This Is the Week We've Been Waiting For!

[This post is a little long but full of photos.]

 Before you all think I have fallen off the face of the earth --- again --- I have a really good excuse for being absent.  This is the BIG WEDDING WEEK!  My son Scott is marrying the love of his life, Paula, this Friday evening.  Mom and I are busy with last minute plans for the trip to Lawrence, Kansas, with all the food and decorations for the rehearsal dinner on Thursday. 

My mom is very crafty and artistic -- and she was kind enough to pass that gene on to her kids!  But she really out-did herself with the centerpiece for the dinner.  The theme is seashore and lighthouses and here is her creation.

The base is styrofoam that she painted with various colors and added sea shells, moss and greenery. She does beautiful floral arrangements so had all of this on hand. The lighthouses were picked up at a flea market. I am a lighthouse fanatic, as is my son, so this piece is really "wicked", as Ron Weasley would say!

I love the blue along the bottom and IRL it looks like crystals.  The piece will be set on blue clear wrap.

For party favors I didn't get quite as fancy. (Who could compete with that centerpiece, anyway?) But using little square boxes from the Bridal dept at Michael's I filled them with little bags of Jelly Bellies, Scott's request. The lighthouse die cuts are from the Cricut Wall Decor cartridge. 

On the tops of the boxes is a thank you message from the couple.

Paula will be keeping her bouquet as it will be specially made by her aunt.  So, in keeping with the latest trend of having a throwing bouquet she asked me to make one for her based on an idea she had seen the "The Knot" of one made with paper flowers. My plans were for more handmade paper flowers like I've seen in some fabulous blogs, but with 17 weddings in 3 weeks (photographing) I just simply got crunched for time.  However, in cleaning out my stacks of stash I found a tablet of die cut flowers ready to punch out and assemble! There are three large ones in the bouquet from that set and a few smaller one.  I filled in with silk roses and stems and lots of glitz, including a sparkly butterfly.  All is assembled on the styrofoam ball with plastic handle. The hardest part was the bow --- I just don't do well with those.

I sent some pics to Paula last night and she loves it! Whew!  The thing is quite heavy so I hope it doesn't clunk someone on the head .... and I hope it remains intact during its flight and ultimate catch. 

Now, for a sampling of Paula and Scott's engagement photos they had done last month.  I have to give a plug to Rebecca Peters Photography in Kansas City. She is tops in her field and will be doing the wedding as well. 

Yep, Scott's car! When he first gave Paula the keys I knew she was the one! He is like me, picky about who drives our 4-wheeled babies! BTW, the sky actually looked like that the evening of the photo shoot.  They put off doing the engagement photos because of the winter months, then every other opportunity they had it was raining. This was just after the rain.

I think this is Paula's favorite.

This is part of a series that Scott initiated.  He is not one to keep a straight face for very long so after too many "sober" shots he told Rebecca to keep shooting, then he started tickling Paula in the ribs.  This is my favorite picture because it is truly who they are.  I now use the same trick in my wedding photos after secretly asking the groom if his bride is ticklish.  I get some very funny results!

My heart is filled with joy for this wonderful couple!  This day is a long time coming, but definitely worth the wait.  It's easy to see they each have found their soulmate.

Thank you for letting me show off a preview of the week to come. I am so happy! There's just no other way to say it! You can bet I will be sharing more photos later from the wedding!