Stephanie’s Bridal Shower October 31, 2009

Where to begin?!  I was overwhelmed with joy, happiness, surprise, and gratitude the entire day.  My girlfriends (with some behind the scenes management from Nick, I suspect) are amazing.  It is an incredible, light-filled experience to walk into a room surrounded by beautiful women of all ages, and to feel their love directed at you.

The beautiful dining room, decorated and laid out with delicacies. And Jennifer, not sure if she wants to be in the photo or not.

I obviously hadn’t expected a cake. And look a bit crazed with enthusiasm for it.

Wish this wasn’t fuzzy– this is an old friend and teaching mentor, Jan.  We have in common Oxford, women of faith, hagiography, teaching…

Okay, I kind of forgot that I had registered for things, and so many times I was completely delighted and surprised. I’d say, “We WANTED this coffee pot!”  And everyone would laugh, as in: “Um we know.”

From Matt’s family in Price’s Branch, Great Aunt Dorothy and Great Aunt Imogene (Matt’s Grandfather’s sisters.)

Janet and Nedra–Nedra is Amy’s mom, and a great woman I’ve been blessed to know for years.

My Mom, Vickie, with Matt’s paternal Grandma.

Forgive the fuzziness!  This is Mya, Matt’s cousin-in-law and the most glamourous pregnant lady I know, and her daughter Gaby, and her mother-in-law (Matt’s father’s sister) Aunt Diana.

Another photo of me shocked and delighted by something I apparently registered for and then received.

Mmm, plush new towels.

My Mom, Vickie.

Erin, in front of the cutest pumpkin welcome sign possible.

Erin graced me with a vintage parasol.  LOVE.

Me with Amy, cutting the cake.

Janet, Erin, Amy, and me.

Gaby, me, and my Mom.

Jennifer, Janet, me, Erin, and Amy.

A splash of color from St. Charles– it was a perfect, perfect day.

Later that evening, I went to another party at Amy’s home– it was for couples, and we were joined by her husband, Janet and her husband, Erin and her husband, and my cousin and groomfolk Larry and his wife.  We had wine and delicious food, and told stories that made my sides hurt from laughing.

The day was so much more than I could have imagined, and I will never forget how happy and blessed I felt all day.

Pretty, pretty things May 8, 2008

An Inspiration Board is a collection of images, photographs, colors, or icons that are meant to inspire and set a theme for the entire wedding.  I love images and photographs, so I am sort of addicted to these Boards.  Style Me Pretty is full of them; both the editor of the blog and her readers create them to share and inspire.  I think I will eventually make my own, but for now, here are a few of my favorites.

Anna

 

Hailey

 

Krista

 

Tara Guerard

 

Green is in the air–the ring, our love of Farmers’ Markets, Matt’s veggie-ism, branches, cottonwood, fireflies…these seem to surround the idea of our wedding with natural things. 

One of my most enduring ideas from undergrad is, also, the Green World.  It is the place in comedy where things can be transformed.  Picture the forest in _A Midsummer Night’s Dream_–it is in the forest, away from Athens (the world of reason, order, and law) that magic happens, wishes can be discovered, loves and lives transformed.  All can be made new again.  In every comedy, a Green World exists.  I used to joke with my English major classmates that we, studying literature in an old house and garden on campus, were living in a Green World ourselves.  It’s no coincidence, of course, that weddings also frequent comedies.

(All Boards from Style Me Pretty.  Names indicate the names of the boards, sometimes tied to the women who created them or for whom they were created.)