A Church Wedding

Photography by ©Leslie Guzman
A wedding of a dear friend

As you know by now I'm planning my wedding to my Punkin Hero. I'm a person that hates being tied down to labels and predictability. Though I don’t label myself to any religion I deeply believe in God and know that nothing happens without his will. My fiancée is very Catholic and I was raised Catholic. I would have chosen a non denominational church but why do that if he is Catholic. To me what is important is to have God's blessing in my union. Marriage is important to both of us. I never took marriage lightly this is why I didn't get married in my early 20's. I wanted to marry only once, and to the person I want to grow old with. Why do it over and over? That would only mean you are not marrying for the right reasons. This is not to insult anyone who has been married more than once. Its just me expressing MY opinion on what marriage is to me and what it should be.





My Punkin and I took our time to get to know each other and I mean really know each other. Even though he proposed 4 months after we started dating. He wanted to elope on a trip to Cancun. My baby sister would have chocked him, especially since she is doing a lot of the wedding planning. (I think she found a new career). Not to mention all the people that are part of the wedding. We picked people that mean something to us, and will continue to be a part of our lives.

©Leslie Guzmán
This is was taken when we started dating.Isla Mujeres, Quintana Roo Mexico


We were originally planning a destination wedding, to be in Cancun, the place we fell in love. Actually he mentioned it this weekend, that a bus trip that we took over there was one of the most romantic things that happened in our relationship. Its one of those stories that YOU HAD TO BE THERE to understand.

Then I started wanting to have my wedding in my country, Guatemala in Central America. My country is so beautiful; most of my mom’s family is there, my father and brother as well. What changed my mind? The actual proposal. Everyone that he invited showed up. My sisters, my best friend, his family, my closest friends, my honey's family and co workers. It was such a huge turn out to surprise me and to be part of the engagement. We couldn't be selfish and not let all those people be part of our wedding celebration.

 ©Leslie Guzmán
This is one of my favorite places in Guatemala, Antigua

So since May we have been doing all the preparations to have our Catholic Wedding. There is a lot involved. It’s not just saying I want to get married here. It’s been paper work, getting some of it from Guatemala since I was baptized there. So thank you Tia Lucy for helping me so much! Taking a test, to see how well we match, and it turned out that we have truly gotten to know each other during our 5 years together. We openly discuss all aspects of our lives, past and future. We are not the perfect couple, there is no such thing and if someone claims to be they are LYING. Everyone has issues and arguments in their relationship. It’s how you work through them and what you learn from those fights that make you or break you. So when we took the focus test, it made is laugh because we had actually talked about all these things. Children, infidelity, religion, financial, and careers. This past weekend was the last thing, our Engaged Couple Retreat. Whole weekend with 51 other couples planning their wedding. It wasn’t just a vacation; it was a time to get to know your partner even more. We had already discussed these things with our Deacon in our wedding preparation yet it was good to discuss them just us. It was out in a secluded land, it made you feel relaxed with a lake and nature all around. I’m not so expressive with my feelings so he was excited when I wrote my betrothal and read it to him. It’s how I feel about my future husband. Yet it’s not my wedding vows yet. Those have been ready since we got engaged. We met couples that have the same thoughts of marriage. I even met one bride that her name was, LESLIE and guess what?! She is getting married on the same day as ME!! How weird.We left that retreat missing our bed, and happy that we went through the process at the same time. It tied us together even more. Here we are 32 days left until our big day, and I think I’ve grown more in love with my Punkin planning our wedding. I encourage everyone to have it all, the church the reception. Do things right, don’t be afraid of money because you can do it on a budget if you are smart, and if you only plan on doing it once (as you should) then be a princess and a prince. While getting God's blessing sprinkled on you.