Wedding DIY: Cord of Three Strands "God's Knot"

For our wedding I wanted to do something a little different than the normal Unity candle or sand.  I wanted to do something that was unique and meaningful, not that those aren't they just aren't my style.  

I was looking on pinterest (surprise) and I found the Unity Cord.  I immediately fell in love with the idea of the demonstration of "braiding" the husband, wife, and God together in the ceremony.  I thought it was such a beautiful visual image and so meaningful.  It was exactly what I wanted portrayed to everyone at the ceremony and what I want our marriage to be about, committing to each other but also committing our marriage to God.  

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

Ecclesiastes 4:12

This passage from Ecclesiastes illustrates the importance of Christian companionship. Two Christians that are bound together in Christ are stronger than the individuals themselves. We believe that Christian marriage is about more than the union of one man and one woman. The Bible teaches us that God performs a miracle in our marriage, uniting us together in a covenant relationship with Him as one. The Cord of Three Strands is a symbol of that sacred union created on your wedding day.

What is the Cord of Three Strands Ceremony?

The Cord of Three Strands symbolizes the joining of one man, one woman, and God into a marriage relationship. Marriage takes three; you, your soon to be spouse, and God. It was God who taught us to love. By keeping Him at the center of your marriage, His love will continue to bind you together as one throughout your marriage.

The Cord of Three Strands is a great addition to a traditional wedding ceremony. It adds a truly unique element to your ceremony that friends and family will remember. It can also serve as a substitute for the unity candle. This is useful for situations where candles may not be used, or may be difficult. The Cord of Three Strands works well as a substitute in outside weddings.

During the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom braid the Cord of Three Strands together. The groom holds a small metal ring with three attached strands. The bride then braids the strands together, symbolizing the union of God, husband and wife.

While braiding the Cord of Three Strands, you may wish to have someone read an explanation of the ceremony. You may also simply play music or have a song sung. 

What is the significance of the Colors of the Cords?

• Gold Strand - Represents God
  
  The divinity of God is represented in Gold. This covenant relationship is initiated by Him, will be built under His authority, and is intended to glorify Him.
• Purple Strand - Represents the Groom
  
  As a new creation in Christ, the majesty of the Groom is represented in purple. As the husband loves his wife and submits himself to the Lord, the Lord in turn will demonstrate His great love in the marriage relationship.
• White Strand - Represents the Bride
  
  Having been cleansed by salvation in Christ, the purity of the Bride is represented in white. As the wife honors her husband and submits herself to the Lord, the Lord in turn will nurture and strengthen the marriage relationship. 

We chose to use different colors at our wedding to coordinate with our wedding colors and the colors we prefer.  We did Gold for God, White for the bride and a Blue for the groom.  Same meaning just different colors.  


This website also gives some ceremony reading examples just to give your preacher/officiant an idea.
Because we wanted to use different colors I opted to DIY my cord which was pretty simple.  Bev at The Make Your Own Zone has a great tutorial for how to make your own, check it our here.        

Or if DIY is not your thing you can purchase it here 

Wedding DIY: Church decorations

Alright I promise I am almost done with all the wedding blog posts...

You know I am always trying to save money so I did all the decorations myself with the help of my friends and family.

Here is how I decorated the church for the ceremony:

I am so blessed to belong to such a beautiful church 

I actually borrowed these wreaths from my church but you could easily make them with some fake flowers, hot glue and a wreath from Michael's 

I wanted the aisle decorations to be simple and pretty and feature...of course...baby's breath.  

They were so simple to make too, just take some white tulle, wrap around the pew and line them up at the bottom.  Trim the ends and then tie with a ribbon and stick some sprigs of baby's breath in the top, seriously so easy.  

They look beautiful all together.  I also draped some tulle on the railings on the stairs leading up to the stage and tied with the ribbon.  My bridesmaid also came up with the idea to use some of the leftover baby's breath and line the tops of the piano alcoves  (is that what they are called..anyway they lined the tops of the walls covering the piano and organ)

I also rented some candleholders from a local rental place in my town.  

I loved the effect that if had on the church, again so rustic and simple but still elegant and beautiful.  I had so many compliments on the look of the church and how beautiful the baby's breath was! 

Wedding DIY: DIY Rustic Wedding Reception Decorations

Another tale from the budget friendly bride.  As I mentioned before I did most of the decorations myself with the help of my wonderful family and friends.  Here's how I decorated the reception for my wedding:

I wanted a simple, rustic yet elegant and beautiful look.  I also wanted lots of character and little touches that made a big impact.

My favorite part of the reception venue was this beautiful fireplace in the back center of the room.  It added so much to the place and was a great centerpiece for the sweetheart table which we put right in front.

I made the "Mr & Mrs" sign from some scraps of burlap that I cut to size, free-handed the letters and hot glued to some twine.

A lady that goes to my church was so sweet and helped be my unofficial decorator for the reception.  She did an amazing job! 

 
She used a crate from Michael's and decorated it with jars, candles, baby's breath and greenery from her backyard

I got this vase a couple years ago, read the review here

We used burlap for the table runners that we got from Lowe's here 
You do have to cut it to size and it gets a frayed look but no big deal...I wanted a rustic look right?

Oh and that black heart is a reserved sign I made for the bridal party tables.  I got some hearts on dowel sticks from Hobby Lobby and painted them black then wrote "reserved" on them with a paint pen and stuck them in the vase

The centerpieces I also made myself.  I had friends and family collect glass bottles and jars for me for months before the wedding and I spent FOREVER taking off the labels.  (soak in water with vinegar and dish soap) Then I would spray some water on the bottles and spray paint silver (The water droplets gave it an antique mercury look).  On the table I grouped them by varying heights and wrapped twine around them.  Then placed baby's breath in the bottles.

The jars I covered with burlap and some with lace and then placed 2 burlap jars and 2 ribbon jars with a candle in them at each table.

I would also suggest if you are going to use tablecloths to search around early.  I borrowed some and then realized I needed a few more and had to rent some.  If I had known I needed more earlier I probably could have bought them for the price of renting.  So just some bride knowledge, do your research early and know what you want to save some money! 

 

My bridesmaids also wrapped Christmas lights and tulle together and draped them up the stairs.  

I borrowed the cake stand from my wonderful cake lady and she decorated underneath it with baby's breath.  And in case you were wondering the cake was alternating layers of white and lemon with a delicious buttercream frosting...yumm!  She also was able to do a beautiful lace effect with the icing that was just perfect!  

I fell absolutely in love with this Willow Tree Cake Topper and loved the simple yet elegant feel.  

We had a really long table on one of the sides of the room and we used it as a gift/card table as well as a place to display our engagement pictures and other things. 

I love how eclectic it looked.  We also added some candle holders and baby's breath to soften and add depth.  

The card basket came from pick your plum and I painted the sign on a burlap canvas piece from Michael's

These letters came from Hobby Lobby on sale and I loved them! 

I gathered all my frames and filled them with pictures I loved of us and that was the display table.  

Wedding DIY: Groomsmen Boutonnieres

Going budget friendly for my wedding included my flowers.  I made my bouquet, the bridesmaid's bouquets, the centerpieces at the reception and the flower decorations at the ceremony.  I also made the groomsmen boutonnieres.  I did buy my groom's boutonniere but I decided to make the others.

Here's what you need:
-baby's breath (I ordered mine from Sam's and for these you need about 3-5 stems)
-scissors
-floral tape
-hot glue
-burlap
-floral pins (or extra long sewing pins)

What you do:

1. Take your large bunch of baby's breath and trim off into smaller pieces, like the one below.

2. Trim off the extra pieces at the bottom so you have a clean stem.  Take other small pieces and form a mini bouquet bundle.  You can make it as full as you want.  This is how I choose to do mine.  

3. Wrap the floral tape around the stem of the flowers to secure them.  Take your burlap and cut to fit the stems.  Use the hot glue to secure it.  

4. Use the long pins to secure to the men's coats.  

Here's a video demonstrating one way to do it...in case you need a visual demo:

And here are the boutonnieres at the wedding

I love how they turned out.  I wanted a simple rustic look and these worked perfectly.  The guys liked them too since they were pretty small and light.

You could probably use other flowers as well, I just loved the look of baby's breath.  Be creative and have fun with this!

Let me know what you come up with.

If you like these check out my bridesmaid bouquets here

Wedding DIY: Baby's Breath Bridesmaid's Bouquets

I already mentioned my cutting costs on flowers here's how to make a baby's breath bouquet:

Materials
-baby's breath (I got mine from Sam's and I used about 6 stems per bouquet)
-floral tape
-burlap
-hot glue
-scissors

optional: I also added little initial charms to the stem of the bouquet to personalize them.

Here's a video tutorial I found in case you need some visual help:

How to do it:

1. Gather your stems of baby's breath.  Start with one at a time and trim them up.  Take off all the small pieces below the bouquet top.  

2. Keep bunching the pieces together to form your bouquet top.  This part can be a little tricky but work with it until you get it to look how you want.  You might have to fluff them up and keep bunching it together.  

3. Use the floral tape to wrap around the stems and secure them together.  I didn't wrap it all the way down the stem just enough to secure the stems.   

4. Trim the bouquet to the length you want.  I used my hand to measure from the bottom of the bouquet and trimmed the stems to the base of my hand.  

5. For finishing touches I wrapped a piece of burlap around the stem to cover the floral tape.  Then for added character I attached a silver initial charm I got off necklaces I found at Michael's to personalize the girl's bouquets.  

6. I made these two days before the wedding and placed them in water.  

Here are how they looked the day of the wedding:

I loved them and how they have that pretty rustic look and baby's breath looks delicate but it is a tough little flower.

I also made one for my toss bouquet.  They take a little time but once you get one done you will fly through them.

If you like these check out my boutonniere tutorial here

Wedding DIY: Groom gift

Here is what I got my husband on our wedding day.  I wanted it to be something special and documented the day.

I got this guitar pick keychain with this sweet little note and the tag with our wedding date on it.  

He proposed playing guitar so I liked how this documented the proposal as well as the wedding day. 

I also gave him this book, it is a Christian book all about becoming the man God wants you to be.  

Here is the finished product, I just wrapped it with burlap and tied it together with twine.