GLO membership and your wedding
 

Did anyone incorporate items of your GLO membership in your wedding (ceremony or otherwise?). Use of colors/mascot/flower? If your better half was also in a GLO, did you incorporate his/her membership as well?

I would have loved to have had blue dresses for the bridesmaids, but my dress was ivory and the blue did not click. I ended up with wine bridesmaid dresses, and the florist put blue iris in their bouquets to compliment! That was the only part that I was able to incorporate into my wedding, other than my best friend who was my pledge sister as one of the bridesmaids.

1st Corinthians 13 is dear to the ASA heart, and I've notice most ASA weddings incorporate it, and I always looked for wedding cards that quoted it for my sister's weddings.

"If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing. If I dole out all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.

Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud, doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil; doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a woman, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known. But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love. "

Re: GLO membership and your wedding
 

I didn't incorporate any DZ items into my wedding... I like pink and green, but they weren't the best colors to use for a fall wedding. :D However, my matron-of-honor was one of my DZ little sisters, and I had a special section reserved in the church for my other sisters who attended the ceremony.

At the reception, my sisters circled around me and sang, which is one of our chapter traditions. :)

DH is not a member of a fraternity.

My sister incorporated irises into our bridesmaids bouquets for her wedding. That didn't work with my colors, so I used stylized fleur de lis on the invitations, programs, favors, etc... If I would have been thinking, I would have worn my badge somewhere on my wedding day, but I had a lot on my mind that weekend! At both my sister's and my weddings, all the Kappas in attendance gathered around and serenaded the groom.

Although there were quite a few of my husband's ATO brothers in attendance, they don't have a tradition of doing anything for the bride or groom at weddings.

ETA: I also had three Kappas in my wedding party (bio sis and two pledge sisters). My sister had one (and me, but I was still in high school) but had other Kappas as personal attendants, etc... DH had three fraternity brothers as groomsmen or ushers.

I attended the reception of an alumna, and she used purple violets as her accent flower with Sigma in mind. I'd go for something subtle like that in my wedding, as opposed to something blatant like sailboat centerpieces or something. :)

As far as other traditions, ALL of her bridesmaids were Sigmas, so they circled and sang a couple of different songs and did some of our more "interesting" cheers, just for kicks. :)

I had my badge pinned to the ribbon of my bouquet. All sigma kappa's in attendance were given paper violets tied with maroon ribbon to wear and it was mentioned in the program that they were sigma kappa's.

I am not married, but have attended a few weddings of sorority sisters.... Here are some of the things they have done.

One of my sisters wore her badge under her gown when she walked down the aisle. Another had a psalm sung during the ceremony and service that is of special significance to the sorority.

Pinning the badge under the dress, close to your heart, is common-- either as your something old, something borrowed, or something blue as applicable (if it has blue stones...) or just something that incorporates the sorority into a personal and meaninful day in your life.

At most, the sisters present would serenade the bride at the reception. Another bride played a ballad that our chapter sings at prefs and is dear to our hearts.

Photos with the sisters present are also a big hit at the reception. One of my sisters had her reception at a B&B that had two large stone lion statues at the front of the property. The lion is our mascot and it was the perfect place to pose for a few group shots.

A friend of mine is in another sorority. On initiation day, as part of gift giving to the new initiates, the big sister gives the little sister a garter belt to wear on her wedding day.

I heard of another couple who married just out of college. The groom's cake was in the style of his fraternity pin.

ETA: sueali-- how did you make paper violets? It sounds pretty! I'd love to see photos, as the ADPi flower is the woodland violet!

I've never been to a wedding that didn't have this passage read... greek or not.

I'm not getting married until October 2007 (fiance is still in the military right now, and I dont graduate until next Spring anyway) but I've already decided how I'm going to do this. I'm only having 1 sister as a bridesmaid - my twin, and my other 4 attendants are friends from high school and the navy. I'm going to ask my little sister to be a door greeter, and whenever one of our sisters arrives, she's going to give her a pink rose to hold during the ceremony as my way of honoring each of my sisters. The pink rose wont have anything to do with the ceremony - its just our flower. I dont care if they match with the rest of the decorations or not.

One of my pledge sisters was married in early November. She had a huge, beautiful wedding.

The six of us who pledged with her were invited, and there was a pink carnation with a pink ribbon around it at the door for each of us (other than the moms, we were the only ones to carry flowers.)

None of us were bridesmaids, but two of us (the ones closest to her) read in the wedding.



... the 1 Cor passage was read at her wedding, too, btw.

A few of my brothers were at the wedding, including some of the groomsmen. My wife had a few of her Alpha Phi sisters present as well. That was as far as I went with incorporation.

My bridesmaids carried red roses and I had a sorority sister do one of the readings which is dear to AOII's heart. My garter to toss was garnett and gold as Mr. AOIIBrandi is a TTKA, and the embellishment on the sides of our cake was lilly of the valley. I wanted to have lilly of the valley in my boquet (sp) also, but I was advised by my florist that it was $60 a stem and would wilt before I got down the aisle (August in FL)...

ETA: 4 of my 5 bridesmaids were/are AOIIs

My husband and I didn't do anything special, aside from the fact that my maid of honor and one of the other bridesmaids are sisters, and there were several more sisters among the guests. (DH is not in a fraternity.)

Come to think of it, I've been to a few sisters' weddings, and nobody has done anything special other than seating us all together or making sure the photographer took a group picture of all the AEPhi's.

I went to a wedding last summer where the bride was an AXO. There were a lot of AXO's in attendance, and they sang a song for her and her new husband... very pretty :)

I didn't have anything sorority related incorporated into the actual wedding but my maid of honor (during her speech) told my wedding guests about the day she met me, right before the rush party (it was called rush and there was no panhel so we could speak to pnm) and told everyone all about my purple leather reebok high tops. I guess that was memorable! She was in our first NM class and we have been friends ever since!

Denise

I've been at a Soror's wedding where all of the Sorors in attendance serranaded the bride and groom. And we carried yellow roses up to them. She also used yellow roses for the centerpieces at the reception. After we did the ceremony, a lot of different people came up and told us what a beautiful song it was.

Though none of my AOII sisters were at the wedding since we got married in Ireland, I still involved AOII in some ways. My matron of honor and my younger sister who was a bridesmaid both wore a deep red color, I carried red roses in my bouquet, and to involve Sigma Nu as the hubbie is one, the guys (his BM is one of his bros) wore white roses and my MOH and BM carried white roses. I didn't wear my badge as I didn't want to lose it while overseas.

My bridesmaids dresses were dark blue, and my flower girl's dress was gold. Our bouquets had forget-me-nots in them. 5 members of our bridal party were APO brothers (2 bridesmaids, both ushers, and one groomsman).

(Our bouquets also had yellow roses, even though I wasn't a Beta then, it's just one of my favorite flowers.)

I'm not married, but I was in my little's wedding a couple years ago. Most of the groomsmen and three of the bridesmaids were APO brothers, and during the reception we did a "Seger session" (a tradition of Michigan APO brothers - her husband is an alum from Michigan Tech) and at the very end of the night, after the last song, all the brothers got in a circle and sang the Toast Song. :)

At my wedding, I used pearls in my veil, dress, tiara, & jewelry & all my sorority sisters in attendance wore their pearl rings that we wear only on 2 occasions: Pref night & SK weddings. It was great! They all gathered around me & sang as well after the ceremony.

I'm not married. Regardless of who I marry, I'm going to have my linesisters as part of my bridal party and have the Sweetheart Song sung. I'm not particularly interested in having the colors or other symbols in my wedding.

What do the rings look like?

Like Brandi, I had a passage read that is dear to every AOII and there were other touches throughout that an AOII would recognize. Two of my attendants were AOIIs, and another AOII helped "behind the scenes" to make sure all went smoothly at the church. We had reserved pews for my sisters at the church as well. They brought our Loving Cup and they did a Friendship Circle at the reception. I even put it into my photographer's contract so he got a certain number of pictures of all of that!

Not married yet myself, but a tradition (I don't know if it's our chapter or sorority wide) is that your big sis gives you a garter and whenever a sister gets married, everyone wears their garters, and the bride wears hers either above her wedding garter or on her other leg. We also try to sing songs at the reception to the bride or the couple.

LOL I went to four weddings this year and I now can recite the verse by heart (I should have been able to after Catholic school scripture class, but ya know ;) ) Every time it was read I thought of the scene in Wedding Crashers where Vince Vaughan loses the bet to Owen Wilson that the reading won't be 1st Corinthians.

My cousin is a Sigma Kappa and she had "SK bridesmaids" -- an honorary position where they each got a corsage and a special ribbon pin (or something like that... I was like 13) and they sat together in special pew marked off by lavender and maroon ribbons). My cousin's "real" bridesmaids wore like baby blue or something but the SK maids wore lavender outfits....lavender dresses, blazers, pants, you name it. They sat together at tables with special maroon and lavender centerpieces and chair covers. I think they even had special placecards and favors.

Granted, Lizzie might have incorporated her sorority to a greater extent in her wedding than most people would have, but I'm thinking about stealing a few ideas for my wedding :)

This is totally unrelated but you remind me so much of my cousin Emily that is a AChiO. She refers to me as her Sigma Kappa cousin. Totally random I know.


End hijack/

so many good ideas!

I'm not getting hitched any time soon, but I have a feeling my brother might be...just wondered how people had incorporated things without it being too garish.

(i'll probably carry my pin when I do, along with a pearl necklace. I love white roses, even before I joined Tau Delta, but now that I am a TD...all the better!)

I know we typically serenade the bride as well with a special song.

These are all great ideas!! I'm planning my wedding right now and I'm trying to fit some KD things into it. I'm Serbian Orthodox so the ceremony isn't really able to be messed with as much so i'm looking more for things at the reception. My bridesmaid's dresses are green (although not kelly green) and we were talking about either having the kappa delta or the sig ep (my fiance's frat) flowers in the arrangements. If i din't have white roses in my bouquet I really like the idea of leaving one for each of my kappa delta sisters that will be coming.
I'm also wearing my pin on the inside of my dress.

As for songs, I'm not sure of any traditional songs i'll have sung to me. I think that's more up to my sisters in attendance but my husband is insisiting on "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi because apparently that was his chapter's "song" at formals and what not. Basically they just all get in a circle jump around and sing off key. it's pretty funny to witness

I think a lot of fraternities (probably sororities too) do this. I knew of a KS whose chapter did this to Journey's "Don't Stop Believing".

Yeah I know they do. I'm sure me and my sisters will have a song to sing along to as well.

oye, I'm sure that I'll get a version of "margaritaville" sung to me by my chapter sisters...a side effect of having a jimmy buffet song as an official sorority song.

Nothing DZ related in my ceremony, but at the reception all of my sisters surrounded me and sang "A Golden Lamp and a Pale Pink Rose." Although, truth be told, I think the girls not from my school were just kind of humming along since not too many other chapters seem to know that song.

Later, we all got in a circle and sang along to "American Pie" which is not, of course, an official DZ song but whenever it would come on in a bar or at a party, was always our signal to drop whatever we were doing, get to the center of the floor and sway goofily. :)

One thing my bio sister did when she got married this summer was to pin her Kappa key on a blue ribbon to the inside of her gown just under the bodice. Oh, and her sisters serenaded her during the reception but I wasn't familiar with the song so I don't remember what it was :)

I plan on riding a live lion into my wedding ceremony and letting the lion feast on my bride-to-be's parents.

-Rudey

My groom's cake will probably be a fraternity related thing.

One of the flowers will be the white rose.

There is also a traditional wedding picture where the bride is held in the air by the brothers in attendance. I sure as heck won't be the first alum to exclude that tradition from my wedding.

Ooooh, now THAT would have been a good option for me! Unfortunately, my in laws are large people and I would have had a devil of a time finding enough snapping turtles to devour them in a timely fashion.

I love hearing what other Kappas do at weddings. I've heard some chapters sing Our Best To You, some do Dream Awhile and some do ones I'm not familiar with.

Of course, my chapter doesn't do the nice, pretty songs; we do the fun ones. :)

I made them out of crepe paper, they are kind of hard to explain. I'm not sure I have a close up picture. I'll look and see.

I wore my badge under my dress as well as a pearl ring that we all made the night before our initiation. The tradition in our chapter was that the rings were only worn on our initiation day and our wedding day. During the cake cutting I played the instrumental version of St. Elmo's Fire and my sorority sisters sang the "Sigma Kappa version."

From what I recall (I got married a LONG time ago) my sisters (chapter AND my double bio/GLO sister) conducted a rousing 2 verses of Oh Pat! along with our nicer songs. My husband's West Point classmates (no fraternities at USMA) sang something lovely as well.

Now that I think of it, we had purple and gold subtle accents at my SAE brother's reception and I remember my sister's chapter sisters singing to her as well. I know my SILs both married Sigma Chis and I believe they serenaded each of them as well.

I wish I had a photo of this, but when I was a collegian, a recent alumna married an SAE. There were violets everywhere, lions at every doorway, favorites of candied violets, but the coup de grace was their wedding cake. I hope I can do this justice!

They had 625 guests, so of course, the cake had to be large. The bottom tiers (separate, about a foot apart) were the Alpha Delta Pi pin and the Sigma Alpha Epsilon pin - both diamond shaped. Columns were on those, so you could appreciate that these were replicas of the pins, then the cake tiers continued, all diamond shaped, violets seeming to ooze from the top of each tier, draping down the sides.

About 3 tiers up, a staircase started on each of the cakes, one showing the bridesmaids (all ADPis), the other the groomsmen (all SAEs). This staircase made a bridge about 3 feet from the table, where the Bride & Groom were replaced by a sterling frame of linked hearts, with their photo in it. A canopy was over this, and then the cake went up into 2 more united layers - heart shaped. The symbolism was their GLOs, of course, with the bride & groom meeting, and love (the hearts) taking over. It was incredible, and I can't even begin to imagine how it stayed together, let alone how much it cost! Amazing.

As for me, I had an equal amount of ADPis and Phi Mus in my wedding party - even though Phi Mu isn't on our campus! There were violets in the spring bouquets, and my favorite legacy carried a basket of violets. I wore my pin on my camisole (sapphire points, so it was "something blue"), and there was a diamond pattern in all of the linens (that took some doing!). My sisters seranaded us with "Remember", and the dj played a special segment of "our songs". One memorable photo had me joining the standard kick line in my wedding dress to "New York, New York"! Unfortunately, I had the wrong groom...