Honestly, though, we got a phone call on Tuesday that we needed to plan a wedding for Saturday at noon. To make a long story short, we thought the bride's family was taking care of things, and the bride thought the Relief Society was taking care of things. Therefore, as daughter of Relief Society President, I was drafted into the ranks of wedding planning.
Day one consisted of Mom stressing over putting the whole thing together by herself and me convincing her that this is why she has counselors. It's called delegation, people (no breathing...). Also, whenever we find ourselves in this situation (yes, we've done it before...now, we're what you call professionals....almost), the first person we call is my aunt Kaylani. Aka: creator of all things cute and crafty and decorator extraordinaire. She makes phone calls and has connections and basically saves lives.
Day two consisted of Mom realizing she needed to delegate. So she met with the bride, figured out a colour scheme, a menu, and a schedule, and then she made phone calls to assign some wonderfully kind and helpful people to make salads and help with set-up.
Day three, we tracked down ingredients for the wedding cake. And probably made more phone calls.
On Friday, we made the cake. Well, mom baked it, we both frosted, I made the fondant, and then we both covered and smoothed.
Saturday morning, we were at the church by 8:30 setting up tables, cutting croissants, arranging food on white platters, spreading table cloths, and running random errands for flowers, etc. Kaylani came around 10, and she and I went to a lady's house. Said lady happens to have three 18 foot trailers in her back yard full of all sorts of wedding decorations. Seriously. Anything you could possibly want. It's there. So Kaylani and I picked out a few things here and there to match what the bride wanted.
By noon, everything was set. The cake was decorated, the flowers trimmed and set, the table favors scattered, the place settings straightened.
The only mishap occurred when we peeked in to the ceremony room and counted the guests. We were originally told to plan for 25 to 30 people. To play it safe, we planned for 40. Well, turns out there were 47. So with 5 minutes before the wedding party came in for the reception/luncheon, we rushed to add one more place setting to each table. It all worked out.
Because the wedding was such short notice and there was absolutely no budget, we made it our goal to at least make it look like a wedding. I know...we could have done something about the nasty church chairs and maybe have done some lighting and something else to hide the fact that it's a cultural hall, but I think we did a fairly decent job.
I'll let you decide. Mission accomplished?
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| 40 silver chargers, 2 silver candelabras, 3 trumpet vases filled with royal blue gel beads topped with a crystal chandelier and white roses and wild flowers, fancy plastic dishes, metalic plastic utensils... |
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| food table: long white table cloth, 2 small royal blue table clothes, different layers created by stacking hymn books underneath... |
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| Cake table: round white table cloth and blue table runner, fancy cake pedestal, sophisticated dish of assorted nuts |
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| Voi-la! |
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| So pretty :) |
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| Tressie was pretty much done by the end, and was oh so happy to finally get to eat the food! Poor girl... She's not used to not being the center of attention. :) |
So what did I learn from this whole experience? I learned that it's probably best to give everyone a little more than a 4 days heads up before I get married. Just sayin'. And also, that my own wedding keeps getting less and less expensive. Connections are fantastic.
Make-up: Kaylani
Hair: Sherry (cutting) and Sommer (styling)
Photographer: I've got several options...
Food: Joe Pico
Dress Alterations: Granny
Cake: Emily (and other aunts)
Invitations: again, I've got a couple options
Flowers: Laura or cousin Julie's neighbor
Decorations: cousin Julie's neighbor
The only big things I really have to pay for are the dress and maybe a venue, depending on where it is (NOT a cultural hall). Seriously though, it's kind of ridiculous. Oh, how I love knowing people who know how to do things! :)
Also, just as a side note, my best friend gave his farewell talk today. On Wednesday, he leaves. I've known it was coming. I've known for years. And admittedly, I've had some panic attacks the last little while wondering how the heck I'm gonna handle it. But now that it's here, I feel completely at peace. He did a fantastic job. I know he'll be an amazing missionary because of the way he already lives every day. It's where he needs to be, and I can't wait to see how he learns and grows and changes people's lives. It's just weird to think he's really gonna be gone. For two whole years.
Ready. Am I? Set. Wait! Go. almost...
You've already got so many skills! The wedding looked lovely.
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