So, today is Mother’s Day.
Today’s bride, Lisa, tells me that a couple of years ago she worried about what her sons thought of Scott. They were all in the kitchen and she said, “I don’t think I’m going to call him anymore.” She turned around and both boys had stopped what they were doing. After a moment, the elder said, “Either you call him, or we will.”
While cutting the wedding cake, she announced, “Awww my sons got me a husband for mother’s day!”
This poem was in the room journal, left by our guests this weekend. Made me all misty! But I ask you, how wonderful is this?
Sh.. I have a secret
That I just have to tell
I met a fairy godmother
Into the rabbit hole I fell.
She welcomed me with open arms,
And a beautifully mischievous grin.
Then with a wave of her wand,
Showed me where dreams begin.
It was a pretty little cottage,
Nestled daintily in the trees,
Quietly offering sanctuary;
A haven for a soul in need.
From the first moment I entered
And stepped through the front door,
The feeling of home and comfort
Seeped from every pore.
The cheery crackle of the fireplace,
And the soothing rush of the stream,
Invited the body to rest and relax,
And encouraged the soul to dream.
And oh my! The fairy godmother knows all!
And her wedding fairy sees too!
Dreams never spoken
Somehow come true.
Waving away worries with a magical wand
In her magic I should trust,
And believe in a world filled
With love and magical fairy dust.
What more can a bride ask for
Than for a fairy godmother and her crew
To treat her like a princess
And make her dreams come true?
Of course this would be true,
How could it be any other way?
When a fairy godmother waves her wand
Poof! A beautifully perfect stay.
…
Dear Brides: Today’s wedding was particularly wonderful. It was wonderful because the two people getting married are -well, just great folks. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them on facebook during all the months of wedding planning, and Lynn and I have become friends. That’s always an amazing bonus for The Best Job In The World. But today’s wedding was remarkable for the ceremony itself. Louie and Lynn personalized their vows – as we encourage each of you to do, because the ceremony should be meaningful to the two of you – and they added something to the ceremony that I believe has been missing from the sample vows we send out to all our brides. You can bet it’s going to be in there from now on.
The ring exchange, such an integral part of a wedding ceremony, has grown and been refined over the years, until I’m finally satisfied with those words. And then there’s that awkward moment right before we take portraits when the bride transfers her engagement ring back to her left hand. It was a momentous occasion, always to be cherished and remembered, when that engagement ring was first placed, and so it is fitting that there be some recognition of that on your wedding day.
Louie and Lynn added this to their ceremony:
“The engagement ring is a symbol of promise and intention.
The intention has now been realized
and the promise fulfilled.
Louis, place the engagement ring, over Lynn’s wedding band,
to symbolize that the love that brought you together,
will always protect and sustain your marriage.”
Ladies, when rehearsing their vows, I had to read this aloud three times before I could say it without getting all misty. Because this is exactly the way I feel about engagement rings. The wedding band is all about deep, abiding love, and lifelong commitment, and the sacred nature of the marriage rite. That engagement ring is about the hope and promise of dreams realized. It’s about romance, and falling in love, and the thrill of finding The One. It’s pink clouds and roses. It’s love songs and being wildly happy and gazing into each other’s eyes and the amazement and awe of finding someone that could mean so much to you. That should all be there on your wedding day. Of course, it IS all there on your wedding day, but let’s take a moment and acknowledge it. Honor it. And make it part of the ceremony. Let’s take a moment to remember how it felt when the question was asked, answered, and the engagement ring was offered and accepted.
And, having done so, I hope you’ll think of that moment every time you notice your ring, every time it catches the sunlight in an unexpected moment, every time you hold hands.
And thank you, so very much, to Louie and to Lynn, for making that a part of my life, and for allowing me to share in such an important part of yours.
…
My brides are getting older. That’s not to say they’re aging– rather that my brides are more likely to be adults, with established careers, their own homes, chosen lifestyles, and a firm sense of their own particular preferences. This makes it lots of fun for me, because I get to see the culmination of their search for The Perfect Dress.
We’ve ‘seen it all’ at Timberwolf Creek. From gowns with eight foot trains, heavily encrusted with beading and embroidery, rivaling Britain’s royal weddings, to biker leathers and cowboy boots (on the bride). All have been marvelous! Once, the bride -this one actually was from Great Britain- packed her full length gown in a suitcase, and popped it out perfect and ready to go! It was crushed taffeta and gorgeous. An excellent plan. And while we’ve had designer gowns that likely cost more than the event, several brides have bragged that they got their traditional white gowns from eBay, for a song. So cost isn’t what determines what these women choose.
It’s the dream. A wedding is a Dream Come True kind of day. And the dress is just part of the experience. It needs to be flattering and make her feel beautiful and confident. For some, comfortable is a requirement. For others, not so much. Mostly, it needs to match up with her ideal.
And that doesn’t always include a big bow on the back. Not to knock bows! A sash on a wedding gown, with a perfectly tied bow, can be lovely. It can be smaller than your hand, with the ties hanging loose, or a great big picture-perfect bow with the center knot smoothed and the ties twisted under so that it stays straight and pleated just so, or a softly tied bow that drapes loosely from a gentle knot.
For some women, though, bows were left behind with pigtails and dotting their i’s with hearts. So, here they are, trying on wedding gowns in the quest for The Perfect Dress… and there it is… Exactly the right fit. Just the right style. Perfect fabric and embellishment. Maybe a bit of lace here, or embroidery there, or a pleat, or a smooth expanse of satin. Precisely the right straps or sleeves. Except… there’s this sash that ties in the back.
What to do? You can loop it over once, in a half-knot, and let it hang. Sometimes that looks nice. Sometimes that looks like your bow came undone, or that you forgot to finish it.
Enter the Sash Pin.
This is an opportunity just waiting to shine. The chance to really show off your creativity and individuality. Maybe you’ll use your great grandmother’s antique brooch. Or the pin your aunt wore when she eloped. Or a diaper pin your mother saved with your baby things. Your dad’s tie-tack. Or maybe you’ll choose something that matches your colors – a fabric flower pin, or a brooch of colored beads. Or a kilt pin. Or a cameo. Your Girl Scout trefoil pin. I Like Ike. Beam me up Scotty with a Star Trek pin. Or anything from the millions of jeweled brooches you can find. Glorious pearls and rhinestones – or diamonds and precious jewels – in every imaginable shape and color and size and style.
And suddenly, those sash ties are your chance to make a statement, and make The Perfect Dress uniquely yours.
Finally, a word to the ladies who like bows: you can still have a sash pin. Just put it smack in the middle of your bow!
.
It’s a pretty special day for this wedding fairygodmother. Four years ago, we married a charming couple. The bride was attended by her young teenaged daughter, who was behaving like a young teenaged daughter. As a distraction, we offered to do a photo shoot of her alone. Turned out that we all had a lot of fun with that photo shoot – bride, groom, me, Larry, and our model. My job during a photo shoot is to act as stylist, setting up the scene, posing the subject, clearing away anything that doesn’t belong in the photo, and distracting people so that they will relax, smile, laugh, look in a certain direction, or whatever it takes to get the appropriate facial expression. Well, this was a teenaged girl. So, of course she was self-conscious. We all spend about five years being painfully self-conscious and wishing the camera would find our inner all-grown-up and glamorous selves that we try to project. All of us. And this pretty girl was throwing these poses right out of a magazine that just weren’t working for her, because it was clear she was pretending to be someone else…. so we got talking. I told her that she was very pretty (true) and that when she got a little older, she was going to be a knock-out (true) and that when she went to her first prom, with all six of her dates, I wanted a picture. She started laughing, she relaxed, and we got some remarkably beautiful pictures of her. Today, she sent me a prom photo. Gorgeous girl, just one date. Made my whole day.
The bride said, “I want my wedding bouquet to be filled with light, airy flowers… like you just walked out into a field and picked it.” Ah, romance. She loved it!
I’m having fun, updating the anniversary picture on the Maggie Valley Weddings website every day. Nostalgic for me! Every wedding couple is unique, so every wedding has its own flavor, its own memories. I have the best job in the world. Oh yes, I do!!
Every so often you do something, just for the fun of it.
Today was definitely one of those days!
The rain stopped just in time for a bright sunny wedding, bride and groom arrived on their Harley, it was a lovely ceremony, with lots of smiles all around.
And my favorite part, here’s the wedding portrait…
Last week, I was able to revisit the tiny outdoor wedding chapel where Larry and I were married, lo these many moons ago. It was an emotional moment for me, standing on those very steps where we stood and exchanged our vows… where our daughter stood for hers, and where Larry’s brother was married to my dear friend.
We managed to squeeze 35 people into this tiny space… and Larry & I, plus the kids, were six of them! It was a family affair, as my two sons stood up for Larry, and his daughters were my bridesmaids. What a day! Steamy-hot even at 9:00 in the morning, but we loved being in this little garden setting.
Years later, when we decided to build our own wedding chapel in this cool woodland cove of the Great Smoky Mountains, the little Florida chapel served as the inspiration for the design. We wanted to incorporate a cross into the back wall, just as the one we stood before when we married. And we really liked the stairstep design.
Of course, we wanted to simplify it to suit our mountainside setting, and it should be fitting in the forest. We opted for a wood deck, and lined it up between two soaring trees -a tulip poplar and an ancient hemlock we call the Grandfather Tree.
And it still takes my breath away, every morning, to walk down the path to the chapel. It’s a very special place to be, for all our brides. But for me, it evokes the memories of that day, long ago, on a steamy Florida morning, when Larry and I said, “I do.”
The bride asked for an autumn bouquet – she was pretty happy about it! She had asked to include light orange roses – I was tickled to be able to find some… Although I almost bought the deep orange ones at the florist, just because they were so pretty, ha!
Today we had breakfast for four, then it was time to clear the dining room, clean the kitchen, and set the table for a wedding reception. I picked up the cake and bought flowers yesterday, so I was making the bouquet and boutonniere while Rhonda the Wedding Fairy was clipping and washing ivy leaves to trim out the cake.
We were getting the cameras ready and Nick was finishing up the kitchen and setting up the massage table for guests in the Curve of the Creek Suite, who had reserved the Splendid Indulgence package.
Rhonda set the table outside for the mini-reception while I printed up the wedding vows and marriage certificate and got dressed for the wedding. I brought the flowers over and we started photographing the table.
…and getting all those pretty ‘artsy’ shots I like so much…
Finally the groom appeared, I pinned on his boutonniere and took the bouquet to the bride in the Timberwolf Retreat. She had broken the strap on her dress and was sewing! Got her into her wedding gown and off we went –a very nice couple and a second wedding for both.
Meanwhile, we were taking pictures and the massage therapist arrived to give massages to our Curve of the Creek Suite couple. Rhonda packed up the wedding cake and champagne flutes and all the paperwork and delivered it to the wedding couple’s suite while we were doing the photo shoot. The masseuse finished the first massage and Rhonda changed out the linens to get ready for ’round two’. We finished the pictures, gathered the ‘debris’ to take back to my house, and off we went – just in time for the masseuse to finish the second massage. So, we put away the massage table and presented the dinner package. The Wedding Fairy worked hard, I can tell you. Oh! I forgot! In the middle of all this, guests arrived to check into the Woodland Room. Rhonda the Wedding Fairy got them started while I was finished up with the bride and groom, getting them their dinner certificate and a map to get to the restaurant. Then I schmoozed a while with the new arrivals while Rhonda ran over and opened up their room and gift-wrapped their keepsake mugs and hurried over to get the gift into the room before the guests meandered on back to the Woodland Room. Then she went home.
Probably to have a nap.
Meanwhile, I went back home and grabbed a sandwich. I made some chocolate covered strawberries and walked back to the Creek House to turn down the Timberwolf Retreat with our Signature Silver Turndown Service and the strawberries and a nice card from the groom’s parents.
Then you’d better believe I came home to put on my PAJAMAS. When I got back home, I had to sit down and write this note to the groom’s sister, who arranged for those chocolate dipped berries:
“Dear Donna, this is all your fault. I can’t stop eating these damn strawberries. It’s a good thing I already did the silver turndown with Alan & Dana’s berries before tasting them, or I’d be saying, “oh, they won’t miss just one more… ” Gorgeous berries so sweet they didn’t even need the candy, I dipped them in Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate (heaven help us) and topped each with a white chocolate ‘button’. Then dusted my grandmother’s pink crystal footed cake plate with powdered sugar, arranged the strawberries and ringed it all with baby’s breath. Three white daisies (same as used in the bride’s bouquet) and voila’. They probably won’t even notice the truffles (which are from the Chocolate Bear, which carries truly marvelous chocolates). I am certain, however, that they will notice the champagne. 🙂 ”
Of course, I was busily cleaning chocolate off the keyboard (since I couldn’t stop nibbling on the strawberries). That’s Donna’s fault, too.
Have been busy with paperwork ever since, but now Larry’s come into the living room while I was typing this, and put on a movie, so I’m going to go pour a glass of wine and join him.
My day!
Y-A-W-N!!!!!!!
Sandee