when stevie and tony first contacted us, we knew they were different than all the rest. they were having the most intimate and organically made wedding we had ever heard of, and they were inviting us to be a part of that as though we were close friends or family ourselves. and when I say organically made, I am trying to get the “homemade, handmade, stylized wedding blog wedding” out of your head. This wasn’t one of those. It was handmade because they and their families have such care for each other, such love for their story, that no detail was added just to be a detail. and when I say intimate, I mean intimate. there were 17 people present, all immediate family, and then us. we were welcomed into each meal and conversation as though we had been born into their families, as well.
they met on the reality tv show: extreme makeover, home edition. you know, “m o v e t h a t b u s !” She was the photographer, he was the head carpenter. the first show they worked on together, they bonded. they worked long hard days and nights, and that week, a beautiful old walnut tree was chopped down so that a family could have a home. tony kept the tree, cut it up, dried the slabs of wood out for three years and three years later, he built – with his own two hands – the table that they would set up for their wedding dinner.
her mom is a seamstress, and made her dress by hand. they picked out the fabric together, and stevie could have never imagined another dress. This one had meaning so much deeper than something off of a rack in a bridal shop. her sister is a baker, and made the best cake i’ve ever tasted – with lavender and sage carefully placed by hand, exactly what stevie imagined. tony made the planters for the succulents on the dinner table, and the grandpa’s and dad’s strung up the twinkle lights for that evening’s celebration.
as the pastor began the ceremony, he turned to them and said “stevie and tony, welcome to your build!” and I couldn’t help but think of how true that was. every item that had been made for this wedding day, big or small, was not just about a wedding – they were about to build a marriage. the cake would soon be eaten or frozen, the dress would hang in a closet until generations later when someone wants to wear “grandma’s dress”, and the table would become their dining room table – where they paid bills and had fights, and told their children to eat with their mouths closed and where they hosted and loved other people. this really was their “build”, their most important one.
and it all started with a walnut tree, chopped down to make room for a home, and later turned into a table.
by the parsons
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