Happily Ever After

The first Saturday in August was a special day.  Our oldest nephew on my husband's side of the family got married!  Many relatives traveled to Memphis, TN, for the special occassion.

The wedding colors were various shades of green and gray.  It was a vintage sort of theme, using mason jars and chalkboards that are very popular right now.

The groom's two nephews and one niece were a part of the wedding, so it was fun watching them.  This was a sweet picture of one of them getting all ready with help from his daddy.

This big family picture is our side of the family, plus the groom's dad's side.  It's big, but that's only about half of everyone!  And all but a few of these people traveled from SW Oklahoma!

The expression's on K's face were so funny! He was having a great time at the wedding and rehearsal.

After her flower girl duties, T was excited to get "Elsa and Anna" rings from her dad. As the best man, he had tried to pass them on to the groom for the wedding rings, but it didn't work!

The reception was beautifully decorated! 

 I loved all of the special touches the bride (along with her mom and aunt) had planned and made for the special day.

 The three individual wedding cakes were so sweet.  Extra cake servings were brought out from the kitchen.  That was a great idea for someone wanting a smaller wedding cake look.

 Each table had a Chevron green/ivory runner (or gray polka dot print below), a tree stump, and a mason jar filled with fresh flowers.

 Also, there was a little bird figurine on each tree stump and cookies from a favorite bakery.  (Answer to the question from my sis-in-law in the comments: The cookies were favors for the guests, and the tongue depressors were for writing a "date night" idea to give the couple.) So sweet!

 My mother-in-law made the groom's cake.  The chocolate covered strawberries (in addition to her chocolate cake) were a huge hit, of course!

 The food buffet was delicious. See the strawberry topiary?  It was beautiful!

 The buffet table featured burlap, fresh flowers and bird houses.

This was my favorite part of the reception area.  The bride was from Florida. The groom from Oklahoma. But they met in Memphis.  "I'm so happy we both showed up here."  God worked this all out!

 There was an Oklahoma side, a Florida side, then the Tennessee in the middle.  Love it!

 The bride and groom as they entered the reception.  Happily ever after!

 Before the cake cutting.....

 The groom's "new" sisters were junior bridesmaids.  If you read "Shine Like Stars" regularly, you may remember reading about their adoption last year.  It was so special for them to get to be in this wedding!  Love their smiles!

 The cousins got together and worked out a plan for the "getaway car"!  This play on words was pretty clever, since the groom's name is Justin and the bride's is Mary!

 Leaving the reception as bubbles were blown...

Yes - "How Sweet It Is".

Probably the sweetest thing about the whole wedding was after the groom did his vows and slipped the ring on her finger. He sang to her, "I Love You With the Love of the Lord".  She was already teary-eyed, but by the end of the song, both of them were - and many of us were or were close.

We wish for you many "Happily Ever After" years together. We're thankful that God worked this whole thing out and that you both ended up in Memphis, TN - right where He directed your paths.  We love you, J and M.E.!

Vintage and Music-Themed Baby Shower

Typically in our small town congregation, we have a baby shower every once in a while, but over the last year, we've had MANY baby showers!  What a blessing!  This may be the last baby shower for a while, but we're sure enjoying having all of the little ones in our midst!  So very THANKFUL for babies!  They are a gift from GOD!

Instead of doing a generic themed baby shower, I began trying to base the decor on the nursery theme - just to make it more special for the parents and the baby (even though he/she won't know and probably won't ever care!). It's just a little more sentimental, even though it takes a little more time.  This shower was a whole new theme and nothing I'd ever done.  I was excited - but a little concerned because I had no idea where to start.  The theme was a vintage/sepia/music theme.  Lots of possibilities!  THANKFUL for this challenge!

Here's a burlap banner spelling out BABY.  The chipboard letters are covered in music themed scrapbook paper.  The shabby material strips are made by tearing muslin and cotton materials in strips and tied onto the jute cord.  I had been wanting to make on of those!  The banner went home with the parents-to-be for the baby's room.

The "Rock a Bye Baby" banners tied in the music theme.  The mini pennant chipboard pieces and mini clothespins came from Hobby Lobby.  I covered the chipboard with burlap and wrote the letters with a thick Sharpie marker.

Above the table an old wooden ladder held "tissue" balls, glittered music notes, and sepia tinted photos of the parents-to-be.  

The whole view doesn't show the different dimensions, so it kind of looks cluttered, but it really wasn't.  

What's a shower without food?!  We had yummy cupcakes, nuts and mints.  The cute cream and brown bears came from Walmart - in the Valentine's stuffed animal aisle!  I had seen them a few weeks ago, but they sold quickly!  There were only three left when I got these two.  I took their Valentine's sweaters off and added mocha colored bows around their necks.

Here's a close up of the balls.  They are made from coffee filters.  The white ones are just plain, unaltered filters that were attached to a styrofoam ball with straight pins.  The larger, tannish colored one was made by dyeing the filters in tea.  They were attached to a larger styrofoam ball with floral pins.  Click HERE to go to my recipe/craft blog to get directions on how to make these pom poms.

My mother-in-law loaned me this child-sized piano.  A friend let me borrow the CUTE, vintage-style burlap pillow.  My mom had given me the candle stick and crystal dangling thing (don't know what it is called....), so it fit perfect with the theme.  (That friend also let me have an old window she had for the mantle in the first picture. SOOOO pretty!)

I made this easy wall hanging by covering a painter's canvas board with burlap, adding burlap/muslin trim, and cutting out letters on the Cricut.  The glittered music notes were added for fun, and the wall hanging was given to the parents for the baby's room.

Beverages for the shower were Mocha Punch and Tea Punch.  You can find the Mocha Punch recipe HERE - on my recipe/crafts blog.  I'll post the Tea Punch when I get that recipe.  The tea punch was served in a soup tureen that was my grandmothers.  The mocha punch beverage server was borrowed from the same friend that had the burlap pillow.

She also let me borrow this CUTE metal heart wall hanging.  The burlap flower is a magnet and held sepia tinted photos of the grandparents-to-be.

There were lots and lots of presents....even more than is shown here!  The parents-to-be were blessed by so many people who love them and who are anticipating the arrival of their little one!  And, oh.....one more thing:  The gender of the baby wasn't known!  It was different, but so much fun being a surprise!  (We didn't find out with our first three, either.  We did on the last one because our daughter said she would cry if she wasn't having a sister.  We wanted her to get all of the crying done before the brother came instead of when he came :).  THANKFUL for the outpouring of love for this family!

On this GRATITUESDAY, I am thankful for the church and the baby showers we host for our Christian brothers and sisters.  What a special thing to have that special bond between God's children!

To see what others are grateful for, visit Heavenly Homemakers!