A Christmas Wedding

Speaking of Christmas weddings, today is my parent's wedding anniversary. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! I've never mentioned this to them but I have always secretly wished I could go back in time somehow and attend their wedding! My mother was such a beautiful bride and Dad was so handsome in his suit with tails! I would have loved to have seen them on this day so many years ago. I'm sure they were just beaming with sweet excitement. Mom was attending Methodist College at the time working on a degree in Education so having the wedding in December worked best for her because she had much of the month off. Her bridesmaids wore red velvet and carried white fur muffs with red roses. She got married at her father's church where he was the minister. It was adorned with white roses everywhere! The florist in town was a family friend so Mom's wedding and reception was full of beautiful flowers! The flowers of any wedding are my most favorite detail! I just love really tastefully arranged fresh flowers!

I had the fun opportunity this past weekend of directing a Christmas wedding. The bride and I began planning this wedding over a year ago. She wanted a winter wonderland theme. Her colors were shades of blue and silver. Here are some pictures below of her special day. She really made such an elegant bride! :)


The bride's bouquet consisted of all calla lilies. Calla lilies stand for magnificent beauty! I enjoy knowing the meaning of flowers!











This is a candy bar. Guest filled up clear bags with the different candies. This served as their wedding favor.










The bride with her sister, the maid of honor.

The club where the reception was hosted didn't allow paper luminaries, so these are made completely out of ice. I just adore luminaries for a Christmas wedding and was so thankful we were able to do these instead.

Another clever detail - the club also did not allow sparklers which the bride wanted to use for her exit so we used potato flakes, which resembled snow! :)

Hope you enjoyed seeing the pictures!

Christmas Blessings,
Until next time...

A Special Christmas Tradition

I love Christmas Traditions! One of my favorites growing up was given to me every year on Christmas Eve. Mom and Dad started a tradition the year I was born by purchasing an ornament for me representing that year. They always got them from Hallmark! I believe they chose Hallmark because my father wanted ornaments that showed the year's date. That was important to him and now I see why. So, every year growing up my brother and I looked forward to seeing the ornament that they had chosen for each of us. And, because I treasured this tradition so much I have chosen to pass this on to my girls. Every year I enjoy so much choosing an ornament for them that sort of represents their past year. For Sarah this year, I chose the beautiful and graceful Barbie Ballerina and for Elizabeth I chose the cuddly bear coloring with Crayola crayons. Let me explain my reasons...

As you know, Sarah has shown a great interest this past year in the love of ballet and so in September we signed her up for lessons. Unfortunately, I have to report as of this past week she is no longer taking ballet lessons. She still ADORES ballet and dancing but just doesn't seem to be quite ready or old enough for the "strict ballet classroom setting". We are planning to try again next year or maybe even the following year when she is a little bit older. Of course, I simply adore ballet and was a tad bit disappointed but those feelings quickly left as I realized she was not truly enjoying herself at class. She always appeared very happy coming out of class but several times complained to me that it was "too hard". Being my desire for her to enjoy what she is involved in, I told her it was just fine if she stopped taking classes this year. When she gets older, we will encourage her to complete the year. She says she wants to dance ballet "at home" and not at "ballet class". So, I told her that sounded great! :) When she gets a little older if she decides to take "official classes" then that will be wonderful - but if not, that's okay too!

I have a feeling though that she will gravitate towards the "dancing direction" when she gets older because she is so "girly", but we'll see. She told me just a few days ago that when she "grows up to be a mommy like me she wants to be a doctor". She said, "Mommy, can you get me some doctor clothes.?" And, I said, "Well, of course!"

For Elizabeth I chose this cuddly bear ornament coloring with crayons. Elizabeth LOVES to get her teeth on Sarah's crayons. So, this year for Christmas she will be getting her own set as well as this ornament. Sarah was never one to eat crayons but Elizabeth on the other hand can't help herself. :)

Thank you Mom and Dad for this beautiful tradition you started with our family! What fun it is to look at my tree every year and remember all the memories! I love you both so much!

Stayed tuned... I directed a Winter Wonderland Wedding this past weekend and can't wait to share the pictures with you.

Christmas Blessings,

Until next time...

A Gift From Little Red Riding Hood

At lunch time today I received an adorable package in the mail from my sweet bloggy friend Janna over at Mustard Seeds. It was a box packed full of the cutest stuff to throw a "Little Red Riding hood Party" for little girls. I entered her giveaway last month and actually WON! I couldn't believe it! Now, my girls and I will have to host a "Little Red Riding hood Party". Here are some pictures below of what she sent me. Thanks again Janna!!! Now all your hard party planning work can be put to use again! :)

I love these adorable clothes pin dolls. At the party girls use these little fabrics to make clothes for all the Red Riding hood characters. The set includes the Mother, Red Riding Hood, Granny, Wolf, and Woodcutter. There is also a red felt pocket for them to keep the dolls in.

Janna made these using a Little Red Riding Hood board book ~ such a cute centerpiece for the party! :)

I LOVE how she tied in this scripture with the party. Because as you can remember from the story, Little Red Riding Hood's mother told her not to stop and talk to anyone because there are dangerous creatures in the forest.

She also sent me the cake topper that can be used to make the Little Red Riding hood doll cake for the party. Isn't it sweet!?!

In the box was also a book of the story beautifully illustrated!

We also received a set of adorable stamped Little Red Riding Hood note cards which we can use as the invitations. And... a template to make goody bags for the girls.

Thank you Janna! I can't wait to put all this fun stuff to use! :)

Now..., I just need to talk my mom into making us some adorable Little Red Riding Hood capes like these that these sweet little girls are wearing! :)

Since Sarah and Elizabeth's grandmothers do not live in our area, I thought we could have all the little girls during our party walk to a couple of our "older" neighbor's houses and take them goodies. :) What fun! Hopefully we won't come across The Big Bad Wolf! :)

Blessings,
Until next time...

Christmas Tree Tradition

This past Sunday we traveled up to the mountains to find our Christmas Tree. This is always one of Mike's favorite traditions of the season. It was sooo cold and a little drizzly, so we didn't get to ride the hay-ride through the farm but we did enjoying sipping hot cocoa and looking at the farm animals. As soon as Elizabeth saw them, she shouted out, "Ba-Ba"! She has been learning the song, "Ba-Ba Black Sheep, Have You Any Wool"... I thought that was so smart! :) Here is a picture of us at the farm and here is a picture of our tree after we finished decorating it. We opted for a table top tree this year. I'm sure if any of you have children under the age of 2 you know why! :)

Here is our doggie, "Lucy". I think in this picture she looks like the dog "Max" on the movie, The Grinch!

Wow! As I I sit here typing I just realized my laptop says it's 24 degrees outside right now. Brrrr.... That just sounds PLAIN COLD, huh!?!

And, now for a Thanksgiving Update:
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my husband's family at his sister's home. She had it beautifully decorated from head to toe with many Christmas delights. It's always a treat to visit her home at Christmas time. Below is a picture of my sweet niece Payton helping Elizabeth practice her walking. Payton has just learned how to do PowerPoint presentations on her "New" birthday laptop. So... the whole "Thanksgiving" weekend she ran around snapping shots of everyone and all the Thanksgiving food and decorations. She really enjoyed herself and we loved seeing all her PowerPoint presentations as we sat around with STUFFED BELLIES!!! She, on the other hand was doing a great job of working hers off! :)

Christmas Blessings,
Until next time...