What God has done for us is beautiful & our hope is to share the love of Christ with everyone within our reach!
On Saturday, July 28th at 6:00 p.m. I married Callum Anthony Reece, the man of my dreams. Everything about our wedding was perfect and holy; we were able to worship God freely (through oath) with the support and witness of many of those that love us. The ceremony was exactly what I wanted and more than I could have ever imagined.
A little over a month ago, Callum & I shared the plans we had to get married with Mrs. Blanche Spinks (who I was living with at the time). Once she had thought through our beach wedding ideas, she suggested something more homey, a backyard wedding. We were thrilled with the idea and ran with it. She mentioned having it in her yard and using her home for the reception. Everything seemed to be coming together. Later that night she went to the Phillips house (a couple from our church) & while she was over there she called us and asked if we could come over. When we showed up at the Phillips, they had all planned out our wedding as if it would be at their house. Something you should know about the Phillips house is that it is very large and beautiful; their home should be in a magazine & should win awards for being so gorgeous. There were many times this last year that I would walk by their house and think "if I was their daughter, I would get married in their backyard!" How amazing is God? He took my little thoughts, hopes and dreams and turned them into reality. Beautiful, He's beautiful! If offering their home was not enough, Mrs. Phillips offered to make my wedding cake! I was overjoyed that night and amazed at how willing they were to serve us. Both Mrs. Blanche Spinks and Mrs. Sandra Phillips offered to work on the food for the reception. They kept my thoughts secure that our wedding would come together and that it would come together beautifully- one thing that Mrs. Phillips said that I will not forget is, "If you guys want to get married, we want to help you!" We are so blessed to know such wonderful people. When I contacted my bridesmaids about the plans, they were all so excited and ready to do whatever they could to help-they trusted that my decision was one that was rooted in prayer and did not doubt anything that we had planned. Once again, we are so blessed to know such wonderful people. While we were in Guatemala, the girls bought their dresses and anticipated the big day- my friends are the best! We mentioned to our friend, Mariah Walker, taking the pictures for our wedding- she agreed to do it with joy, which is brilliant because she is one of the most skilled photographers we know. While we were in Guatemala, my mother sent the invitations out. She was so thrilled to help us! The invitations were handmade and beautiful- there was nothing in the stores that suited us better than what my mom & I came up with together. She bought party favors, without spending much money at all. When we got back in the States, there were a few things that we needed to get done in only a weeks time. As much as I wanted to stress out and rush around trying to work out the details, God reminded me daily that He wanted to plan my wedding and bring it together for His glory. I let Him have control & He did everything He promised. Within two days of being back we were able to have a marriage counseling session with Rob Hilbun (a friend and minister who married us), work out the order of the wedding, find someone for music, get the flowers situated, find the remainder of our outfits, get everything together for the flower girl and work out the rehearsal dinner. It all was done without me doing a thing, really. During marriage counseling, Rob gave us a sheet of paper with the entire ceremony mapped out & we talked over the details & it worked out beautifully. The main concerns I had were with music & flowers. That night after church, we went to Sonic. My friend Samantha Binkerd came up and rejoiced with me. She asked if there was anything that we needed. I told her that I couldn't think of anything- she offered to get my toes done as a gift to me for our wedding. I was so blessed by her offer and accepted. Before she left, she asked if her and Jack Binkerd (her brother) could do the music for our wedding. Jack had played the wedding march on the guitar before and had been practicing it that week- amazing! In my opinion, Sam & Jack are two of the most talented people in Thomasville- so, to have them handle the music for our wedding was the greatest, most outstanding gift. God is so good to us. I know it has been said twice, but three times the charm.... We are so blessed to know such wonderful people. Like I said before, God did not let me stress one bit- He worked out the music worry within an hour after it was brought up in the counseling session. Then, the next time that we went to Walmart, we ran into Ms. Adrian (a member of our church & a friend who was in Guatemala with us); she offered to put my flowers together for me, because that is something she is skilled in. How kind? We are so blessed to know such wonderful people. Look at that, no more worries. There was nothing else that needed to be done on my part, because my maid of honor Miss Alicia Conn told me that I could not worry with the rehearsal or dinner plans because the bridesmaids were making the rehearsal dinner. Wow, we are so blessed to have such wonderful friends.
As you can imagine, friday came quickly... we ended up tying together little ideas last minute & everything turned out perfect. Friday was the rehearsal. Alicia Conn took charge and helped everything to flow well. That night, my bridesmaids made an awesome spaghetti dinner with salad and delicious ice cream! Everyone was full and blessed. We were prayed over by some of the most precious people in the world. The rehearsal & dinner were amazing! Thanks be to God for such wonderful friends & family.
Saturday was our wedding day. I slept a total of two hours the night before, because I was so excited!!! Early in the morning, I ran last minute errands with my dear Alicia Conn. We were able to find the flowers for the girls at Walmart (being there is no other shopping centers in the little town of Thomasville, AL); although they did not have the white daises that I wanted, they did have beautiful roses that matched the girls dresses. I ended up making the bouquets later that day with the help of my best friend Lulu Gomes and our dear Mariah Walker; they turned out beautiful. That morning we also printed off pictures that we used as favors, fixed my eyes (they were extremely irritated the entire week before the wedding) & cleaned out my car together. It was good to spend one-on-one time with Alicia Conn. When we got back to the Spinks house, all of the girls were awake. We all got cleaned & straightened our hair, then we headed to the Phillips house. There, Mrs Phillips shared a word with the bride (me) & blessed me more than I can tell you in words. She read a short story by Beth Moore which opened my eyes to how blessed I am to have someone with me through all of the times that are to come- easy & hard alike, I am glad to have Callum Anthony Reece. The day flew by & everything came together beautifully. At three thirty, we all took photos- just to say so again, Mariah Walker is an awesome photographer & she did an amazing job capturing every moment. At six, I was ready to marry Callum. As my little brother, Alex Dudenhoeffer led me outside to be married, I got super nervous/excited & was shaky; to be honest, it was the sweetest feeling. I was so free and ready to say "I do". Our wedding lasted 16 minutes & those 16 minutes were the sweetest. Rob opened up with a word about marriage & he prayed over us. Then, we agreed to be with one another. Mary Cate McDowell prayed over our marriage. Rob Hilbun & Alicia Conn sang one of my favorite songs as Callum & I prayed with one another; that was beautiful. We recited vows, exchanged rings and kissed! Beauty. It was truly beautiful to me. To be honest, my eyes were only on Callum the entire service & I had no idea who was there until the reception. The reception was inside at the Phillips house & it was amazing!!! There was food, drinks and two beautiful cakes! To be honest, it was the most perfect wedding I had EVER been to! There was nothing I would change. God has blessed us with wonderful friends and family.
Michele Hall (my momma) for serving us in every way that she could & making sure we had everything we needed.
Mr. & Mrs. Spinks for offering their home for the rehearsal dinner, for my friends to stay, for making so much food, and providing many other services for us.
Mr. & Mrs. Phillips for offering your yard, home, food and two beautiful wedding cakes.
Alicia Conn for being the maid of honor, orchestrating the rehearsal & dinner and everything else you did for us.
Alex Dudenhoeffer for being the best man, holding the rings, walking me down to Callum, and providing wedding favors.
Taylor Troha, Melinda Peckham, Lulu Gomes, and Ashley Hilbun for being the most peaceful and loving bridesmaids a bride could ask for. Y'all are so special to me and will always be a reason that I thank God.
Mary Cate McDowell for praying over our marriage, looking after my precious mother before, during and after the ceremony and for being flexible.
Mariah Walker for taking the most precious pictures, helping with the flowers and for supporting us in all that we have done.
Sam & Jack Binkerd for providing amazing music & considering the brides hopes. I love y'all more than you will ever know.
Sage Smoker, Joey Luker, & Christian Boyer for being apart of our wedding and loving Callum so well. You men are so important to us and we know that you are all blessings from the Lord. Thank you for coming last minute & supporting us with joy! Y'all are awesome!
Jess Rexrode for coming all the way to Thomasville for our wedding, watching after the children all day, taking photos, loving and supporting us in all that we have done.
Mrs. Elizabeth Bonner for making cheese straws for us & being so joyful in our decision to get married.
Ms. Adrian for arranging my flowers so beautifully.
To EVERYONE who has been with us, supported us & helped make the wedding possible. It is obvious that without you all, our wedding would not have been possible. Thank you for your support. May God bless you for all that you have done for us. In Luke 6 verse 38, we are told "Give and it will be given to you, a good measure, pressed down, shaken together will be poured into your lap. The same measure you use will be used unto you." Be encouraged in knowing that God sees all that you have done for us & in your time of need, He will return unto you all that you have done for us. God bless you all!!
So, as you can all see... we have been blessed beyond what we could have ever asked for! Everything was given to us. God orchestrated the entire weekend & made everything possible. We continue to rely on the Lord and look forward to all the days that we will share together. Thank you to all that support us! Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to seek the Father in all that we do! We love you & consider you family.
Be glad & stay encouraged. God is with you and will provide for you if you look to Him. He knows all our your needs. Hand every worry, every thought over to Him that can see all things.
"Finally my brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things." Philippians 4:8.
We love you all & pray for you as we continue this journey with our eyes on the truth. Blessings, grace and peace to all.
<3 the Reece family
