More Engagement Photos

Katie and Michael asked me to take their engagement photos. I was very flattered and honored and so we headed out to some locations that I thought would work. My goal was to get photos that were as comfortable and natural as possible considering they both are somewhat private. I wanted the photos to show how much they really loved each other and I didn't want to embarrass them - especially Michael, because sometimes engagement photos look like their all about the girl and they guy is just a prop. So, I was very pleased with the results of our photo shoot and Katie has posted some of the better ones on facebook. But I wanted to share some that she didn't put up. So, here they are.

Better Than Brown Sauce

"Something old,

Something new,

Something borrowed,

Something blue,

And a sixpence in her shoe."

I never knew that last line until a few weeks ago when Katie's friend wrote it out in a letter. She had made Katie a little pin out of blue fabrics and beads and said that was her "something blue." Katie loved it and then began to think of the other items she needed for her wedding ensemble. She will be wearing her great-grandfather's pocket watch around her neck as a necklace - that's old. And we continued and are still continuing the conversation.

The sixpence in her shoe got me thinking....so I found a coin dealer in England and contacted him about a sixpence. There were so many to choose from! What year? Whose head did we want on it? Well, Katie really loved the movie, "The King's Speech." She loved it because King George VI was so brave in such a private way. And I feel that Katie is that way, too. No one really knows how much courage it takes for her to do many of the things she does, including getting married. So, I chose a King George VI sixpence, year 1952, the year he died.

Katie was so excited. I was, too! I think I could become a coin collector!!



Around The House

The wedding prep intensity is winding down. Remember my to-do list? Well, we've really knocked a lot off. My goal was to get as much done as possible during the month of June and I believe we've done an amazing job! The last 2 "big" things were accomplished this week: choosing a photographer and meeting with the artist who is designing the invitations. We met with her, made decisions and she is sending us a quote. We will still have to make final decision as to which details we can afford, but the major work is done!

So, we've been able to kick back and enjoy the summer a little. Here are a few things we have around the house that I thought were photo-worthy.

Washing up some borrowed salt and pepper shakers.

Washing up some jars to make into candle holders.

The sunflowers are blooming and I cut a few to bring inside. Do you recognize this pic?

Busy bees.

The blueberries are not quite ready.

Fabric Rosettes

I need inspiration to jump off my creative engine. So I often grab a craft, art, house decorating magazine and flip through it real fast. If something catches my eye, I stop and consider it. So, in essence, yes, I am influenced by a great photo, interesting type style and color. So, I flipped through a magazine recently and these pages caught my eye...

The colors intrigued me as well as the "messiness" of the rosettes.

So, I had to try my hand at making these little flowers. I thought we could use them in different ways in the wedding decor.

I had a scrap of fabric and so I cut it into strips...

and while the color is good and would probably make a very pretty flower, we have this vintage, antique thing going so I tea dyed the strips...

it reminded me of noodles....

then I hung them out to dry.

I was hoping for a more mottled look. I thought it would add depth and interest to the flowers. So I took my handy-dandy distressing ink pad and ran it over the strips.

Then I started twisting and rolling them into rosettes, gluing them at strategic points, being careful of the hot glue. Nothing worse than a hot glue burn!

You can add beads and ribbon if you like...

I liked the result so much I tried a burlap rosette.

I think these will add nice little details to the wedding decor.

Friends and Fleas

So, yesterday Katie, Cindy  and I went out to do a little wedding brainstorming/shopping. Our friend, Madeleine invited us over to her house to "shop" through her stuff to see if there was anything we would like to use for Katie's wedding. She had thrown her daughter a backyard wedding at their home and had some things that Katie and I had been talking about.

She had a LOT! We're borrowing some shepherd hooks and glass jars to hang from the hooks and in trees.

We're going to have just plain old jars, but I wanted to show you a shepherd hook in case you didn't know.

She also had these silver trays that she painted with chalkboard paint to write food choices on. We borrowed those...

She also had a bag of umbrellas, how smart is that!!

There were many other things that she had but I won't go through the long list of it all. After we rummaged around at her house, she took us to lunch at la Madeleine's a lovely French Country eatery and bakery. My sister and I used to go and I remembered the real butter and cream flavor of the chicken pot pie...they didn't have it, but I got quiche Lorainne and some potato soup (there was the real butter and cream flavor I was looking for!)

Madeleine then treated us all to dessert, she got a variety of things: lemon, fruit and creme brulee tarts, chocolate parfait and my favorite, chocolate chip cookie. After lunch, she took us to a great shopping center filled with catalog/online stores. They are the stores that I very rarely see except in catalogs and online. We went to Williams Sonoma and Pottery Barn. They are great inspiration stores. I usually don't want to pay their prices, so I look and try to reproduce in a cheaper way. We were able to get a few ideas.

Madeleine then took us to some great second hand shops where we got more jars and silver trays and books for next to nothing. One of the stores is called "The Classy Flea." It is fabulous! There were windows and shutters and all sorts of fodder for artistic inspiration. Too many ideas, too little time!!

It was a great day!

The Rolling Stones, Airports and Kidneys

The title sums up my day yesterday.

A friend of mine, younger than me, is in need of a kidney transplant. I went with her sister yesterday and hung out with them in waiting rooms at Emory while she was having some tests done. We went out to lunch and laughed enjoying those little pleasures that you do when life gets entirely too weird.

It reminded me of the days when my life was consumed by doctor's visits, hospital stays, medical tests, scary moments when my sister was terminally ill. Little things like a good sandwich and a laugh till you cry were the best gifts you could get during those days.

She looked good, the circumstances around this kind of thing are as good as they get and there is hope and health to look forward to.

Later in the day I went to pick up Mike at the airport. We had an easy pickup, right on time, a good dinner and some good conversation about current events, theology and of course Dallas' win over Miami.

In the evening I pulled out my newest Netflix choice: Shine a Light, a participant in my Summer Concert Series. I decided on it because Katie had asked me a question about Keith Richards and I thought it would be fun to see this Martin Scorsese movie/video thing.

I was disappointed. I've never been a huge Rolling Stones fan and I had hoped there would be a lot of history and footage from bygone days. There was some, but there was more recent concert footage. I hate to say it, but they're pretty boring. Maybe they were more entertaining when they were younger. But they all looked like they needed a good nap and a visit with their grandkids. The guitars sounded like I do when I play Rock Band. So, I fast forwarded through it and caught the little snippets of black and white footage of their glory days.

Today, Katie is home from Texas and the wedding planning shall recommence. I'm looking my eyes out at wedding photography websites this morning and will be securing porta-potties this afternoon.

Hope you have a lovely day!

Wedding Stuff - Sand Ceremony

My niece, Emma, a few months younger than Joel, got married last month. As I am in "wedding mode" I took note of the details of the wedding. It was incredible!! Their wedding was at an inn on a mountain in Tennessee. It was snowing and everything was beautiful. There was one thing that I had never heard of and I thought it was cool - the sand ceremony.

When the parents came in, the mothers each carried a clear jar with colored sand. Emma's was one color and Matt's was another. At a point in the ceremony, the mother's gave their children the jar of sand and the poured their sand together, mixing it into one container. This is what was said:

"Today, Emma and Matt have chosen to commemorate their marriage through the celebration of the Sand Ceremony. This ceremony symbolizes the inseparable union of Matt and Emma into a new and eternal marital relationship. Emma and Matt will simultaneously pour separate containers of sand into a common vessel. Each grain of sand in their separate containers represents a unique and separate moment, decision, feeling or event that helped shape Emma and Matt into the separate and unique individuals they are today. As they pour their separate containers of sand into a common vessel, those separate and independent individuals will cease to exist. Instead, they will merge into a loving and supportive marital community. Emma and Matt, just as the grains of sand can never be separated into their individual containers again, so may your marriage be."