Spring Cleaning
Goodness, I didn’t realise I would be away quite that long. Spring seems to be announcing it is here, despite messing with us (and the cherry blossoms) by giving us short-sleeve weather one day and enough snow to sledge the next. This morning it is ever so sunny, so this bodes well. Every year the winter seems to be a little longer, especially when it’s just cold and dark rather than snowy. Making it through seems like something tiny and feels like something bigger. I don’t mind that I still need a jacket right now—there is light! Also, the sun sets just early enough that you can really enjoy watching everything go pink and orange. Like a big sky of embroidery.
Thank you so much to everyone who made ScrapFever one of the most wonderful experiences ever. Amy, you’re a star and I am so honoured to be asked to teach. Girls, all of you made me remember why I love this so much. It’s been a long time since so many people were so happy about paper and cameras and stories. It felt like the good old days, and yet so many of you were new scrappers. New scrappers…this alone was brilliant. I could gush all day, but I will just say again: thank you.
Lots of lovely spring things are happening. We’ve been getting our flat into order, largely by following this idea called The Cure (and yes, I was quite upset that it didn’t come with a Robert Smith soundtrack specially chosen to help you clean your house of dust and depression…though on second thought, that might be a very difficult mix to create) and as a result there is a lot of in-the-middle going on in our flat, but it’s going in the right direction. So that’s lovely. The Jayhawks won the championship, in the first year I haven’t followed March Madness since I moved away from Kansas. So that’s lovely. And I heard from an old friend who I had lost touch with many years ago, and that was definitely lovely.
Don’t be mistaken into thinking that everything is sane in this loveliness, however. If I also mention that I am in the middle of dresses, shoes, invitations, catering, photographers, flowers and other such things, you will remember that while I’ve been calmly doing other things, I was supposed to be planning my wedding! And in fact, I did a lot of planning and not enough of getting done so…things are getting done now. One by one. All will be ready. All will be fine. All will be lovely.
But today, I better get something done!!!
Please oh please: tell me a little wedding story in the comments. Over the past year I’ve learned most girls really want to talk about their wedding but they don’t because they are being modest and polite and don’t want to indulge on telling these stories. Today I say: indulge! Tell! Lovely little wedding stories, yes pretty please.
xlovesx
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10 April 2008, 05:57
Shimelle,
Not so sure this is a lovely wedding story, everyone was sworn to secrecy, not to tell my Dad, on the day and all went well. While getting ready I walked across the dining room floor in bare feet and noticed the carpet was wet! I enlisted the help of my bridesmaid her boyfriend and my Mum to decide to move the table over to the window, where the radiator was leaking, to make more room in the house. I had visions of not getting to the wedding as Dad would be dismantling the plumbing! They didn’t tell him until the next day, all visitors to the house after the afternoon reception also had to promise not to tell.
I’ve been married 26 years now, I’m glad I got to the church just a traditional amount late.
Incidentally, is that a map of Iceland I see behind the sewing machine, fantastic country, went there about 23 years ago and I need to go back sometime.
10 April 2008, 06:07
I have so many stories from our wedding day. I don’t know what to pick …
The funniest one had happened just at the end of the day when we came back to our apartment.
It was hot and I was dancing for several hours in the layered dress and the first thing I wanted to do was to get out of it as soon as possible.
That was the moment I have found out the dressmaker had made the finishing touches on me, meaning she sew the dress instead of using the buttons …
So my dear husband took a pair of scissors and started cutting the 1000 Pound dress (I’ve converted the currency) from the neck down.
What could have been a very romantic moment had turned into one of our hall-of-fame wedding stories.
As my husband had progressed down he started sniffing loudly until he started asking, very politely, whether I might have pooped in my dress during the ceremony due to all the excitement.
I was not very happy about the question until I understood what had happened.
On his way home, my husband accidentally stepped on dog’s manure and as he bent down he got closer and closer to it.
On our wedding night he was quite sure it was I who accidentally soiled myself, and not that it was he who had carried the smell with him.
10 April 2008, 06:07
It seems spring has sprung here today also. I’m hoping it will keep up and isn’t just toying with us again.
As for my wedding story. Well, my wedding dress almost caused a crash outside the register office where we were married (almost 10 years ago – wow. Time flies). You can see it here to see why it had it’s almost accident-inducing impact.
xMx
10 April 2008, 07:34
well what didn`t happen on my wedding day! to start with my oldest bridsmaid decided she didn`t want to be a beidesmaid anymore and had to be bribed! my nan knocked herself out under the stairs, we couldn`t undo my dress, and then when we did we couldn`t do it up. everyone had ago and in the end my brother-in-law managed it and then i breathed out at the wrong moment and the top button flew off and nearly hit my sister in the eye! ( although the picture of my dad safty pinning the dress back together is one of my favs!) then due to my nan`s mishap ( she was fine just a bit of a bump )my step-mum had a face like thunder all through the service, people thought she wasn`t happy with who i was marring and when she saw the video she wanted it to be edited to cut her out but i refused as it was the part when were saying our vowels.
apart from all that i really had a wonderful day:) and this year it`s our 6th anniversary.
10 April 2008, 08:03
A friend of mine got married at a registry office a month ago – and i was the photographer lady {which was hard, cos there is only so pretty you can make a registry office and a pub reception look!} T’was beautiful though – as was she. And now i am finishing her album so she can show her parents in scotland tomorrow. Her son, who ran away from home last year got dragged their by his {very cool} older sister – and she cried when i gave her the first photo of them all together and framed and stuff. Which was nice. Happy tears! :)
When my mum got married i didn’t particularly like her husband ;) so i stole her bouquet and made someone {no idea who it was in the end} take me to mcdonalds. I was like 5, so it was ok – and now i can laugh.
When i get married. I shall be wearing purple. This excites me.
Xx {And on sun; FABULOUS!}
10 April 2008, 08:18
A wedding story? The morning after our wedding, while my sister drove my new husband and me from the hotel back to my mother’s, I was looking at my veil in my lap – and noticed that the headpiece had been attached to the veil upside down…...and that was the way I wore it all day…..and I had the sinking realization that there were to be no ‘do-overs.’ It was done and I spent my wedding day with an upside down veil…........
k8
10 April 2008, 10:39
My veil was attached upside down too! Fortunately it was discovered in time to get the hairdresser to figure out how to attach it. I nearly forgot it, as it turned out… both my bridesmaids were already walking up the aisle before I remembered that the point of wearing a veil was to have it over your face at the start!
I was lucky though- I think that was the worst of the mishaps- except tripping over the dress when dancing at the reception. :) Lesson to be learnt: if you’re going to wear a dress with a hoop and do a fairly fast swing dance for your wedding dance, practice in the hoop first! It’s astonishing how much those things get in the way. :)
Liz.
Liz.
10 April 2008, 10:53
We had a religious-style wedding (in a church, three readings) without the religion, so the last reading was one of our friends doing a dramatic rendition of “Peter, Peter, Pumpkin-eater.” We had planned to do a toast to our guests, but no one knew how to use my father’s corkscrew so our cups were empty and we pretended to drink from them. Then we recessed to Sousa’s “Liberty Bell March.” It was all very jolly. Don’t forget to do the things that will make it your wedding day.
10 April 2008, 12:14
as you know I did marry that boy from high school! and my advice is no matter what, do not let other boys take the groom out the night before! my lovely hubby couldn’t find his tux the next day, and his dad had to show him that it was just in the closet- behind a door that he couldn’t figure out how to open! but he made up for it by not being able to say his vows, the only thing that came out was tears, and it was so genuine and lovely!
also make sure that you have people there to do EVERYTHING for you that day so you can enjoy it.
10 April 2008, 12:15
We got married on 9/15/01…four days after the terror attacks here in the US. We had to drive to Vegas (21 hours) and over 3/4 of our guests couldn’t come, including our best man & matron of honor. But it turned out to be the most wonderful time! All of the right people got there, and we were able to have brunch with all the guests the next morning. Sure there were things that didn’t get done (we forgot an undershirt for my husband and he didn’t get a haircut) but the day ended to same. :)
I learned that the little details don’t matter in the end and they aren’t worth stressing over. (easier said than done in the moment though!)
10 April 2008, 12:15
oh, and GO JAYHAWKS! KS was a wonderful place to be last Monday night!
10 April 2008, 12:22
Due to a lack of funds we had a very small wedding, only immediate family and a couple of friends. It was a lovely day however apart from my brother missing the whole ceremony and turning up whilst we took a few photos outside. Of course I burst into tears as soon as I saw him and the photos of me are awful because I’ve got a puffy, tearful face.
My only advice would be, try not to get lost in all the preparations, remember who you are doing all this for and make sure you enjoy it.
10 April 2008, 14:13
Our wedding day dawned wild and stormy and it poured with rain all morning – until at 12.00 noon sharp as I stepped out of my parents front door and all the neighbours were standing under brollies to watch me go – the sun came out and stayed out. Yay. Then my Dad (bless him) told me on the way to Church that it wasn’t too late to change my mind! And then the hotel people had put the cake in a big bay window and the sun shone on it and melted the icing so it almost fell over in the middle of the reception. We had the best day! That was 31 years ago and we have had a ball ever since. Enjoy your day.
10 April 2008, 14:53
Wedding stories. Huh. The most embarrassing thing was that we nearly did not get married because we changed our plans at the last minute. The idea was that my dad would take me into the church and my husband would wait with the priest at the altar. At the church my husband I accidentally met so we decide to walk down the aisle together, as he had already seen me. So we patiently waited outside the church for the priest to invite us in (he said he would welcome me and my Dad at the door). However, after 10 minutes and no priest we got slightly nervous. Then we realised that the priest was waiting for my husband at the altar as no one had informed him about the change of plan. In the end we got married, although slightly later than anticipated. In addition, I only realised on my wedding day that the veil I had chosen did not match the colour of my dress. But we had the best & funniest present ever: my brother-in-law had organised ‘wedding idol’ (like american idol), so we had our best man and supporting singers, as well as the bridesmaids and parents etc. sing some songs for us. Naturally, we had to sing as well and won a golden record, which will always remind us of the beautiful day.
Have a fabulous wedding!
10 April 2008, 15:24
Oh, lots of wedding memories! We got married the day before Easter so we had carrot cake and little chocolate bunnies for favors. I got back to the hotel after having my hair/veil done and was running around greeting the family and saying this was my outfit (was wearing jeans), checking on the room, oohing over the flowers, etc. when I found out later that my hubby-to-be was already dressed in his suit and hiding round corners, in the men’s room, etc. trying not to see me/be seen. No wonder my brother was so insistent I go upstairs and get dressed! We had been dating 16 years and the priest made a comment that it took us so long because women in my family are fertile (I have 9 siblings) and hubby-to-be was frightened. We sent him a photo of our twins 2 years later :-D
Have a lovely wedding, may it be the day of your dreams!
11 April 2008, 03:59
We live in Germany but our wedding was in the UK (I’m British) so it had been a long haul organising it over the year. The hotel where we were getting married changed hands, the chef changed, the wedding organiser at the hotel got pregnant and was sent home for bedrest two days before our big day, German guests missed their planes and did not tell us that they would be arriving later, leaving us standing at the aiport for hours.. the list goes on and on. (And I might add that I turned into a bit of a Bridezilla if I am honest!) However the “high point” for me was waking up on the morning of the wedding, could not sleep. So for about an hour or so, I busied myself with last minute things that needed to be done. Coming back into the bedroom where my husband-to-be had just woken up, he announced, “Lise, I’ve got cold feet.” I nearly had a heart attack on the spot. Honestly, for a few seconds, my whole life swam before me, whereupon he followed it up with… “Can you close the window? I’m really cold.”!!!!!!!!!!!
We had the most perfect day and I am happier day by day!
11 April 2008, 05:52
Ooh, wedding stories – can I remember that far back? Everyone said it wouldn’t last because we were young, but after 33 years, I think we proved them wrong!
My elderly relatives didn’t like my dress, as in the 70’s you had to look like a nylon meringue and I had a long, thin cheesecloth dress with an oversmock, which my nan said made me look preganant and “everyone” will think I had to get married (maybe thats why I waited 5 years before having my first baby).
Our reception was a strange mix of loud,extrovert Italian relatives from my mother’s side and exuberant Eastenders from my Dad’s, plus our hippy friends from the youth theatre workshop we attended – it was the best party ever, and still talked about at family gatherings!
The funniest thing is in the photos of us cutting the cake – on the wall behind us (the reception was in a Scout hut) is a full-size replica Masai war shield and crossed spears left over from their “African Experience”weekend – we didn’t notice it was in the background until we got the photos back.
All I would say to you, Shimelle, is take time to enjoy it – mine passed in a blur, I didn’t even get a whole drink at the reception, I kept getting whisked away to talk/dance with Uncle This & Auntie That, and never got to sit and finish one drink! Oh, yes, and the wedding car backfired and left black smuts all down one side of the dress when we went to get in it to go to the reception!
All happy memories, though – thanks for giving us the opportunity to share them, it brought the day flooding back.
love Sandy
11 April 2008, 05:53
No nice stories I’m afraid – just wanted to say I know exactly how you feel. Our wedding is in 50 days (31st May), and what with college, family etc it has crept up far too fast and am now panicking some what!
Wishing you all the best in your planning/organising!
Jo x
11 April 2008, 10:27
LOL – I was only doing a LO of the place were we got married yesterday (the wedding was 7 years ago)- you can see it here if your interested http://beautifullilysramblings.blogspot.com/2008/04/mojos-back.html. It was a blissfully lovely weekend, with close friends and family, just how we imagined it. I have no funny stories, but just advice to take the day as slowly as you can, make sure you get the photos that you want (sure you’ll have no problem with that!) and we look forward to seeing all the lovely LOs you make with them.
12 April 2008, 11:47
My wedding cake was a french croquembouche. The 22 February was the hottest day in South Africa that year. I was standing chatting with my maid of honour Jen when in slow motion behind her i saw my cake take a graceful lean and then fall with the balls of the croquembouche rolling all over the table. We had to restack them but not able to build them back up to the 1 metre height of before. So my cake saw the rest of the reception as a dumpty pyramid of half a metre high. Still delicious though. The best bit was seeing my inlaws getting all romantic on the dance floor feeding each other with the little creamy cakes.
13 April 2008, 10:01
Best story – it was fun. Really fun. Not fun as in themed, or whacky but fun as in all our friends and family chilled in one place. My advice is to – seriously !!- know that something will go wrong. It always does (my wedding photos don’t exist – photographers flash broke…. and yes, I’m a scrapper…) You just gotta ride with it and enjoy the rest of the day. My lasting memory of one of my friends weddings was her distraught because the jazz band was only going to be able to play for an hour because everything had run late – oh yeah, everything runs late too !!! Apparently this was the most important part of the day for her… Sad for her..
14 April 2008, 09:05
We did what we wanted, we planned it our way, accepted that some people wouldn’t approve but that the people who mattered wouldn’t mind – we only plan to do this once!
And we did, we went to Tobago with nearest and dearest (and it was cheaper than alternatives in the UK!) and got wed on a beach, to the sound of waves, a steel pan drum and parrots flying overhead! Bliss
My only regret (wasn’t a scrapper then) was that not enough photos were taken informally – suspect that won’t be the case at yours! xx
16 April 2008, 10:12
Shimelle, you wanted wedding stories so I will tell you about mine which happened last summer. We had about 40 guests for a brunch wedding. One of our close friends is a judge and he performed the ceremony for us. Your grandmother came out of retirement to make the wedding cake, as she always said she would! There was no dancing and no bouquet toss, but we did feed each other cake (note I said feed, not smash into each other’s faces!).
The nicest memory I have from the day is walking by ourselves from the wedding site to our hotel. It was only about 3 blocks away (small Kansas City blocks), the weather was warm and sunny, and it was a nice time to reflect on the actual ceremony.
Later that night we got some of our friends together for the reception which was held at our favorite dive bar. It was a perfect event, exactly what we were wanting, and it expressed our personalities to a “t”.
Good luck planning your wedding; I nearly went crazy and ours was a small simple affair! I will pass on the nicest piece of advice I received from a dear friend the night before the wedding: when saying your vows, go slowly and really think about what you’re saying as that, after all, is the REAL reason for the event.
xoxo, Kara
1 June 2008, 09:34
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