"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..."

Dana + Joseph | Intimate Spring Florida Wedding

January 20, 2021/ Editor Spoken Bride

A May wedding on a sunny Florida day, witnessed by an intimate gathering of guests. Hints of pastel blues accented the celebration, and eucalyptus leaves garnished the joyful reception.

Dana and Joseph navigated a long-distance relationship full of precious travel memories and, eventually, a marriage proposal. But they didn’t expect to plan their wedding during a pandemic—a crisis that changed many of their plans.

Through the powerful intercession of St. Joseph and trust in the Lord, they still celebrated “a wedding day more beautiful than [they] could ever imagine.”

From the Bride

Two years before I met Joseph, a dear friend of mine, and one of my bridesmaids, told me to pray for my future spouse. I began praying for him that same day, and it became a continual part of my prayer routine.

St. Anne is my confirmation saint and the patron saint of unmarried women, so I asked for her intercession often. I also prayed novenas asking St. Joseph to help me find a holy spouse like him—I had no idea my husband’s name would be Joseph!

Even though Joseph and I attended the same college, we didn’t meet until joining Catholic Match several years after graduation. We immediately connected over our faith, being self-proclaimed bibliophiles, similar travel interests, and shared values.

Joseph lived two hours away from me, and our first in-person date took place during a weekend in August of 2018. It included lunch, a visit to the local botanical gardens, and dinner. During dinner, I felt an immediate need to visit God in the adoration chapel at my church: Queen of Peace Catholic Church.

After our date ended, I went straight to the chapel. I felt God’s overwhelming love for me and a peace about proceeding with the relationship beginning to form between Joseph and me. Later, Joseph said he felt God answered his prayers with a rainbow on the drive home.

He’s told me it was “love at first sight” for him, but I just thought that happened in movies.

By September we were courting and visiting each other almost every weekend. We are grateful to our friends and family who let us stay with them and respected our desire not to stay overnight alone with each other until marriage.

In October, I traveled to Ireland with one of my future bridesmaids. Throughout the whole trip, I stopped by St. Joseph chapels in churches and prayed for our relationship. One of these churches housed relics of St. Valentine, so naturally I prayed there as well.

We even had the opportunity to visit the town of Knock, where a Marian apparition included St. Joseph!

In January, Joseph and I began praying a string of novenas to different saints we had a devotion to, alternating who would pick the next novena and saint. We continued this practice throughout our long-distance courtship and engagement.

Some of my favorite moments together with Joseph have been during our travels. He joined my family for our Thanksgiving and Christmas tradition of enjoying the Christmas lights at Callaway Gardens in Georgia.

A month before our engagement, we visited Savannah, Georgia for a long weekend trip enjoying history, nature, and food. We stayed in different hotel rooms during this trip, to maintain chastity. And after our engagement, we traveled to Arizona to visit some of Joseph’s family and the Grand Canyon.

Joseph proposed in the adoration chapel of my church, Queen of Peace. It was the same adoration chapel I visited after my first date with him, and it also became the church in which we were married.

During our engagement, we were told several times to expect something to go wrong. But we didn’t expect a pandemic.

Many of our plans had to be reimagined in a matter of weeks. We relied heavily on our friends, family, and church community to help us through the challenges of getting married during COVID-19. It was also a time to reflect more fully on what was most important: the marriage sacrament, not the perfect wedding.

In spite of this, I prayed to God for a wedding day more beautiful than I could ever imagine, and it was. When our wedding day arrived, everything fell into place.

Receiving the Eucharist was particularly emotional during our nuptial Mass, as that was our first time receiving communion since the start of the pandemic in March. Our priest, Fr. Mike Foley, blessed our rings and concelebrated our nuptial Mass with Fr. Al Esposito. Fr. Al was our main celebrant, pastor, and dear friend who prepared us for marriage.

On the day of our rehearsal, we coordinated with Fr. Al to have a holy hour of adoration beforehand. We had half an hour to ourselves before guests and family joined. This really helped to center us and chase any nerves away.

Joseph and I also received the sacrament of reconciliation. We highly recommend this to any Catholic couple before getting married!

We chose Mass readings that reflected what we wanted our marriage to emulate: we love because God first loved us. Our first reading was Tobit 8:4b-8. We selected Psalm 128 (“may the Lord bless us all the days of our lives”) for our psalm, Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39 for our second reading, and John 17:20-23 for the gospel.

Joseph and I also wrote our own petitions and prayed for those who could not be with us, including deceased grandparents, family members, and friends.

We spent a lot of time thinking about the songs for our wedding, said in the Mass of Saint Ann. And we selected some of our favorite hymns:

Prelude: Laudate Dominum by Mozart and Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring by Bach
Processional: Canon in D by Pachelbel
Presentation of Flowers to Mary: Ave Maria by Schubert
Offertory: The Summons by John L. Bell
Communion: How Beautiful by Twila Paris
Recessional: The Four Seasons: Spring by Vivaldi

We initially planned to have a string quartet and vocalist, but our church’s choir director sang and played piano beautifully instead.

The details of our wedding included many small touches of sentimentality. My “something blue” was a navy rosary from the Vatican when I studied abroad. “Something borrowed” was my mother’s pearl bracelet, and my “something old” was a bow from my grandmother’s wedding dress that my mom sewed to my “something new” dress.

I had a difficult time finding a wedding dress that felt right, until I tried on “the one.” To my surprise, the style was called “Trinity.”

To light our unity candle, Joseph and I used our baptismal candles. And we incorporated the Croatian tradition of holding a crucifix during our wedding vows, to show that through Jesus we are united in marriage. We also presented white roses to Mary’s statue as our first act as husband and wife.

Prior to our wedding, Fr. Al encouraged us to select the variation of the nuptial blessing we preferred. While Joseph and I kneeled during this blessing, he invited our parents to lay their hands on us.

I designed programs that shared the details of our wedding Mass with accompanying explanations for any non-Catholic friends and family. It also included love-related quotes from our favorite saints.

While I wish our wedding could have been an opportunity to show the beauty of the Catholic Mass to all our guests in person, we were unable to have more than 25 attendees. So I pray the recording of our wedding Mass still shared the joy of our wedding day. And that our vocation of marriage will share the beauty of our faith in daily life.

My mom and I crafted the reception decorations. I hand-lettered signs and designed table cards that showed Joseph and me at different ages: First Communion, college, etc. We also included wedding photos of our parents and grandparents surrounding our engagement photo.

Joseph and I wanted our family and friends to have fun despite COVID-19. Our guests who were unable to attend the wedding joined us for the reception on Zoom, and they watched us dance and give toasts and speeches. We were so grateful to a local Catholic-owned restaurant who hosted our reception after we had to change our original plans.

Unfortunately, both our best man and maid of honor lived out of town and were unable to attend due to travel restrictions. So they recorded their speeches ahead of time, and we played them at the reception. Joseph and I still had our first dance, and my dad and I had our father-daughter dance.

We had so much fun and surprised everyone with spontaneous dancing throughout the night. For reception music, we put together a Spotify playlist of Big Band era songs with a few modern tunes. Fr. Al was our excellent—and hysterical—master of ceremonies.

At the end of the night, we had our send-off under glow sticks and bubbles. And despite the pandemic, our intimate wedding allowed us to spend more time with each other and our attendees while being fully present in our new marriage sacrament.

For me, getting married during COVID-19 was a spiritual journey. I’ve learned a lot throughout the wedding planning process; namely, to embrace flexibility, to be open to changes in expectations, to find gratitude in every situation, to focus on what’s most important, and to trust in God as well as our family and friends.

The biggest lesson has been a deeper understanding that we can’t control our lives as much as we think we can. And letting go of that control and handing it to the Lord brings freedom.

Photography: Jimmy Ho Photography | Nuptial Mass Location: Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Gainesville, Florida | Wedding Reception Venue: Napolatano’s Restaurant, Gainesville, Florida | Day-Of Coordination: Sandy DeTeresa, friend of the couple | Décor: made by the Bride and Mother of the Bride | Rings: The Gem Collection, Tallahassee, Florida; Manly Bands | Flowers: Publix | Cake: Publix | Wedding Program: Made by the bride and printed locally by Alta Systems, Inc. | Invitations: Shutterfly | Bride’s Dress and Veil: OML Bridal | Bridesmaids’ Attire: David’s Bridal | Groom’s and Groomsmens’ Attire: Men’s Wearhouse | Hair: Eden Michele Salon | Makeup: done by the Bride | Church Music: Gary Kneal, Music Director at Queen of Peace | Reception Music: Spotify playlist made by the Bride and Groom | Ice Cream (surprise from a bridesmaid!): Sweet Dreams Homemade Ice Cream of Gainesville

December 12, 2018

Melissa + AJ | Romantic Marian Wedding

December 12, 2018/ Editor Spoken Bride

Melissa and AJ met in 2016 at the same church they would get married in two years later. During their courtship, it only took a couple months for them to both discern a call to marriage.

As they traveled the road to the altar, one constant remained in their relationship: the intercession of the Blessed Mother. They consecrated themselves and their relationship to Jesus through Mary the December after they met.

They consecrated themselves again on their wedding day.

And since then they have renewed that consecration a third time.

Their wedding day would be marked by abiding peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and a joy shared by everyone who attended.

From the Bride: I was introduced to AJ one night at church by a good friend who knew both of us well. A few weeks later on the solemnity of the Assumption of Mary, after a Latin Mass at the oldest and most beautiful Catholic church in Miami, he asked me on our first date.

Kneeling together during the Eucharistic liturgy during that Mass, AJ says an image came to his mind of his cousin’s wedding, when she and her husband presented flowers to Mary. It was then he decided he better ask me out.

We began seeing each other regularly and from the very beginning prayed together each night.

Two months later we had already started talking about marriage and the good things the Lord might have in store for our future.

After that, on the days leading up to the feast of the Immaculate Conception, we made our first consecration to Jesus through Mary, using Fr. Michael Gaitley’s 33 Days to Morning Glory.

The next January, our first trip together was with friends from our community to Washington, D.C. for the March For Life; it was an incredible weekend to experience and passionately defend life in the womb together.

And following my graduation from my master’s program, we set off to explore the national parks and celebrate finishing school. AJ proposed at Arches National Park in Moab, Utah, on the feast day of Sts. Anne and Joachim: the parents of the Blessed Virgin, patrons of marriage, and now our personal patron saints.

It was time to plan a wedding.

While I was in charge of the logistics, aesthetics, and reception planning, AJ took the initiative planning our Mass. There were many precious aspects included in this, and he thought through each detail with love and care.

We had four priests concelebrate our wedding Mass: one from AJ’s dormitory at the University of Notre Dame, one who served AJ his first communion, another who has been his spiritual director over the years, and one involved with our young adult community.

We knew from the start that we would include the presentation of flowers to Mary in our Mass. In fact, it had been at that same church, in front of that same statue of Mary almost two years earlier that AJ and I received the Eucharist kneeling together before he asked me on a date.

I think back now to our wedding day, entrusting ourselves to Jesus through the intercession of our beautiful Blessed Mother, when we brought her flowers and consecrated ourselves for the second time.

Another addition we both felt strongly about was a foot washing ceremony. This was something we had never seen during a Catholic wedding Mass, but after getting the approval of our priests, we were thrilled to include it.

For us, marriage is about a willful choice to love and serve the other by giving the gift of ourselves. In order to display that gift of self, service, and humility we each got down on our knees in front of the altar and washed each other’s feet.

This was just as Jesus said:“So if I, your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done for you.”

The two of us have also served as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion in the past. We knew that in addition to serving each other throughout our marriage, we also desired to serve our family, friends, and community on our wedding day. Thus, we decided to serve as Eucharistic ministers at our nuptial Mass and distribute communion to our guests. This was a beautiful moment, getting to serve the Bread of Life to those that we loved most.

Our nuptial Mass was not only the best part of our wedding day; it was the most special event of our lives.

It meant so much to us to hear similar sentiments not only from those attending our wedding who were practicing Catholics, but also from those who did not regularly attend church or who may not even believe in God. Each person we spoke with shared that our Mass was special, deeply meaningful, and touched them in a unique way.

My sister-in-law sang two songs during our Mass. One of our lectors was the same friend who first introduced AJ and I. We were able to include so many loved ones, aunts, godparents, grandparents, cousins, nieces, nephews, and others in our wedding day.

The music was absolutely beautiful, the church was stunning, the flowers added a feeling of life, and our guests filled the place with joy. And yet, more than all that, the Holy Spirit was what illuminated our nuptial Mass and made it the divine event it was.

We both truly felt it was just the two of us there with Jesus, vowing ourselves to the other on the most important day of our lives.

Before the event, I was concerned I would be distracted with so many loved ones there to celebrate or by trying to remember what came next. I was afraid I would not be able to appreciate living in each moment during the wedding ceremony.

But that could not have been further from how I felt during those ninety minutes. I have never been so fully present to any event, Mass, or moment in my life.

I was filled with more peace than I have ever felt. On my way down the aisle, my eyes locked with AJ’s and did not wander away.

During the Mass the world seemed to become still and present with us, to allow us peace to soak in every second of this time. I was completely present in each moment, not paying attention to what anyone else was doing. It was such a gift.

The rest of the day absolutely flew by.

With so many family and friends visiting from out of town, and even out of the country, we tried to enjoy them all while remaining focused on each other.

Now, we are so thankful to live around the corner from Gesu Catholic Church, where it all began at that Latin Mass on the feast of the Assumption several years ago. We were married there, and it is currently our home parish where we serve as Eucharistic ministers and lectors.

This year, on August 15, 2018 we consecrated ourselves for the third time to Jesus through Mary during the Latin Mass of the Assumption at Gesu, now as a joyfully married couple in our home parish.

We have our families to thank for raising us to be who we are, supporting our decisions and desires, helping us plan our big day, and hosting the most wonderful wedding for us.

Looking back as a bride, planning a wedding can be extremely stressful and overwhelming. As a marriage and family therapist, I know the engagement period is typically the most difficult time in a couple’s lives. The pressure of such a big life event and the constant input they get from everyone around them can be overwhelming.

My takeaway is that it all would have been meaningless without Jesus.

He brought us together, made our relationship good, and helps us to love each other in a life-giving way. I am so thankful for my husband’s faith and dependence on God. Without that, our marriage would not be the good, selfless, sanctifying one that it is.

Although AJ and I have different interests and strengths, we use those differences to compliment one another, just as we did with our styles on our wedding day to create our perfect aesthetic.

When we experience difficulties, as every couple will, we have a greater understanding of how to handle those times and tackle them together because of our faith. I am so thankful our wedding day set us up for a lifetime grounded in the rock-solid foundation of Christ.

November 15, 2016

Rosie + Tyler | Fall Yacht Club Wedding

November 15, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Rosie and Tyler grew up in the same Florida suburb and were classmates all the way up through their high school graduation, but they didn't get to know each other--or begin dating--until college at the University of Florida. Tyler knew early on that Rosie was the one. After finishing his Masters at the university, Tyler moved back home to work, while Rosie worked on her doctorate. She'd wonder now and then whether Tyler would propose sometime during the final year of her program.

Much to Rosie's surprise, it was during her penultimate year in school that she came to visit Tyler one late summer weekend. He'd decided shortly before her arrival that it was the perfect time to ask Rosie to be his wife, yet hadn't decided exactly how he'd ask. In his nervousness, Tyler accidentally spilled a bottle of blue curacao all over his carpet.

One freshly steamed carpet later and off on their planned weekend trip to a concert, Tyler covered Rosie's eyes around sunset and told her he had a gift for her. When she took off her blindfold, there he was, one one knee, asking her hand in marriage.

From the Photographer: They met in elementary school, attended the same high school, and are now alumni from the same college. When love is meant to be, it will be.

Rosie and Tyler dreamed of a small, intimate, and elegant wedding day. Rosie has always loved the fall and used the rich colors of the season as her inspiration. The floral arrangements included the most beautiful calla lilies, roses, dahlias, wax flowers, scabiosas, and sunflowers in shades of burgundy, terra cotta, burnt orange, and yellow. Warm, inviting and captivating--the perfect setting for God's love to be shared with family and friends.

Their wedding mass was beyond beautiful. The splendor of God's glory was reflected not only in the brilliant fall foliage and florals adorning the church, but in the sense that the Holy Spirit was truly present.

Both families were so filled with love, radiating what it meant to be united in Christ. But one family member in particular stood out: Rosie's father, whom she obviously takes after. You could just see that his heart was so filled with love, peace, grace and joy on his daughter and new son-in-law's wedding day. As we captured moments of Rosie and her dad interacting, their bond gleamed so brightly. During their Father-Daughter dance, I could feel God saying, "I love you all that much. And more." What a beautiful representation of fatherly love.

September 20, 2016

Sarah + Christopher | Kate Spade-Inspired Wedding

September 20, 2016/ Editor Spoken Bride

Sarah and Christopher first encountered each other on a charismatic retreat at Franciscan University, where they both were students at the time. For two years after that, they were best friends, spending hours watching movies, going to Mass and praise concerts together, and having breakfasts with friends.

From the Bride: Fast forward to the spring of 2012, after a couple starts and stops of not wanting to ‘ruin’ our friendship, Chris asked me to be his girlfriend after the 7:00 AM daily Mass at one of our favorite spots. We should pause our story here to note that this Mass was the end of a 12+ hour third date that included a trip to the ER. We knew from then on that we were in this for the duration. We each moved back to our respective hometowns after graduation a month later. After two years of dating long distance, traversing between Dallas and Dunedin for weekend visits, Chris moved to Florida. Ten months passed, we added Bosco the husky to the mix, and Chris proposed.

Back on that retreat where they first met, Chris had given Sarah her first brown scapular, a sacramental given to St. Simon Stock, a Carmelite priest, by Our Lady. He proposed on the Feast of Mount Carmel.

From the Photographer: For Chris and Sarah, the Mass was the most important part of their day. Our Lady of Lourdes in Dunedin, FL, where the ceremony was held, is Sarah's home parish where she currently serves as the Director of Faith Formation. It is a more modern church with a lot of natural light, which added to the airy feel of the entire day. The two priests who presided at the wedding are close with both the bride and groom. Sarah and Fr. Chuck became friends on a retreat a few years back, and he actually made the kneeler that Christopher and Sarah used during the Mass as a wedding gift. Fr. Chuck also delivered a touching and personal homily and presided over the vows. Fr. Gary, who serves as the pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes has a tradition of taking a selfie with his couples...and Sarah and Chris were no exception!

Sarah and Christopher are both from close-knit families with five children each. All of their siblings were included in the wedding party. Sarah and her sisters are particularly close, sharing matching tattoos even! Both of her sisters were honored as the Maid and Matron of Honor. Sarah also wore her older sister Mandy's pearl earrings.

Sarah has a love for bright colors and the Kate Spade brand. Her natural choice for a wedding day scent was Kate Spade's Live Colorfully, and she also wore sequined Kate Spade Keds that Chris gave her as a gift. She donned her signature bright red lipstick, which made her beautiful blue eyes pop against her fair skin. This couple has style for miles! Chris wore a slim fit gray tux from J. Crew to compliment Sarah's timeless dress from Athena's Bridal.

In between the mass and the reception, the wedding party explored downtown Dunedin for photos. We stopped at Rosie's Tavern, a favorite watering hole for Chris and Sarah, as well as the marina and park off of Main street.

At the reception, Sarah and Chris incorporated a wealth of personal details, including their own wedding coloring book and custom caricature cookies of themselves! For place cards, they alphabetized guests' names on post cards with some of their favorite destinations, including various towns in Florida, places in Chris' home state of Texas, and Franciscan University, where they met.