Time Out!!!!!!!!!

I have to take a short break from "Shelby's wedding" to concentrate on "Lindsey's wedding". Lindsey is one of Shelby's BFFs and I just adore her. They went to high school together and have stayed close, even though Lindsey now lives in Atlanta. That's Lindsey....there to the left.....at her Charleston Chapeau bridal shower last month...what fun! She's holding the shrimp and grits she made....I'm using this photo and her recipe in my cookbook!

Lindsey is getting married on April 12th in Charleston, SC, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. All of her friends, and most of the parents, are going! That is a true testament to how much this young lady is loved!

I never imagined, back when I was doing her makeup for ring dances and proms, that someday I would be doing her wedding flowers! Heck, it was hard to imagine any of them ever growing up and getting married! Especially so fast!

But they did...and she is....and I'm excited to be involved! I remember when she first asked me to help and my heart skipped a beat.......then when she told me her colors were Tiffany Blue and Deep Red, my mind started racing with ideas. There was little need for my ideas.....Lindsey is, unlike Shelby, quite decisive and knows exactly what she likes and doesn't like. That's a good thing for me......if I can reproduce in life what she explained to me in words, there will be no disappointment! I would hate to disappoint her!

So.........there's lots to do in less than two weeks. I've been working on the wishing tree...I'll add a pic when it's done. The flower order is placed.....I have several locations to visit to pick up different things....and then we leave on April 10th! I can't wait to see Charleston again! I'll take lots of great pictures to add to the blog!!

I'm sure I'll post again before I leave.....but if you don't see me around, I'm busy making a wedding!

By the way, this is a mock up of her centerpiece flowers.....the tables are long, 18 people on each side....18 centerpieces per table, with votives in square glass holders. It should be beautiful!

You're Cordially Invited......

cor·dial /ˈkɔrdʒəl or, especially Brit., -diəl/ Pronunciation Key [kawr-juhl or, especially Brit., -dee-uhl] –adjective 1. courteous and gracious; friendly; warm: a cordial reception. 2. invigorating the heart; stimulating. 3. sincere; heartfelt: a cordial dislike. 4. Archaic. of or pertaining to the heart. –noun 5. a strong, sweetened, aromatic alcoholic liquor; liqueur. 6. a stimulating medicine. 7. anything that invigorates or exhilarates. Well, I think that pretty much defines how we feel about this invitation thing.....it should be gracious, friendly, warm, stimulating, heartfelt....and we should pick them out while enjoying an aromatic alcolholic liquor, while making sure we have plenty of BCs for afterwards...sounds exhilarating....and I'm invigorated at the thought! Anyway.....here's one I like....not the colors, but the fold: I like this one mainly because of the fold...it's different and I haven't seen it before. I also love how they took the initial and put them back to back.....it makes a heart! "S" would do the same thing, but I have a feeling that wouldn't be something Shelby would like..... Nah....I still think I like the one in the blog below best.....I love that size and fold. I think Shelby wants a belly band around it though.....we'll keep you posted!

I Can Make That......

A new email from Shelby! This time it contains a picture of a beautiful invitation.....it really does look alot like the one I had pictured in my mind! Of course she said she hated the Eiffel Tower!!!!! My gosh, she IS my child.....and she didn't get switched at birth! Phew!!

I really do love this style of invitation. And, according to Shelby, we will be making them ourselves! Now Shelby's idea of making them is ordering the papers and taking them to Kinko's for cutting and putting them together. On the other hand, my idea is to cut each piece of paper, print the information in her favorite font and then carefully glue all of the parts and pieces and....TAH DAH!

I don't know why I'm like that, but I am......it isn't the issue of money, although we do tend to be frugal in our family, even if it isn't necessary! I've just always looked at things and asked myself if I could make it myself.....but you must understand that I just love the whole process! I wouldn't want to miss out on a single second of the whole production. When I have things done for me, I'm usually disappointed.....I don't think anyone can make it look just like I picture it in my head. I've ordered flowers from a florist and then rearranged them....I've had a function catered and wished I'd done it all myself! It's a family joke that "I can make that..." should be the epitaph on my headstone....when we go to the art festivals and shows I walk through the whole thing saying just that.....and you know what, I know that I can....and I'd have fun doing it! I can't explain why I'm that way, but I am.....and I love every second of it!!!

I am so green.....

....and it has nothing to do with drinking too much green beer or being jealous. We had a wonderful St. Patricks Day dinner....Shelby and Justin came over (I just love when they visit!!!) and we filled our plates with corned beef, cabbage, roasted potatoes and warm biscuits. We broke out the green food coloring and toasted the Irish with green beer, and, yes, green wine....and even a green vodka & tonic!

But my curiosity was peaked when, before dinner, I was showing Shelby some of the "mock ups" I was making for her to look at.....I had a swatch of "green" and Justin picked it up and said, "is this the color green you're using?". Ooops......I didn't mean to surprise him....in fact, I'm sure I didn't have the color right. As Shelby walks to the pantry to grab a cracker to snack on, he says he likes the color of the cracker box.......it's kind of a Christmas green....which I like......but I hadn't thought of it before as a wedding color.

Anyway, it sent us all in yet another direction to consider, which I think is a good thing.....but I could see in Shelby's face that we'd better table the "color thing" for now. But she did announce that she is "almost" sure that her wedding colors will be black, green (lime? kiwi? jade?) and white. Decisions, decisions, decisions......but I'm not sure I'd place my bet on the Christmas green. I love you, Justin....and I love Christmas green....but only at Christmas (Of course, I love you ALL of the time!). But if you look at the colors above, the one to the far right is, to me, a Christmas green............but if you just go to the left a little it gets much better!

How should I répondez, s'il vous plaît????

"Back in the day" RSVP cards were pretty simple.....what were we thinking? I just love how this new generation has "loosened" things up a bit. Emily Post must be freaking out in her grave!!! But I love it!

So, Shelby has sent to me a copy of a RSVP card she found on the internet.....I love it! I don't know that we need people to respond as to what they want to eat since she's considering Southwestern food stations, but I just love the comments section......don't you know that the "Great Bridge Group" will have all kinds of funny comments to make.......and she can save them to read years later for a chuckle.

I've surfed around on the net to try to get some ideas and here's what I've found:

__Yes, wild flamingos couldn't keep me away

__No, I heard about the wild flamingos

Here's another one:

____ Glady attend

____ Regretfully decline

____Regretfully attend

____ Enthusiastically decline

____ Will decline to respond, but ultimately attend

____ Will respond, but not attend

I think they're so cute! I also love the new idea for RSVPs by going to the couple's website and sending the RSVP......heck, why give the United States Postal Service more money than we have to! It's also alot easier for the bride to keep up with, don't you think?

Whatever she decides, I'm sure that in the end we'll still be calling everyone at the last minute to find out if they're coming or not.....isn't it funny how some people just don't respond at all? I don't know how to respond to that.......well, I do, but I won't.

Imagine that.........

OK.....I get that this is going to be a long process. I know that there will be many color palates chosen...and unchosen! I just wish I could take away the stress that I know she feels.....my indecisive one...

So, Shelby, here is what I have to say....and take this to heart! I am having the time of my life! Everytime you call with a new color combo, I allow it to roll through my creative corners and I imagine a whole new wedding picture in my head! And I've come to the conclusion that this is a blessing! I have imaginary weddings in my head in every color of the rainbow......almost like you're having more than one wedding (not!). But I've pictured you standing at the altar in your beautiful dress, surrounded by the most incredible friends anyone could have, looking into the eyes of an amazing man......and sometimes the colors in the bridesmaids hands are pink...sometimes they're yellow....and, yes, I've gone the distance and come up with some blue options! I've pictured in my head a reception that is classic white, fun pink, airy blue.....yep, I'm having the time of my life!

Just know that I'm always here......I will always support you in whatever you decide....your decisions will be your own.....and, as I've tried to do your entire life, when you make that final decision of what you want, I will do everything in my power to make it happen just like you picture it.

Until then, don't fret about me! I'm living the best dream of all........I'm dreaming of your wedding....in every color of the rainbow.....and I'm enjoying every minute of it! So, bring on the next color combo....I'm ready for anything!

OK......I get that this is going to be a long process......

I love you.......Mom...XOXOXO

Colors dancing in my head.......

So.....after Shelby mentions the "watermelon and kiwi" color scheme, I decide to go to Norfolk Wholesale Floral to see what our flower options are........very few flowers come in "watermelon"......and there are quite a few that come in "kiwi"....now imagine that!

Too bad Shelby doesn't like gerbera daisies, because there's one that is watermelon AND kiwi...we'll see where that goes!

Soooooo.....Norfolk Wholesale is on the hunt for "watermelon" flowers for the bride who was almost born in their store! They all seem to have a vested interest in her wedding.....I can't walk in without someone saying, "how's Shelby?"...."has she picked her colors yet?". And, get this....they already know that they have to ship her flowers to San Antonio!!!

To end, I haven't quite gotten the "watermelon/kiwi" wedding pictured in my head yet, but I just love the color combination! We'll see where this goes!

I feel a slight turn in our direction.....

OK.....here's the newest idea.....I think I love it!!! I also think the black will look GREAT with this.....still classy, but fun!!!!! Ohmigosh...what flowers come in watermelon???????

More on Color/Style/Stuff

I love these colors, but I think I would completely flip this look.......the black and white on the bottom and the accents in the green....don't know about a runner....maybe.....but this picture is toooo much gree.....but I love it.....but it's too much green.....yep, still love it!

I just love this!!! We could have them in different colors/prints for each drink....and have either a monogram or the names and date on them! These are soooooo fun!!!!

Somewhere IN the Rainbow.....

I would never have thought that choosing the color palette for her wedding would be so difficult! I guess having heard "pink" soooo many times over the years, I assumed that would be the direction we would head. But now I'm watching her anguish over this decision.....ahhhhh, my indecisive one! But I get it....once you choose those colors, there's no turning back...or turning around....and they do have to be just right! She started off with pink and orange.....what great colors.....fun colors!!! But they don't really express Shelby and Justin....they're definitely Shelby! So once she realized that this was about both of them, she put the pink and orange in the closet (I'm sure we'll all see it again someday though) and headed into a new direction.....round, and round, and round she goes............now we're looking at black, white and green! Great, great color combination. Very grown up and classy....and different...and, after all, she is Irish!!!! Back in my day no one would've thought there would be green flowers! But there are LOTS of them! I still say she should add a touch of pink somewhere! Wouldn't the pink shoes look great, Shelby! I just can't wait to see what colors we consider next!

Let's talk about this a little more......

OK....I understand about the budget thing.........but I did my wedding cake and, as you can see, there were issues. It's been bugging me all day because I really don't remember alot about that day....if you remember, the cake was done THE DAY OF MY WEDDING! Oh sure, I made the chocolate shells before the wedding day, but the cake was done THAT DAY!

I'm all about the "DIY" thing, but we need to pick and choose what we can do...and do well!

If you look closely to my cake, it's not perfect.......of course, we'll be using fondant for your cake, which is much easier to make look "perfect".....and you won't have those little balls (my God, what was I drinking?)......ok, we'll do it....I just had to get all of this out......we'll talk....love you!

One more thing......

This is the picture I sent to her to try to figure out if I have her vision correct in my head.....I think (I think you'll be seeing that word alot in the coming days) that this is basically what she wants, except she wants the top of each tier to be slightly rounded and she wants the hydrangeas to be all white and she doesn't want the ribbon and she wants them to be separated a bit more and she wants the hydrangeas to be flush with the tier above them.

Now I know that seemed like a long list of things to change with this cake, but c'mon now......how long would that list have been with the ones in the pics she sent to me?

Yes, I'm blessed with the most incredible daughter in the world! I love laughing with her and I love living in the same world with her! She's has been a mother's dream....she will be the most beautiful bride....and she is going to make Justin the luckiest man in the world (and vice versa!!). I love you, Shelby.....Mom XOXOXO

Here we go......

We've been emailing each other this morning....mostly about the wedding cake. I think I'm starting to understand how this "wedding planning for my daughter" process is going to go.

She has told me several times that she wants a white cake.....tiers rounded.....white hydrangeas between the tiers, but tight and inline to the tier above them. Sooooo.....these are the pictures she has sent to me this morning to help me better understand what she wants.......all of these cakes are what she has sent to me to depict "white, rounded edges, white hydrangeas between tiers".

I think I know what she's trying to show me....I think it's the way the top edges of each tier are slightly rounded....she doesn't like the sharp edges (you don't get them with fondant covered cakes anyway). As for the rest of the cake, well, I'm not sure......I just hope that we don't end up with a wedding cake that has polka dots, stripes, butterflies and feathers......then I will just have to wonder if they mixed my baby up with another in that newborn nursery!

Note to Shelby: I think I get it, hon......don't worry, everything will be absolutely gorgeous. It's us......it has to be! I love you.....all of you! (I'm smiling...")

I'm a blogger!!!!

Now that doesn't sound very nice, if you ask me.....but having lived for more than 50 years (not much more though!), and having been at the starting line of modern technology AND raised 2 children that managed to swim through it all WITHOUT water wings, I will believe that "blogging" is a good thing, so I'm IN! ....but it still doesn't sound like something I should really be doing and, if I were much younger, I wouldn't tell my Mom and Dad that I do it! Soooooo......Shelby's getting married! Wow.....that's the first time I've "typed" it and I got all tingly! Of course, most of that is due to the fact that she has found just the type of man I could have hoped for...and more!!! And now that she has a blog, I thought I should have one, too......as to what I have to say....well, we'll see!I'll sign off for now, since I'm not sure where to go with this......and I will ponder what I will say next. But keep in mind that those who have the same blood coursing through their bodies as I, don't normally go for very long without saying something! See you soon!!!