It seems that nowadays everybody (including yours truly) posts everything on facebook. While that’s loads of fun, it does mean that I’ve been blogging there instead of here. I apologize for the hiatus… but if you’re on facebook, join me there! There’s a business page, for Timberwolf Creek, and I have my personal page under my own name for political rants, travel posts, and pictures of my grandkids. And my dog. And my ridiculously handsome husband. So it goes.
Meanwhile, I grabbed this photo in the morning and it just sums up All Things Wonderful about living on this beautiful mountain. Moss and ivy climbing up the side of an enormous tree, ferns underfoot alongside the tumbling stream, an understory of great rhododendron, promising white bouquets in another couple of weeks… It all combines to make a cool, green, quiet space, for retreat, reflection, renewal. You can *breathe* here.
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!”
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.
Ok, maybe you can help. I’ve spent endless hours on Google, trying to identify my hostas. These are the ones I have in abundance, planted in the outdoor wedding chapel gardens… but there are others… I’ve learned more about hostas than I ever dreamed there was to know! Margins and leaf shapes and textures, etc. The variety is astounding. I had no idea! And while discovering that there are something like 10,000 different hostas out there, it came as no great surprise that they are lilies. Because, after all, I do love lilies. (And yes, I know: they’ve been reclassified but I don’t care. They are lilies for me, and that’s a Good Thing, as Martha likes to say.)
I’ve done my best, with names, and invite you to correct me. If there’s a searchable database, where I can enter “hosta, small, narrow leaf, tri-color, wide green margin, white center” that would be fantastic. The best search result has yielded “Fire & Ice” but I’m not convinced what this one is…
But it sure is pretty. 🙂
The next one may be right on target, but again, your assistance is welcome! It appears to be Diamond Tiara, which is ok by me.
And these are just ENORMOUS and fabulous and propagating like mad. Not that they’re sending out runners or anything, just that we started with three and are up to 15! Each one just as impressive at the original.
I think this one’s called Niagara Falls. It truly is amazing. Here is the row of seven, just a couple of days after they were all split. And they are already gorgeous, and look like they’ll need to be split again in the spring!
See what I mean? Fantastic! (This is the driveway to the Black Bear Cottage in the Woods – where we have the Streamsong and Woodland rooms.) The plants have been remarkably forgiving. And where I’m concerned, that’s a Good Thing, as Martha likes to say.
And finally, I have this gold-margined beauty, that’s really come into her own this year. Just couldn’t be prettier. Somebody, let me know her name!
It must be April! The daffodils have already been blooming like mad in an early spring frenzy. The one pictured here is a late-comer (if you can imagine a daffodil being late on the first of April. But isn’t he a beauty, all white and dapper with his pale yellow collar…
His name is actually Loth Lorien, which is ‘the fairest forest of the realm’ in JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, and is not only home to the Elves, but a place where time stands still… and that’s pretty much what happened to me when I spotted these this morning – I just froze and stared at them for I don’t know how long.
Ah, Spring time…
And the Hostas are coming out nicely, down by the creek – looks like they’ll be enormous this year. Scott came and split the beauties growing at the Cottage and put them all around the property. This one is called American Sweetheart Hosta, and it is a particular favorite of mine. The American Sweethearts and Patriots (similar colors but in reverse, with creamy white margins around a deep green center) are heirloom plants, put here by Colonel ‘Pug’ Pugmire when he built the Creek House in the 60s. We’ve tended and split and shared many of this one’s offspring.
Even the lilacs are putting on an early show for us this year. I did take pictures of the ones already blooming (after pressing my face deep into the middle of them and inhaling their intoxicating fragrance. Not like I couldn’t smell them from further away, but I could, so I did. What luxury! Bliss! -wait a second, what was I saying?) Oh yes. I did take pictures of the full blooms, but this one with the buds just seemed to show the promise of spring better than any of the others, so presented here, for your pleasure… Lilacs in bud:
The lilac is actually another of Pug’s legacies. The one he planted is way down the creek bank, and stays in full shade. It continued to grow, of course, but didn’t reach the sun until I’d been here a full dozen years – I was stunned to come out one morning to the heady scent of lilac and wondered, ‘What in the world?’ Looking far up into the tip-top (about ten feet!) there was a single bloom, and the breeze sent the fragrance sailing. It was downright magical. But everything here is, you know. No big surprise there. It started putting out little shoots that year, and I transplanted two to the roadside beds, where they’d have the afternoon sun. This is only the second year for lilacs out there, and this photo is one of dozens of blooms on that bush! I’m pretty happy about that.
Now, anybody who knows me knows that I am mad for Lilies. Day lilies. Oriental lilies. Asiatic lilies. Tiger lilies. Turk’s Cap and Trumpet lilies and Easter lilies. I love the lilies. All this wonderful stuff in spring is, for me, just the forerunner of summer when the lilies arrive. The day lilies are far earlier, of course, and I have different varieties that bloom from late spring right through the end of summer, but the others – the true lilies – don’t start until late June and continue through August. I was astonished to find that I they are up and out of the ground and growing like crazy!
Stargazer and Casablanca Lilies, already growing in April!
It was a spectacular spring day,
as I wandered with the camera trying to capture bits and pieces to remember…
Here’s the creek – my little bit of paradise.
You can see that even the Rhodies are planning to make a grand entrance,
since they are already budding.
So glad to be able to share this place with all our wonderful guests.
Springtime at Timberwolf Creek
Wishing you all a wonderful spring, and hope to see you here soonly!
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!
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…
