Honoring Our Family

Mr. Tal and I already have a blended family. We have three wonderful, beautiful little girls.

                                    

Pepper Anne is the oldest and I had her before I met Mr. Tal. Pepper Anne is my little blessing, I found her running down the road coming home from work one day. She's my little cohort in crime and anyone that wants to be with me has to pass her test. When they first met and he got down on the floor to play with her and she started wagging her tail I melted.

        

Izzy was our second addition. She was found outside our apartment about a month after we moved in together. She was one of the tiniest kittens I had ever seen, barely fitting in the palm of my hand. I had to hand feed her formula and Pepper took on the roll of Momma to the little kitten. Mr. Tal said that she couldn't stay but I knew when I got home from work that day and she was curled up sleeping on his chest that we had a new family member.

             

          

Last and certainly not least is Josie. Jo came to our family all the way from Lexington, Kentucky. See Izzy was a little trouble maker and she was constantly into something around the apartment. Not only that, she wasn't very happy being the lone kitty. Mr. Tal and I talked weeks about it debating if another cat would help Izzy to calm down. A few weeks before Christmas 2008 we hadn't decided and Mr. Tal had a buisness trip to Kentucky. I was allowed to go because it was a driving trip and school was out. On a whim the first day there I headed to the local shelter, mostly to take a peek around and maaaybe find a little kitten. Well wouldn't you know it I did! I put Josie on hold and talked to Mr. Tal about it that night. The next day I picked her up and she spent her first few days with us in a Holiday Inn Express in Lexington. Just a side note, she was just what the doctor ordered for Izzy!

I know I may seem a little crazy but these furry girls are my babies. They cheer me up when I am sad, they protect me, I worry about them when they are sick, I care for them and love them, that to me is family. Mr. Tal and I have spent countless hours trying to figure out how to include our entire family in the wedding festivities. So far the only thing we have come up with is pictures around the reception site and that just doesn't feel like enough. Pepper was in our first engagement shoot (I know that you are all wondering, what do you mean first shoot? I'll explain later this week I promise!) but our cats don't really like leaving. I thought about making bouquet charms with their pictures but I wasn't really feeling that idea. Finally, yesterday I surfed around Etsy looking for ideas and came across these:

(Source)

I had been looking for something to wear on my right hand anyway and I thought three of these rings would be a perfect way for all three of my fur babies to be with me at least in some form. I already have been in contact with the seller and I am so excited about this. Mr. Tal loved the idea as well, though not enough that I could convince him to order one for himself (a bigger, more manly one) but that's his loss. My only regret is not having one more stamped with our wedding date on it but I can always order one of those later.

Do you have fur babies? Did you want to incorporate them into your wedding? How did you do it?

Tune in next time for more tales from a DIY bride!