Wedding Bells!

Love. Nostalgia. Joy.  Fulfillment.  Pride.  Just a few of the emotions that I felt on October 14, 2023, at the gorgeous wedding of #1 Daughter and the Fiance in Cincinnati, Ohio.

If you have been following my blog for a while, you will remember my post The Engagement from November 2021.  Yes, the wedding was two years in the planning!  And I am so proud of our daughter and her fiance - they had a vision for the wedding, and they fulfilled that dream.  A rustic venue.  An outdoor ceremony.  A wedding that would be fun, fun, fun! 

And did I mention that they also bought a house in the last 6 months?  But that's another story!

I am probably biased, but I think that the wedding and associated celebrations had many personal elements that made it unique.  Maybe it's the crafty nature of our family to give gifts that are hand-made.  Maybe it's our daughter's romantic nature that resulted in so many nostalgic moments.  Whatever the cause, these moments brought out the tears and the smiles in almost equal measure.

One of my sisters-in-law designed and hand-crafted a quilt, presenting it to the couple a few weekends before the wedding.  Can you tell how much they love it?

We were thrilled and relieved that my in-laws could travel from England for the wedding.  The icing on the cake?  That our daughter and her fiance could host all of us in their new house!  When they began their house-hunting process, that was their dream - and it was a blast being under one roof rather than in separate hotel rooms!

My in-laws brought this hand-made wooden "book", a gift from my husband's only cousin and her wife - they live in England and could not make it to the ceremony.

My youngest brother hand-delivered a carved bear, which holds a plaque displaying their name and wedding date.  My brother has been in the business of selling these bears for many years, and it is a special day when you receive a bear of your own.

Before my Mom passed away, she made afghans for each of her grandchildren, and these gifts were presented to them at their respective weddings.  Our daughter was one of five grandchildren yet to be married, and my oldest sister is the keeper of the afghans until each marriage happens.  Immediately after this photo, we were all sobbing.  I am tearing up even as I type these words - Mom, I wish you could have been there!

My oldest sister, a former florist, collaborated with our daughter on the floral design for the wedding, and was instrumental in setting up the venue the day before.  Her bouquets and other floral details were stunning.  How appropriate that she also gave the couple a floral afghan that she had originally made for my Mom many years ago.

I was very touched that our daughter found several ways to remember my Mom on her wedding day.  My Mom wore a satin headband for her wedding, and it was adorned with many seed pearls.  Our daughter incorporated some of those pearls into her hairpiece and earrings.  Imagine my delight (and the tears) when she presented me with this hand-made brooch at the rehearsal dinner.

It is well-known in our family that we cry at weddings, and with that in mind, I set out to create a handkerchief that our daughter could use during the ceremony.  In the end, the one I made was too ornate for wedding make-up (!), so I made a second, simpler one for her to use (not pictured).

 

"Something borrowed, something blue."  Our daughter had seen her Nan's wedding photos, and one of them had Nan showing some leg with the garter in full view.  Nan gave our daughter this garter, and the photographer re-created the photo per our daughter's request.

 

 

 

To highlight her accessories, our daughter created this tableau for the photographer.   I love how it captures so many of the nostalgic items in this post.

 Congratulations to the newlyweds!

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Linking to LeeAnna's Not Afraid of Color for I Like Thursday.  Prompt for November 2: Would you rather go on a hayride or visit a corn maze?

I would rather visit a corn maze - something active that engages my brain.  And it's fun!  We have done both in yesteryears, when the kids were young.  The hayride was typically a transportation method to the pumpkin patch or the Christmas tree farm.  I always loved the horses pulling the wagon!

Linking to Mosaic Monday

Home and Away

Ah, Christmas.  It evokes memories of home, and visions of traveling there, perhaps in equal measure.  For "home" is a concept that shifts as the proverbial sands at the seaside.  I type this from our log home, and yet I will write in a moment about returning home to Ohio, my birthplace.  Numerous posts about the UK, my second home, populate this blog.  In the final analysis, home is where your heart takes flight!  I am grateful for all of my homes, past, present and future.  

This week, I am linking up with LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color.  She has nurtured a fine group of bloggers who will make you feel at home with their I Like Thursday posts.  Check it out!

Christmas brings me such bonhomie that my "likes" could approach War and Peace dimensions.  That might reduce your enjoyment, so I will resist that temptation!  Without question, the arrival of winter and the "white stuff" holds a prominent position on my happy list at the moment.

Snowshoe rabbits are on my "naughty" list in the summer, but it is hard to get irritated with them when they are scrabbling for food through the winter.  

AND, while I don't have a picture, Spousal Unit spotted an Ermine outside the house this week, and for just a few moments, we giggled while watching it pop in and out of the snow.  I found this video on YouTube and this will give you an idea!

Some of my likes are not from this week, but they are just too good not to share!  In November, I flew to Ohio with the main purpose to join #1 Daughter, her bridal party, her future mother-in-law and my sister for wedding dress shopping.  I mean, who doesn't like being pampered and trying on a bazillion dresses that make you feel like a princess?  I can't share the dress with you, but trust me that it is BE-YOO-TI-FUL on her.  She wears the dress rather than it wearing her ... October 14, 2023 will be one special day!  My sister will design the flowers, and during my visit, the two of them sat down for some planning - I was a third wheel!

We visited the gravesites of my parents, and Wyoming Florist (previously owned by my sister and now passed on to the next generation - her daughter-in-law and her son) generously provided these simple bouquets.  If you look closely, you will notice that both of them were born in December - I think of them often in the run-up to Christmas each year.

No trip to Ohio is complete without Skyline Chili, so I made sure to enjoy some before I returned to Montana!  (This picture greets you at the airport, near the baggage claim, and tempts you when you depart!!!)

On the plane, I began reading "The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World" by Laura Imai Messina.  I wasn't sold by the style at first, but it pulled me in and I highly recommend it, especially for anyone dealing with fresh grief.  On December 6, we were devastated by the loss of Spousal Unit's only aunt.  

"Later, Yui realized that she had learned another thing ... that silencing a man was equivalent to erasing him forever.  And so it was important to tell stories, to talk to people, to talk about people.  To listen to people talking about other people.  Even to speak with the dead, if it helped."

We soldiered on and harvested our Christmas tree from our own property.  Who knew a tree could be so heavy?  Normally we have kids here to help with this process!  We recruited a neighbor to hold the tree upright while I judged its position and Spousal Unit locked it into position.  So grateful for our generous neighbors!

"A famous citation from the American psychotherapist Virginia Satir (1916 - 1988) reads: We need 4 hugs a day for survival.  We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance.  And we need 12 hugs a day for growth."

Our kids have trees of their own this year, and they were proud to send us pictures of them.  It didn't take long for fur-baby Ruby to hide within the tree branches at #1 Son's apartment - carrying on the fine tradition of Maggie and Josie!

With our closest neighbors, we had a progressive Christmas gathering last week.  So many delectable dishes and drinks!

The moon was bright and we didn't even need flashlights to walk from house to house.

And I saved the best for last - a mighty shout out to Spousal Unit - AKA Head Chef and Man with Hat.  He can now add another pseudonym to the list - Man with Wings - he completed his check ride this week and obtained his private pilot's license!!!!  He studied hard and persisted despite many obstacles.  I am so proud!  

"(Yui) told her about the frame man at the shelter ... (explaining) that the whole world was cut up into frames: big windows, small windows, keyholes ...  Hana, already lying in bed, lifted the frame to her face and carefully observed her bedroom ceiling, where there were hundreds of stars twinkling from the projector her father had given her earlier that evening.  Then she brought it down to examine Yui's face.  "Even the most enormous things can be cut up into tiny parts," Yui whispered.  "Even the biggest problems.  You can fit anything into a frame."

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Linking to Mosaic Monday