The Wedding of all Weddings

My poor, dear, inpatient little readers (mostly just Mom and Grandma)... did I not say that there would be three posts? Did you not raise me to take the good with the bad?

Did you honestly think I was going to miss an opportunity to talk about my wedding and all the things that we worked so hard on?

Shame on you.

Today, I am going to talk about my wedding day, and about some details that I worked on or thought about in all the months leading up to the wedding. This is not going to be a list of all the work that was done, rather the product of that work. 

First things first, it did not rain. Despite the heat and humidity, it was a beautiful day complete with a cloudless blue sky. This was paramount, because as I discussed yesterday, there would not have really been a good spot for the ceremony if it were raining. I think we did well, given this site was Plan B:

I love that we will walk by this tree as long as we go to the fair. 

Back to details: I made my necklace and earrings with beads I took from a rosary that belonged to my Great Grandmother. That was my something old and something new. I also made necklaces and earrings for my bridesmaids.

I put together my flower comb after a long (rather unsuccessful) attempt to make a headband. The material is silk shantung, the same as my dress. The beaded addition was a gift from the best damn vendor of the entire wedding: April Rose, the place I bought my dress. I wore the flower piece when I went to pick up my dress, and she loved it, but added the beads siting her "love of sparkle" and "admiration of DIY".

Tie for best damn vendor also goes to my photographer, Maureen Leary. All of the pictures here today are hers, and she was amazing. I mean seriously..... she's a creative genius.

All of the stationary, including the wedding invitations, tags for drinking vessels, programs, etc. I made.

The tags read "Hi, my name is (guest name), and tonight I will be drinking _________. If lost, please return to (table name)." This was especially clever because our tables were named after local points of interest like the ski mountain Shawnee Peak, or the Saco River.

In addition to many hand-made items, we also had some great pieces from "weddings of yore" including my Grandmother's shoes and tiara, my mother's hat and my mother-in-law's dress... worn comfortably on my mannequin, who goes by the name of "Irene" har, har, har.

During the frenzy of days leading up to the wedding, my Mom and I spent nearly $200 on plants at Lowe's and wrapped them in burlap to soften the scene. We also bought about ten yards of blue ticking to cover some of the unsightly spots in our Plan B location. Another of the last minute projects was the incorporation of nearly 3 dozen birch tree limbs, to make it feel like we were outside. 

But as you can see from the photo above, this was not a single-person effort. My cousin Paul and his wife Betsy helped me fold the blue stars, my Grandma hand-painted the table signs...

Dan and I built the cake stand together that held all of our cupcakes...

Not to mention the countless friends and family members that helped us set everything up, and stuff the midnight snack packs for our guests to take on their way out, which featured my parent's infamous pepper relish, made with peppers from their garden. My Mom and Dad also worked together on the "Directions" sign, that imitates a favorite family (and also famous) Maine sign.

But by and large, I can admit that there wasn't a single project made for this wedding that didn't have my mother's touch. She helped me collect all of the mis-matched blue and white china, and then she helped wash them, made fabric folders to store the dishes in on their trek to Maine. She also ran around to Connecticut Job Lots, buying up the grill towels that we used as napkins. Not to mention the fact that she sewed all of the runners, which were then ironed by my Nana.

She helped me sew the welcome bags that were present in each and every hotel room, which included these little pine scented sachets. Never mind all of the grocery shopping she did the day before the wedding for the weenie roast, and the blueberries that filled our little table stands.

Oh yes, there was all of the behind the scenes work too: building a road, driving back and forth to Maine, painting this and that, planting flowers for my Nana, tying a million little ribbons on different things, and perhaps most importantly, trying to calm me down when things started to hit the fan. Laughing when I yelled at my Dad on the way to the ceremony. Literally a million and one things, all done by or with her. 

But lest we get start making that list, let's focus again on the gorgeous details:

like the centerpieces

the delicious local fare

the beautiful, full bouquets

the unique thistle and rose boutineers

the perfect color scheme that thankfully worked with the decor that was already in the hall (American flag bunting)

the shoes.... oh, the beautiful red shoes.

the little things, like the first Christmas present Dan ever bought me being worked into my flowers

my Mom's garter, with the addition of a horseshoe for luck.

And just when you think that the little tiny details a bride can complete obsess over are the most important thing....

I urge you to remember that nearly all of the people in the above photos are a product of four weddings. Four simple weddings way back before save-the-dates existed.

So if there is anything to take away from this post combined with yesterday's it is this: things will go wrong. It could be a few small things, it could be a list of 30 things, and it could be more than 30 insignificant things. So when you are planning your wedding, and the littlest thing sends you into a stressful, angry tizzy... just know that come wedding day, he is yours and you are his. Your smiles will reflect the love and excitement, not how many different rehearsal dinner venues canceled.