Wedding Series: Thanksgiving Wedding

When Honey and I got engaged in 2010, we decided that our wedding would be in November 2012 to correspond with our anniversary. We started dating the week of Thanksgiving so it was perfect when Thanksgiving 2012 fell on our actual date. Our wedding was set for the following day to allow for a more sociable Friday evening wedding; a Thanksgiving party to celebrate our life’s harvest.

When we set the date, we didn’t know how the journey would be toward getting approval for our Civil Partnership. Since I am a citizen of a non-EU country, we needed to ask the UK government for permission so the far off wedding date would work for us to celebrate whether we had permission by then or not. The law requiring permission was removed in 2011 so we jumped at the chance to legally commit to one another when my dad was over here visiting that summer for my graduation. Our Civil Partnership ceremony and meal were very special and an intimate occasion and rite of passage with our close family.

Our wedding was planned as the actual party to celebrate with the community around us. One goal that we strive for in our life is to keep things simple. This remained a guiding principle for the wedding and throughout our planning, we questioned our choices and checked whether they were right for us. We wanted a simple, honest and joyful celebration with minimal impact on resources and our finances. We also wanted to do things in a way that would reduce obligations on people. It took a lot of discussion at times to move past what we thought was expected of us, or ideas we thought we wanted, to get to what truly fit into our vision.

We went for hand made, local and seasonal whenever possible. We used local services for our venue, catering, photography, band and DJ and we made our hall and table decorations, invitations, favours, and my outfit (both the dress and shawl). The guest book and cake were handmade for us.

Our Thanksgiving Harvest themed wedding was hard work to put together but was worth every moment of effort. Come along with me over the coming weeks to see how we created the most beautiful Thanksgiving I have ever experienced.

Wedding Outfit Part I: the crocheted shawl

Wedding Outfit Part II: the dress

Wedding Venue

Zero Waste Invitations

Thanksgiving Wedding Decorations

Food and Cake

Wedding Music: band and DJ

Photography and Thank Yous

All our wedding photography is by Kat Goldin Images.