So... this one time, Deg and I got married. I know, I know, I've never started a blog post like this before. Shocker. Okay, moving on. So Deg's family has this really cool tradition. Deg is descended from Quakers in New York. Quakers traditionally don't have clergy, so don't have someone to marry them. They believe they are married by God, and those present at the ceremony traditionally sign a document witnessing the marriage. (Don't believe me?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_wedding.) So, Deg's dad has an original document signed by Quakers at a marriage of his ancestors. This document is over 100 years old and it is beautiful. Well, when Deg's parents got married, they decided to continue the tradition. No, they are no longer Quakers. Yes, it's a beautiful document that looks lovely. So, Deg's grandfather made them one and they signed it with their friends and family when they were married. When Deg's brother got married, Deg's dad made one for him and his wife. And, you guessed it, he made one up for us. Ours is unique because we had two receptions so it is "witnessed" in both Idaho and Massachussets. Well, for our anniversary, Deg's parents sent the finished document and also paid for us to have it custom framed. Why custom framed? Because this thing is huge. So we took it over to Michael's and they happened to be having a 50% off sale on all custom framing (karma, I love you). We picked the frame and the glass we liked best and then found out we had picked the most expensive pieces available (go figure), but because of the sale, we were right within our budget. Long story short, we got the document back on Friday, and it is now hanging in our living room, looking very regal and official and I LOVE it. So... how about some pictures? Yay!
To put this in perspective, the pictures next to the document are each 11x14's.
This is a close-up of the document. Can you believe this thing is hand-made? Beautiful, no?
This is the original document, signed June 7, 1865 by Joseph Valentine and Elizabeth Coles with their friends and family as witnesses. As a humorous aside, Deg's dad kept calling me "Elizabeth" at our Mass reception, I think due to the intense amout of time he'd spent working on copying this document.
3 comments:
Wow, that is very cool!!!!
That is WAY cool! What a neat tradition to pass down and honor your heritage!
That is so cool. At first at the luncheon thing I was like, what are we supposed to do? Then I figured it out and realized it was the coolest thing I have ever seen. It looks nice. You know, if you ever need anything else custom framed...Jeff will do it cheaper than Micheal's...He is trained professionally. No joke.
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