Carolyn Westbrook: More Wedded Bliss

 Here is a shot of the arch that I was telling you about. It was stunning. My beautiful daughter pictured here underneath it. So, last we talked, I was in the middle of getting the flowers done. It was Friday, the day before the wedding, and Eric gets here from New York, ready to start firing off photography for the new book. The problem is that we still have to get everything set up...tables, chairs, and the serving space where the food is to be served. So, really nothing to shoot. We walk around and talk about what the shots will be, as the cake is delivered. We ordered the cake from Romano's Bakery in Dallas. I of course, was worried sick because I am such a control freak. I tore into the cake box, carefully of course, and the cake was fantastic. I mean AMAZING! It was a Tiffany blue icing with gorgeous garlands of flowers swagged around the cake in a pearlized white, and an enormous amount of detail, and looked even better than I thought...that NEVER happens. It was white cake with raspberry filling. I wondered if it would taste as good as it looked, and it did!! Every bite was gone. Except for the top tier, which we had to put in a box and wrap and wrap it, so that they could eat it on their first anniversary. That is the tradition.  If you need a cake, then I would highly recommend. I had to get busy with my crew. Christi had spent the night, along with a bunch of other guests, so it was full steam ahead. We took French doors and hinged a pair together on each side of the front of the tent, which created a doorway to the tent. We took several vines of "hops" which you can order online, and strung them over the doors and across the entrance way. We added branches that we had cut, as well. Tomorrow, there would be flowers added in. In front of each door we would have different features. On one side, we had a fountain with concrete doves (love birds) spilling out water into the bowl of the fountain. I colored the water with a tinge of blue food coloring to make the water the same aqua color as the wedding. Then we staggered ferns and white hydrangeas underneath the fountain, so it would look like a garden. On the other side, there were staggered bird cages. Nick (my son) comes out, and says, "What's with the bird cages?" I then told him that I had to be off to meet my friend Rebecca, who had been on a mission to get me 4 white doves. Nick looks at me and rolls his eyes and says," Like thats not over the top." I had to take off to go meet Rebecca on my "covert dove operation" and get back in time for rehearsal.
Anyway, I left Eric to scout around as we got ready for the rehearsal. We had the bridesmaids dresses made by one of my seamstresses. We searched all over for bridesmaids dresses and they were horrible color choices. We did not want dark eggplant or chocolate brown for a late spring wedding, and Alex had her heart set on Mint Green and Aqua for the wedding colors, so the dresses were to be in that color. I found beautiful satin in the perfect shade and had a simple strapless dress made for each of the girls. If you cannot find the bridesmaids dresses that you love, then it is easy enough to find a seamstress. You can pick out the exact dress pattern, the exact color of fabric, and a seamstress can usually make a dress anywhere from $75-$125 each. This way it is more special too. So, the dresses were made and the flowers were done, and the cake was good...things were going well. Everyone showed up for the rehearsal, and since my cousin's husband was driving quite a distance to serve as the pastor, he would not be there until the next day. We were so happy to have David do the ceremony, as he had married Joe and I...a million years ago. The girls were to line up on the side of the house and walk around the crowd and down the isle, and that is how we rehearsed it. Little did we know that when they said 80% chance of rain, the following day, they meant it. Most of the time they are wrong. I have always heard that it is good luck if it rains on your wedding day. Maybe that is because it rained on mine and Joe's wedding day too, and it has been good so far. Anyway, we were all so excited that we could barely sleep. The next day was complete chaos. There were people coming and going in every direction. The bridesmaids showed up for mani-pedi's after they had all had their hair done. We had three photographers. I was rushing out to the tent to decorate the food area. We set up long tables for the food and drinks, and added fabric to cover the tables. I then had 4 rod-iron mid century porch posts that we used at the end of each table and a metal scrolly flat piece was added across the top to create an arbor. We screwed into the table with a small screw and wired the post to the table and then wired the top to the side posts. Here is the great part. I had seen that my neighbor has three gigantic rose bushes, and they are blooming. I was praying that the rain had not knocked off all of the petals. I grabbed Victoria, some gloves, and several clippers, and we were off in my black FBI suburban on another covert operation...get more roses. Those things were so prickly it was unbelievable. We cut and cut branches. Then we tossed them into the back of the SUV, and were off back to the tent. We ran tulle all across the "food arbor" and then wound the branches of roses all about. Then we added in our vines of orchids too. Gorgeous!! I love it when a plan comes together. Then I had found a very gorgeous antique curly-que thing. Not sure what it was, but I made a sign out of it. I cut an oval piece of masonite, painted it aqua, and screwed the fabulous scrolly thing to the top. I had masterminded this plan a couple of weeks before, and my good friend Pam, who is part of the "Girls Gone Junkin" made marvelous script lettering that said the couple's names and the date, which I adhered to the wood. It would hang over the cake table. Here's the deal...I treated the tent, much like I would any show, and that meant bringing in some "walls." Walls are masonite sheets which come 4'x8' and are braced with a surround of 1x2's. I wire the walls to the top of the tent frame, so no chance of them blowing down. I had the walls up and placed a round skirted table in front, which would be for the cake, and hung the sign from the wall. Joe was then bringing in an antique buffet, that I had painted aqua (of course) and put it in front of a wall in the center. He then brought in a huge ornate white mirror and hung it over the chest. Stunning. We then topped it with a vase full of white lilies and roses, silver trays, candelabras, and a pitcher of limeade in the perfect shade of mint green. A spooner was filled with mint green and white straws, for the perfect effect. It was all starting to come together. The caterer had just arrived and so had the storm clouds. Check back for more...