Wedding Blog
Let’s journey back 7 years and take a look inside the mind of 16 year old Miss Avo. A girl who loves to sing and dance, who has already become slightly wedding obsessed. We won’t be using a time machine for this journey, instead we’ll be using a time capsule!
I’ve mentioned before how important temple marriage is in the LDS faith, and as teenage girl I participated in many youth group activities learning about temple marriage. The best activity I attended involved filling up canning jars with wedding themed items, and sealing them ourselves using a canning trailer. I was so excited to move home after getting engaged, break out the can opener, and see what had been waiting inside for 7 years.
We were told to open the can with our fiancé, but I didn’t wait for mine as I had a hunch that inside the can was a letter I had written to my future husband, and I was correct. It ended up being part of my ring ceremony reading, which I will be sharing with you all when I do my wedding recaps.
It turns out the can was sealed on October 10, 2001, and I was married on October 11th, 2008. It probably doesn’t mean anything, but I thought it was cool how close the dates matched up! On the back of the can the “ingredients” were listed. The can was filled with things like traits I wanted my husband to have, traits I want for myself, a letter from my church leader, and other various objects. Many of those things would probably be of no interest to you, and are a little bit personal for me to share.
Of course what I will be sharing are the most entertaining things: my desired wedding colors, ring, dress, even the physical characteristics I was looking for in a husband!
I must have been imagining a spring time wedding, as these colors would have looked ridiculous at my fall nuptials.
I imagine that this is what I wanted for an engagement ring, as I have always been rather adamant that I didn’t want anything “sticking up” on my ring. I don’t regret the ring that I have, but my 16 year old self was right, it does snag on things.
I like the sweet little neckline on this dress, but that is about all I like. The pattern is busy and the skirt would drown me. Also, is there something weird about the glove on her left hand? Are these the kind of gloves that only loop over your middle finger?
Here he is, my dream guy. I think I modeled this picture after meeting the boyfriend of a woman interviewing to be my dad’s secretary. He had dark hair and green eyes and he left my best friend and I giggling when he pretended to drink out of a non-functioning drinking fountain (hey, it seemed funny at the time).
Last but not least…….baby names! Yes, we did a page where we named our future children. I don’t have a picture of it, though I did write them down before I left Washington in order to share them with you.
Joselynn
Syrina
Prayton
Calistra
Jurima
Alandra
Tranden
Bryant
Renton
Apparently I really liked the letter R?What can you remember about your teenage, preteen, or childhood wedding fantasies?
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Share this post: Avocado Time Capsule
This is awesome 
We did a similar thing at my sorority, where on the day we pledged we wrote a letter to ourselves, and then they sent the letter to us after we graduated. It was funny!!! I have to dig mine up.
That is so great! Its so funny to look back and examine the ways in which you have/haven’t change over the years.
OMG This is adorable! When I was in high school, I designed my own wedding dress. It’s actually kind of cute. And my kids were going to be named after the 4 Beatles. (Lame)
Too cute! I remember planning my “dream wedding” with my childhood best friend. I was going to have 7 bridesmaids dressed in the different colors of the rainbow, and I wanted a Scarlett O’Hara gown with a giant hoop skirt and full-length satin gloves. I have no idea what my 10-year-old self would think of my navy bridesmaids’ dresses and sleek, lacy gown!
Does anyone else think that this is a bit odd? I mean for a religion to be promoting marriage at such a young age? Kind of unsavory, even?
@52 cents: not when the basic structure and beliefs of the religion center around marriage and the family.
52 cents:
What young girl doesn’t think about her future spouse and dream of what kind of wedding she’ll have? So Mrs. Avo had a chance to do it with her youth group. Hardly unsavory. Besides, if one is seriously committed to the faith that he/she is in, being a teenager is hardly too young to know what standards (similar values, ideals, faith, etc) that they’d like to hold to when choosing a spouse.
Calling this unsavory is like calling out parents who let their daughters parade around the house with pillowcases on their heads pretending they’re getting married and saying that they’re doing their girls an injustice.
there’s my few cents.
@melodicsighs: Hey thanks for having my back!
@52 cents: A tenant of the LDS religion is the belief that celestial marriage is the highest ordinance one can undertake, bringing with it the most powerful blessings God has to offer. Such a marriage can only be entered into when both members of the partnership have kept themelves pure and followed the teachings of the gospel. The pressures of the outside world are strong, strong enough that teaching youth to keep a celestial sealing as a primary goal greatly increases the chances the youth will do so. I can think of no more powerful experience than the one I undertook 20 days ago. You know what made it so powerful? I chose to do it. No one forced me to be married in the temple, but all of those lessons I learned as a youth helped me get there.
@52 cents: Pretty sure most girls start dreaming about their weddings WAY before 16! I started planning mine the day I watched Arial marry Prince Eric
I was going to be married the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so everyone had plenty of time to travel. My bridesmaids would wear dark, dark blue. I wanted a 10 AM ceremony followed by champagne brunch and NO DANCING.
In reality, we got married in June, the bridesmaids wore red, and the afternoon ceremony was followed by dinner and semi-compulsory Bunny Hop.
grace:
I think that it is one thing to “play wedding” and another for it (marriage) to be promoted (at a young age) by an institution. It reminds me of the purity balls. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purity_Ball
However, I am openly reject certain aspects of my religion; I believe in birth control, support gay marriage, etc. So I guess that this would fall into the category of things that aren’t my preference.
I’m with you 52 cents.
Would I ever approve of this kind of thing for my (future) daughters? Absolutely not. That said, I can respect the fact that this is obviously special to Mrs. Avacado.
How much fun! I bought a fake engagement ring about 7 yrs ago and now it is something I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing… also my friends and I used to look through bridal mags for fun and pick out our dresses - those I also wouldn’t think of wearing now. HAHAHA!
Miss Avocado,
What a fun thing to be able to look back on now that you’re married! I’m not part of the LDS religion, but I am a Christian. My youth group had a purity retreat in the mountains when I was 15. All of us girls stayed in a cabin and talked about the importance of marriage and being pure young women. We all made lists of the characteristics we wanted in our future husbands and prayed over these lists. I’m so truly thankful for this experience. I have held every guy I’ve ever liked up to this standard and now I’m marrying the one who exceeds my every expectation! I’m framing the list and giving it to my future husband the night before our wedding. I’m also removing the little diamond purity ring I’ve worn for 7 years in exchange for my wedding band. I totally identify with you here.
I admire you for staying true to your standards. What a blessing to finally be married to the man you’ve waited for all these years and to have such a cute reminder of the faith that’s gotten you here!
I understand where 52 cents is coming from, however I respect and admire Mrs. Avacado (and other women who chose to do the same) for being true to her beliefs. I do find it a little odd to have activities centered on one’s future wedding, but I can understand why a religious organization would do so. This is a very tricky subject. On one hand, I don’t like the idea of everyone should be striving to achieve this one contrived idea of an earthly perfection. On the other, I see nothing wrong with teaching kids to respect themselves enough to have high standards about the people with whom they choose to surround themselves in the future. I think there’s a balance we’re all trying to find in this, what with same-sex marriage (which I fully support) becoming such an issue recently and how people deal with increasing divorce rates. The important thing to remember in all of this (and of Avacado’s post) is how two happy people have managed to find each other in this crazy world, and to love each other enough to be able to fully commit their lives to the other. Religion, sexual preference, race, or whatever are just details.
@Brie16: It’s so wonderful to read through the list and rest assured knowing that I stayed true to what I believe in.
To the critics: I didn’t realize this post would be so controversial! I thought that making a wedding can was fun. I guess it just seems normal for our church activities to focus on marriage at times, we believe that getting married is the most important thing a person can do, ever! After marriage you can have children and start a family and do all the rest of those wonderful things.
hey, i want to do that activity where can i get all the paper work, or can you send me a copy or website frome where i can get the papers and just print them,,,
please…
@astrid: You may be mocking me. But I’ll send you a link anyways!
[...] posted about my temple time capsule previously, and as I was writing my vows I remembered tucking a note to my future husband inside. I broke out [...]
haha i love it! my grandma mailed me something similar to this (except not wedding themed!) from me in 9th grade. it was hilarious reading about my highschool crushes and what not.
i remember as a girl, my best friend and i used to dream/draw/act out our “wedding day” and all of the gorgeous things that go with it. i wanted my wedding dress to lace up not only in the back, but also in the front!!! i will have to admit that is one dream i am not going in on now.. but i will still have her by my side
The Mormon Truth is a dangerous lie. Anyone who has truly read the Book of Mormon can see that it is full of falsehoods. The prophets make prophecies that don’t come true, which are then wiped from the records. Please read up on the controversy and craziness surrounding the LDS church before you waste your whole life on lies. http://www.exmormon.org/
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Mrs. Avocado, Seattle
Age and Occupation: 23, Student
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Consultant
Engagement Date: July 27, 2008
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: June 30, 2008
Venue: LDS Seattle Temple & Hotel 1000
About Me: Somehow this little farm girl found herself a genuine Pole to fall in love and eventually move away to Poland with. I am an LDS bride attempting to plan a private religious ceremony, ring ceremony, seated reception for 100, and an open house while coordinating for guests flying in from across the United States and as far away as Poland. I try to avoid fads, excess waste, and saturated fat. I strongly endorse photography, DDR, calorie counting, rss feeds, cooking, and utilizing your resources.
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