Looking Backward and Forward

Today is my daughter and son-in-law’s first wedding anniversary.  I know they really have been a couple for seven years, but their wedding was a very special day, nonetheless.

My daughter is a graphic designer and I am an art teacher, a wonderful wedding planning combination!  As soon as my son-in-law popped the question, my daughter and I were on the phone planning the wedding.  We spent weeks combing the internet for locations, ideas, colors and dresses.  My daughter is a take charge girl and took care of all of the details, booking the church, the venue, the DJ, photographer, the menu, and the shuttle busses.  She had a plan, and a definite idea of what she wanted.  We exchanged ideas daily and the excitement mounted.  My daughter lives 3 hours away from us, so everything was done long distance.  The wedding was going to take place closer to where she lived as well, so it was just easier for her to take care of all the details. 

So where do I come in?  Well, once the details were taken care of, we started planning the diy part.  She had definitely done her homework and knew what she wanted.   She loves a neutral palette.  She loves the play of textures and different types of paper.  She sent me a photo of a beautiful fabric flower and the rest is history.  I made the flowers for the bouquets and centerpieces from white and ivory sheer fabric and the flowers for the accent pieces from burlap and satin with large fancy button centers.

I decorated white and orange pumpkins with wedding sayings and their initials.  I made the bird bride and groom wedding cake topper, and the flowers for the wedding cupcakes from music pages from an old book. 

My daughter designed her save the dates, invitations, and programs.  I wrote out the envelopes.  She is a stickler for details and created lists, detailed instructions for the guests and bridal party!  She brought in lots of vintage props for her candy bar, votive glass candle holders and tea lights for the tables and hung mason jars with tea lights from an archway in the reception venue.  She painted signs with their initials on framed burlap and various signs and props for their photo booth as well as. That was a big hit and lots of fun, by the way, especially for the younger kids who started the ball rolling.

I even made flowers for the church and boutonnieres for the groom and groomsmen.  Not only did all of this save us money, but it made the wedding a unique and beautiful event.  Where did my son-in-law fit into all of this?  Well, he knew to stay out of the way of creativity and welcomed it!

The day was beautiful and went off without a hitch.  My daughter and her bridesmaids looked gorgeous and my son-in-law and his groomsmen looked handsome.  The flowers, the decorations, the guests, my husband’s speech, the food, details, everything was picture perfect and just as she wanted it. 

The day after the wedding, I felt like an athlete after the season ends, or an actor after the show closes.  I had been in creative overdrive for months and now it was all over.  So several months later, with my daughter’s help,  I started my own business doing what else?  Creating wedding items, of course, as well as baby related items.  Hmm, I wonder how much longer it will be before I go from mother-of –the-bride  to grandmother- of- the- baby ?    I guess it’s never too soon to start planning, right?