in love (i.e. this absolute peace-filled moment of profound gratitude) and breath out words of love as found in God’s Word. I personalized a prayer based on scriptures for their wedding day. Most of which would be found in what is often known as the “Love chapter” in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 13 NLT:

“ … Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance…Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.” (Reading in the Passion Translation is also awe-inspiring).

Love has a name.

Weddings tend to be a time where our hearts are invited to revisit the vows or promises we too may have made to God or people or to ourselves even. Sometimes with great intentions, yet more often than not- we miss the mark. 1 Corinthians 13 is often read or sung at weddings as a vision of Love’s ideal- a beautiful vision of love to embrace. But- if we see the above verse as a measuring stick to our self worth or success as a human being attaining on our own accord…, we’d be sorely mistaken.

We can pray for:

our soul to align with God’s Holy Spirit to affect our entire being with Love.
God’s unrelenting Love to clarify our intentions, and purify our dreams for the future.
Eternal Love to heal every hurt from the past or the present so that we can live in Love.
strength to go through any hardship as that is key to keeping our hearts open to Love.

The greatest of Faith, Hope, and Love is Love. Why? Because Love has a name. God is Love. (1 John 4:7). Agape Love.

*For an audio prayer and devotional to give you an example of this type of prayer in your everyday life- Click here for “A Prayer of Love from 1 Corinthians 13”.

Wedding Highlights below: Photography from Nicole Marie Photography

Wedding Symbolism

p.s. I loved this wooden feature adorned with greenery at the Barn at Wind’s Edge for the ceremony. Months after the wedding, I was inspired to start a bit of random research as to why we do the things we do at wedding ceremonies. Some are obvious, whereas others are deeply symbolic. For example, I’m not Jewish- but my love for Jesus Christ is birthed from a Judeo Christian worldview. I love how this backdrop resembled the shape of a “Chuppah” without the full canopy as described here. More on that later!

It’s in the Details

p.s.s. Grateful for all who helped make this day one to remember and cherish for years to come. Our guests, family and friends who came from near and far helped to make this day this quite a celebration. Thanks also go out to all those creatives who poured into the day with special touches of beauty and fun. It was awesome seeing all the planning come together with the flowers by Florence and Flora, DJ by Andrew Kinakin Entertainment, a fun photo book from True North Photo Company, and instead of a traditional cake, they opted for a donut wall from Hobo Donuts along with a fun candy bar, crafty items supplied by friends! What I enjoy about weddings these days, is that we can see the personality of the couple shine through with all the options out there!

Other Related Blogs of Mine:

“Wedding Symbolism” written August 4th, 2023 (our 33rd anniversary)
“30 Marriage Lessons and Growing”- written in honour of our 30th wedding anniversary this year on August 4th- written on August 29th, 2020