Welcome to the family!

My nephew and his new bride had already sent out invitations to their wedding and reception when they began to add up the deposits and see the projected total for the celebration. With the costs of everything seemingly escalating at every turn they began to rethink the whole day.

A new venue was procured, and then thinking all was better they were again faced with more and more expense. Finally they looked at each other and decided the best way to begin their marriage would be as close to debt free as possible.

A explanatory letter was sent out, apologies for inconveniences made, and a new revised plan set into place. The bridal party (who had already purchased clothing for the event) would be invited, along with parents and grandparents; all others were asked to understand their decision to forgo the pomp in favour of the minimum on a sea side cliff.

A few weeks went by, the honey moon in Mexico provided by generous relatives and then they returned. Aunts, being who we are by nature, decided that they still needed some kind of family celebration. So we called up the families on both sides, set a date and had a barbecue. Assignments were made for food and dink, and I offered to bring the cake and decorate the picnic tables. (White and sand colours, lots of sea shells and pretty candles!)

Of course Robyn came to the rescue and lent me not only her kitchen, but made me dinner, helped with the cake, and generally made herself irreplaceable. We made cake and while it baked we visited while we made little chocolate shells. The cake was a hit. The party, I think, was a bigger hit. Nothing more fun that welcoming a new member into the fold while eating terrific food and having a great time!

weekend project

I got an e-mail from a friend of mine last week asking me if I could make a bouquet for a wedding taking place at her home this coming weekend. Luckily for me, the bride wanted silks. Thor and I will be gone three days before the wedding so fresh would have been a problem!

We went shopping Saturday afternoon and that night I went to work. I was surprised that the bouquet used all the stems we purchased, but it did! She requested all white flowers with a bit of green. There are two dozen roses, 16 large 8 buds, 5 stems of cascading blooms, and another five bunches of ivy.

I used the red and gold bud leaves as accent colour and to bring in a bit of the fall colours she plans, and also the deep green large leaves to poke out in the bouquet and also as a way of 'plating' the base and supporting the ivy bunches.

She wanted burgundy and metallic gold ribbon, and again, lucky for me I had a spool that was approved! She wanted a small "shoe lace" bow and braided stems, so I did that for her, although I forgot to get a shot of the braided stem.

They also requested a matching boutonniere so I used the same combination of flowers and greenery and there you go.

My friend liked them very much, I am hoping the bride does as well.

Check out Food Chronicles, I understand Robyn got a last minute call to prepare and decorate the cake. I can't wait to see what she does!

the next phase...Carlton's log

Eiffel Tower
Originally uploaded by Adrasteia9.

I love Paris in, well, France would be great, but our next stop and conference is across Las Vegas Boulevard at the Paris Hotel - Las Vegas.

This is the poor man's version of "Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown". Come, cross zee pond - um zee boulevard, vis S'mee as vee vaux Jacques Cousteau and gets al Fraunch!

Yeah, O.k. so I have a lousy French accent, what do you want for your trip to Vegas? It's been a weekend, let me tell you! Saturday we watched conference and after the last session went to a wedding. It was particularly sad because it was two of my seminary students doing the whole "till death do you part" commitments. I can say I am not surprised, not much example on either side of their families, but it was so sad to hear those words. And as long as I am on this wedding, what struck me most deeply was the lack of blessings for the new couple being civilly married as opposed to the ones we receive in the temple.

After conference on Sunday we again went to a wedding. This time for one of Thor's associates at work. The bride had been married before and had two or three little ones and the groom, I think this was his first. It was in a beautiful setting with all the expected t.v. type wedding things. Flower girls and ring bearer, a couple of brides maids and the goofy best man with an even goofier toast. They had a garden reception and dinner with dancing.

This reception had something for everyone. Drinks for the drinkers, food for the eaters, and for the kids? Well, they had their own little bar and food selections, and to keep them occupied colouring books and crayons. I thought that was a great idea and it did what it was intended to do.

Still sad though, even if they aren't members...maybe someday.

Thor and I got on the road late, and by the time we hit state line we had seen enough crazy drivers for any trip. One particular driver had his/her own personal police escort and another had several police escorts, in CA this is known as the slow speed chase and I am wondering if it got the coverage these things normally do. There was plenty of "escorts" following the small sports car with the headlights out.

Half way between Jean and Vegas we crawled along at about 5 mph for about five miles. The big deal was someone receiving a ticket on the right. Can I tell you this is one of S'mee's pet peeves. Hello folks, the cop is too busy with the guy at the side of the road to stop and give you a ticket as well. grrrr.

We checked in and got to the room about 12:30. Nice room, large bathroom, steam shower a plus, and a teen-einsie view of the temple....WHAHOO!

The BIG day!

Saturday: The BIG day! Last night there were several frantic calls to the seamstress, who was a doll and met me VERY early at her store and gave me the dresses. Whew! So after a good stream ironing job we left for the temple and had the day of a life time.

The bride and groom had a lovely sealing and, as always, I learned something new that I wish I had known early on. Oh well, better late than never I suppose. There were photo ops and more photos and eventually the photographer sent all but the new couple away. Mom of the bride chose to stay and help the photographer, so we separated at that point.

Thor gathered with the other siblings, spouses and a stray groom's man and we had a nice lunch together. It was a great feeling to see all the family together, although we were missing the Groom and his Bride, but that will happen at a later day. Jokes and teasing are always on the menu and so were good belly laughs. Lunch finished and we all drove to the reception site. Thor and I began the final prep. He dropped me off at the hall and then went in search of lost grandparents.

I met Chronicler and the Big Guy and she set out to make her famous tartlets. Pecan and fresh strawberry were requested by the bride and they were a huge hit (as always). The caterers were a tad snarky about having someone else's tarts among their treats, but after it was all said and done, one of them actually begged for the well kept secret recipe. (sorry guys, you can't be snarky all night then ask for a sure bet recipe to be just handed over. Even if you were really nice, chances of landing that small bit of info would be hard to come by.)

Food for the evening was catered and appreciated by most. However I have to admit I am picky and there is a difference in food that has been fresh cooked and prepared as opposed to reheating frozen prepared food from a good manufacturer. I am spoiled by Chronicler's fresh ingredients and cooking. That said there were choices of chicken, rice, a broccoli salad, fruit skewers, dipped strawberries, cream puffs and 600 of Chronicler's HANDMADE from scratch tartlets.

A D.J. and a live swing band were on hand to entertain and make the evening fun. Introductions of the bridal party began the festivities, followed by dancing and generalized merrimaking! S'mee enjoyed watching all her offspring dance and have a great time. We mingled with good friends and tried to make new ones. Lots of family members traveled to come and share the joy of the day. It was incredible to see one particular aunt, fresh from her chemo session, enjoying her night. What a compliment to us and a huge sacrifice for her. We were surely blessed.

Towards the evening's end there was a special dance dedicated to Thor's mom and dad and the celebration that night of not only the newlyweds, but the "oldie-weds", mom and dad's 56th wedding anniversary. The groom asked for a special song and the two couples joined together on the dance floor. Eventually Thor and I joined in and it was a great moment with the three generations all dancing to acknowledge this legacy of eternal marriage and the joys that come from it. Past, present, future. So cool. So beautiful.

The two little love birds headed out to start their lives together and the night spun slowly down to an end. It was a big day. A great big huge fat eternal day! : >

she's come undone....

O.k. So I made a trip up to Utah just to get my daughter's dress measurements and to alter her dress so that it fit correctly. A misunderstanding between she and S'mee led to the dress not being altered at all. AT the wedding she was the gal in the size to large periwinkle number. But she looked "o.k." : l We both thought the other didn't want it altered. UGH! Anywho that dress and the other sister's dress both needed 3 inches taken off the three (yes folks -3!) layers of hems.

S'mee had #5 pin her dress in hopes of altering the mother of the groom dress.

Actually the alterations on my dress went better than I had expected. I got a pretty good fit from the marking's #5 made and after a couple of goes it was as good as it could get. O.k. So then I have #3 mark it for hemline. When I purchased the dress it was made for a nice tall Norwegian, or perhaps an exceptional Amazonian woman. Either way this dress had, not only a very long "line" but an actual train! Not as long as a bride would have, but a definite train about 8 to 12 inches. Measuring the front and finding my toes would have been an easy way to determine how much to take off, but with a train she would have to go all the way around and find the floor measurement. Grrr. But #3 did a great job.

Monday"

S'mee made the marks on all three dresses for hems, and went in search of the proper needle and a rolled hemming foot. "CLOSED MONDAYS" Ugh! I need to wait for Tuesday.

Tuesday:

SO I purchase what I need. All of the sudden everything in the world falls apart and by the time I get around to sewing, things are put off for one more day.

Wednesday:

I started with my dress and after hemming the inside fabric (very nicely, thank you) I began on the outer layer. NOt for the life of me could I get that fabric to work. I tried it all, all the tricks I could think of, tissue didn't even help. The machine wasn't "eating" the fabric it was just shredding it. I used "fray check". NOPE. Nada. Zip. So I resorted to a very ugly hem and called it a day. We needed to be YM/YW and I had run out o' time!

Thursday.

Not wanting to shred the three layers of the bridal party dresses I decided to have them hemmed by a professional. HEMMED BY A PROFESSIONAL? Yikes, how the mighty have fallen. Hemmed. Are you kidding me? But I was disparate and so, yes, I succumbed and found an alterations seamstress.

"$35.00 each dress you want hurry coast you more money."

Forget that! What is it with the $70.00 alterations lately? Egads. I find another option and this seamstress is only asking $15.00. Oh joy! Oh rapture! I drop off the dresses and tell the gal I will pick them up tomorrow at 3:30. (She needs all day to fit in our "rush" - but who cares at this point?) She closes at 4:00. No problem! Friday at 3:30, plenty of time and I am happy and grateful and stress free! YES!

Thursday night: Meet down at the church to begin decorating!

Our Big Fat Wedding begins....

Dateline: Thursday night. Two days after the endowment - which went GREAT, so cool, so wonderful to see your kid in the temple, doing the right thing and ready to be doing it. What a blessing from Heavenly Father!

So it's Thursday and we are now in the exact middle. 2 days after the endowment and two days before the wedding/sealing! Mother of the Bride (K) is going into high gear and she has a plan. Unfortunately her plan was tilted a tad by a very unpleasant false ceiling gal and her crew. "K" had seen the ceiling lady's work many times before and was impressed. A billowing cloud full of twinkle lights was ordered and expected. Long story short, the ceiling expert was miffed because "K" wanted this material instead of that material and what she eventually got was a flat ceiling made of tulle. 61/2 hours for a flat tulle ceiling. Ridiculous. More than that, ceiling lady made such a fuss about it that she refused to work if anyone was in the room, so all the help "K" had organized had to be sent home without being able to help at all.

At 12:00 midnight "K" decided to pull the plug on the ceiling and call it. It was what it was and there wasn't anything she could do about it. Let's all go home. Hmmm. Where's the doohickey that closes and locks the door? (search search search) At 12:30 a phone call was made, a Bishop was awakened from his sleep, and by 1:00 the doohickey was found, building secured and all out and headed home.

8:00 Friday: Day before the wedding. 2 moms, one bride, and one little brother are able to meet and set up for the big party. 18 tables, 180 chairs, 4 buffet tables, 2 gift tables, one cake table, and one punch table are set up and dressed. All tables have white brocade table clothes. All 180 chairs are dressed with floor length tailored covers. The large tables with floor length clothes as well. A runner of periwinkle and celery plaid is placed on all tables, the seating tables topped with floral arrangements of hydrangea, orchids, and star lilies in clear glass vases. They sit atop a mirror with 6 small tea lights and cracked "glass" chips for colour. The larger tables have double sided ribbon swags with small wreaths at the centers and corners made of tiny hydrangea blossoms, green baby apples, and eucalyptus.

The stage was draped with white fabric to resemble a "water fall" with twinkling lights underneath, tulle fluffs along the top edge, again with lights, and a floral swag of hydrangea, green apples, and eucalyptus. Behind the fluff were draped stands that held 9 photos of the new couple interspersed with three cut crystal hurricane lamps with candles.

The cake and buffet tables had the same effect as the stage with the "white water fall". The cake table was dressed with a large silver cake plateau. The cake was 3 tier, extremely smooth whipped cream frosting, decorated with woven pearls strands and pearl points. In between the tiers were full sized fresh hydrangeas and the top was the bride's mother's cake top, a crystal blown glass heart with doves.

The Punch bowl were placed inside green apple wreaths.

The buffet was decorated with lighted food stands, topiaries of green apple, and fruit skewers. All the tables had tulle fluff and the cracked "glass chips" along with fine glitter sprinkled over all for shimmer, and were lit from underneath with special lights to create a pretty glow.

Back drops were made by the groom out of wrought iron and painted black. They were "Shepard's crooks", 2, one on each side, draped in the center with periwinkle satin, gently gathered. They stood 7 feet tall and about 4 feet wide. Each curl on the crook held a small candle lit glass lantern. Behind the buffet there were five of these back drops and one each behind the cake and punch tables.

There was a fog machine and bubble machine that were set to work for certain dances to give it a terrific effect.

The entry table was placed in the foyer of the building under a large painting of the Savior's Second Coming. The blues and periwinkles of that picture along with the bridal photos blended perfectly and set the tone for the evening. A large vase of fresh hydrangeas, orchids and star lilies was placed behind the guest book and temple photos.

The surrounding walls in the reception hall were covered with draped and pleated tulle, topped with a fluffy border with twinkle lights behind. The tulle ceiling was still pretty flat, but the bride made beautiful crystal "rain drops" that hung all over the room, making the ceiling quite glittery and gorgeous. It was really great.

The room was lit well by the twinkle lights, up-lights, and candles (battery) quite well.

By 9:00 that night we were able to leave, satisfied with the result. Pretty.

By 9:00 S'mee remembered that she left the bridesmaids' dresses at the now closed alterations store without the ability to call because S'mee didn't have the phone number to call and if she did, HELLO! WE'RE CLOSED!!! A drive by the store revealed she does not work the weekends. Dresses would be hostage until Monday, 2 days after the wedding. Smooth one S'mee.