Wedding Preview and More!

August was a month of joy and tears.  We had a wedding for my daughter and a memorial service for my beloved mother. 

I am going to focus on the joy of the wedding in this post and share some pictures from the process.  These are photos taken by attendees at the wedding. We have some professional photos coming but I think it is fitting to show the spontaneity of the photos I show here today.

My daughter; Lauren Ashley Gossett, who is our only child, married Matthew Ivan David White on August 13, 2016.  The planning started a year before the wedding took place.  The venue was the Filbert Farm (the home and property of her in-laws, the Goodwins) and everything was fixed up and rearranged for the wedding.  And...since it was DIY, I had a large part in the decorations; the dance floor was Lauren's idea and the families made it come to fruition with elbow grease and lots of talent.  Lol.

The photo shown below is the woodshed as it is being converted into the Bar.  You would not believe the transformation.  It was a great success...we had 2 lovely bartenders and this was the cool spot to hang out!

Before picture of the Bar:

After photo!  A little magic by Jim Goodwin and Matthew White!

The next photo was taken next to the woodshed.  This became the fire pit area with chairs circling the fire area.

Next is another shot of a side yard just to show you the before....all the hard work!

The next photo was taken right after the dance floor was finished and the lights put up.  The Kereoke disc jocky set up right in front of the side we are looking at here.

Whoops!  I am getting ahead of myself....but I had to show the contrast between the preparation and the real deal!  It was sweet!

The next photo is of the open area where the reception took place.  The flowers weren't on the tables yet.  I hope to get a picture of that!  They were beautiful.  The roof to the right is the bar area that was shown in the other photo.

Below is another contrast photo!  Here is part of the crowd that filled up the tables.  The food was wonderful and all prepared by dear friends.  The service and food were absolutely A+!

Here is Matthew at the alter (so to speak) with Pastor Rob.  Looks like pastor is giving him some last minute instruction and/or bravado!  That is the Wisteria overhead and it was beautiful!

The procession has started and here comes Harmony, the flower girl!  I think this may have been our only glitch in the whole day.  We forgot the real rose petals from my house  and she threw the fake ones.  Oh, well....

I don't have photos yet of the bridal party coming down to the alter; but then....HERE COMES THE BRIDE!  Lauren's dad walked her down the isle to the tunes of a special song....of which I can't remember the title.  It was a Disney tune with a dramatic impact.  I will have to check on that one!  My girl was radiant!

Here they are with Pastor Rob, saying their vows which they both had written.

The ring exchange......and a prayer of blessing......

The KISS!  Well, one of them anyway.......

Bobbie is the family cake maker and she didn't disappoint.  Lauren's colors were teal, black and white and pale gold.  We had cake and cupcakes and they were beautiful!

Cutting the cake...and first bites.  They both behaved themselves.  I think they had a prior agreement.  No cake in the face!

Meanwhile....back at the dance floor; first dance was being performed and the bridesmaids and maid of honor are in the background.

It was a hot day and Jamie escaped his dress clothes before I could catch him!  Here are Lauren and Matthew dancing with their Dad and Mom.

Jamie (Lauren's dad), surprised everyone with a song he sang called "I Loved Her First."  Have you heard it?  We had to listen to the recording of the song numerous times before we could stop getting teary eyed.  I told him he had better learn it forwards and backwards before he actually sang it to her.  He got a little choked up while singing...but made fast recoveries.  We heard a LOT of sniffling going on.  It was a beautiful and bittersweet place in time.  Lauren has always been a daddy's girl....I am attaching a few old photos just to show you some of what was going through my mind as he sang.......

Of course there are many more; but I think you get the idea.  Sniff....sniff..... This has continued throughout the years...to this day, in fact.  Well...let's say she still depends on her dad to be there for her!

This is all I have to share about the wedding for now.  I will create another blog with the pictures that were taken by our dear friend and professional photographer; Brian.  It helps to have BFF's who are the best at what they do.  Brian's wife Cindy....my BFF; put all of the flower arrangements together for the tables.  Also Lauren's bouquet of dahlias.  The dahlia fields are very beautiful this time of year.  But, that is another story.

Did you happen to miss the blog for her Bridal Shower?  It was DIY and the theme was The Mad Hatter's Tea Party!  If you would like to see it too....here is the link! 

http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/08/laurens-bridal-showera-mad-hatters-tea.html

NOW!  For my crafting friends.....don't leave and I will show you some of the DIY projects I put together for wedding decor, etc.  I will give blog links for instructions if I have them!

Blog link for T-shirts:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/07/diy-t-shirts-for-wedding-party.html

For the Bag:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/06/a-bag-of-joy-for-bride.html

For the Candy Bins:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/07/diy-t-shirts-for-wedding-party.html

For the Candy & Nut Caddy:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/06/build-treat-station-with-deflecto.html

No instructions for my wedding invitations....they had pockets inside with all of the info......

Table Markers:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/06/build-treat-station-with-deflecto.html

Mr. & Mrs. Sign:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/05/a-perfect-o-deflecto-diy-wedding.html

Tied the Knot Banner:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/06/our-diy-wedding-tied-knot-banner.html

Box with etched lid:  http://marilyngossett.blogspot.com/2016/02/3-d-etched-lid-for-wedding-card-box.html

Luggage Tags:  Blog post with instructions not available to view yet......

Thank you for taking the time to share in these highlights from the wedding and a little slice of our lives.  It has been a wonderful time!  If you have any questions about the projects or something we did at the wedding I like getting questions and comments and you can comment below.

Make sure to take the time to enjoy the small blessings along the way and

Live Life with a Flourish!

Marilyn

A special thanks to Caron & Traci for sharing all of your photos!

And of course to everyone who was involved in any way to

make this the best day of our kid's lives......and ours!  xoxo

"YOU ARE MY SUPER HERO" Refrigerator Magnet

I have a Super Hero!  My husband!  I think he needs to be reminded once in a while.  Do you have someone you would like to honor?  Here is a project you might enjoy.

You will need:

Joy(R) embroidered letters:  3/4", 1", 1-1/2", 1" star.  Here's the link: http://joysa.com/letters.html

deflecto magnetic sheets:  #5901

acrylic paints:  Blue and Yellow

paintbrushes

scissors

electronic die-cut machine (set on high pressure with deep cut blade)

die of choice

water bucket

paper towels and paper plate

Instructions:

1.  Adhere the magnetic sheet to die-cutter mat.  Set the dial to maximum pressure and preferably use a deep cut blade.  After cutting, fold the sheet on the cut line until it breaks open.  Then, carefully punch out the shape.

2.  Paint the first layer blue.  You don't need to paint the entire surface; just the border.

3.  Paint the top layer yellow.  Allow both to dry thoroughly.

4.  Adhere the top layer to the bottom layer.  You won't need a lot of adhesive.  Just enough to keep them from falling apart as the magnetic surfaces will stay together when applied to metal surface.

5.  Position the letters on the yellow layer.  I used a long tweezers to help pick up and place the letters.

Remove the release paper on the larger letters.  Use a strong holding tacky glue for the smaller letters.

6.  Once you apply all of the embroidered letters, the magnetic plaque is ready to hang on the refrigerator!

Let's celebrate the Super Hero's in our lives!

Lauren's Bridal Shower..A Mad Hatter's Tea Party!

We all went down the rabbit hole on Sunday for a Mad Hatter's Tea Party!  Quite a few hours went into this DIY bridal shower!  The decorations were important for setting the theme.  It was all so much fun!  First, I will introduce you to the bride.  This is my daughter Lauren; the bride, and our one and only child. She has met a wonderful guy who has a wonderful family and we are thrilled that they will be tying the knot on August 13, 2016.  The colors for the wedding are teal, black, white and pale gold.  We have lots of stripes in the theme and love the colors!

We decorated the deck and back yard with paper lanterns, fancy vases and roses, teal, black and white stripes and some gold.  I will pictures some of the DIY projects later in the post and any that I have instructions for I will include a blog link for how I made them, just in case you are interested!

 I tied ribbons onto the paper lanterns and the hubs helped me get them in the tree.  They were a wee bit dwarfed by the tree once we got them all in it...but I still loved the whimsical feel they gave to the party.

 The Alice in Wonderland stack of papier mache' boxes were designed and painted by me.  The characters let everyone know why they were here and what it was all about!  The boxes can later be used to store any of the decorations that were designed and crafted for this theme.

I got the striped plastic table clothes and teal and black and white striped napkins online at Walmart.  The teal table ruffles and dark pink table mats I picked up at my local party store.  Michaels was the source for all of the bottles that were decorated with acrylic gems and a tag with a key said "Drink Me".  No matter how much we drank; there were no shrinking or stretched out Alice's at this party.  We all chilled in the sun and had a every nice time!

Here are the great ladies helping out in the kitchen.  We served cucumber and chicken salad finger sandwiches, deviled eggs and 4 varieties of scones.  I made all four batches from scratch and they were wonderful.  Recipes off of Pinterest, of course.  Peach Pie with Vanilla Frosting, Chocolate Chip, Blueberry Ricotta with Lemon Frosting, and The Queen's Scones with some colored frosting on top!  Janet, the lovely lady in the center of the other four; is Lauren's new Mother-in-Law and she is from England.  So...she knows how to do a tea up right and she brought us tea from England.  Delicious!

This is Lauren with a few of her all-time Besties.  Several of her girls have husbands and babies of their own now.  It amazes me how fast the years fly by.  I have had these girls around the house since Middle School!

Angie in the red is one of Lauren's Bridesmaids.

This is our lifetime friend Kathryn.  As much as she loves people and children....well, dogs not so much! Tucker decided she was going to be his bestie and let her know she wasn't going anywhere!  I am going to frame this picture because it is a novel one that is something we probably won't see again in our lifetime.  Lol!

This is Glynda (Tina); Lauren's Aunt, along with Brenda (cousin) and her daughter Hannah.  Hannah looked beautiful in her pretty dress and she had an awesome hat for the party.  It had ears and a card at the crown....just like the Mad Hatter.  She made a present for Lauren....all by herself that should have won a prize!  She takes after her Aunt Marilyn....even though she is from my husband's side of the family.  A kindred spirit let's say......

Update:  The wedding was Saturday!  I will be posting a new blog about that!  It was a gorgeous DIY venue on the in-laws filbert farm.  A wonderful time!

Here are some of the projects I made for the shower:

Sign:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/07/i-love-celebrations-dont-you-am-all.html

Candy Station:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/06/build-treat-station-with-deflecto.html

The shower invites....outside of card.....

Dessert Stand & Sign:  http://marilyngossettdesigns.blogspot.com/2016/07/i-love-celebrations-dont-you-am-all.html

 Lauren was getting Riley ready for the wedding with this finery.  She wasn't too thrilled, as you can see.  She got a much smaller flower for the real thing.  She looked quite beautiful........Lol.

Thank you for taking the time to visit the blog today.  

Make sure to take the time to enjoy the small blessings along the way and;

Live Life with a Flourish!

Marilyn