actually, i've been on there before, for the penguin toppers i made that i've already showed you, but yesterday our guest book (that doubled as our Quaker wedding certificate) was featured as well and this time i got a badge for it!
over there
--------------->
is the badge
you can see the certificate here and the penguins here.
what is a Quaker wedding certificate, you ask? well, it's been made pretty popular as a version of a guest book in the past few years, but it goes back to when Quaker's were able to get married at any time that they want. basically, when a couple felt that they were ready to marry, they would stand up during a meeting (basically, it's a church service) and state their intention to marry. the meeting of Friends, would then assign a clearness committee to meet with the couple and make sure that they were ready for marriage. then, after the clearness committee had decided that the couple was ready, they would recommend at the monthly meeting that the wedding be taken "under their care" and assign a different group of people to ensure that the couple had everything they needed for their wedding, which included making the wedding certificate. essentially, Quakers are allowed to marry themselves, as traditionally, they had non-led meetings (in other words, they had no preacher) and the certificate was to bind the relationship together by everyone who had witnessed the ceremony. in fact, many Quaker churches don't require that you register your marriage with the government and many governments will still accept the Quaker certificate as adequate proof of your marriage.
anyway, i thought the tradition was pretty cool, i took my own spin on it and actually just designed the thing in adobe indesign and printed it on our large format printer at work (shhhh....don't tell on me....)
i love the way it turned out, but i do wish i had had time to paint one. i'm hoping i can modge podge it onto a canvas and paint over the printed words. but, we'll see, i love it the way it is and just can't make up my mind! my favorite part was that kyle's uncle already knew what it was! (he married us and is a Quaker preacher, in a much more contemporary Evangelical Friends church in Oklahoma City.) he said that he and his wife have one as well. i love that everyone that attended the wedding got to sign our certificate, in a sense, especially since in Kansas the couple doesn't sign their own wedding certificate. just two witnesses (thanks, erin and eric!!) and the preacher sign it. we think it's so weird that you don't sign it yourselves...but, whatever, that's Kansas for 'ya.
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