Farewell to the Mother of the Bride Blog ...

My daughter is now married ... almost two months now. Seems silly to continue a "mother of the bride" blog. Those of you who know me, know that I got hooked onto blogging so I've started a new blog to record life as it happens in 2007. My life as a wedding planner is now over. It was an enjoyable, exciting ride and now that it is all over, I have some major scrapbooking to do!! I've already started a wedding album and wait with great anticipation for delivery of the the professional photos!

Erin & Lyden

Nice shot of Lyden with Erin.

Our family of 4 is now 5!

We haven't lost a daughter, we've gained a son-in-law!

Cake cutting

Kelsey (Christine's sister), decorated the cake with marzipan icing. Snowflake topper provided by Vickie.

After dinner

Andy and I finally relax...

Family photos at reception

Mom and Rachel, Grandma and Rachel,
Dad and Rachel & Lyden and Rachel

The weather was absolutely perfect - it snowed quite a bit on Wednesday, December 27 and the forecast for Saturday was a high of -2 with sunny skies. It was almost balmy at -1 with sunny clear blue skies.

Mr. and Mrs. Krohn

Could they be any happier?

The Girls

Rachel and I with Tyler's mom .... and Rachel and the bridesmaids waiting for the ceremony to start ...

Just before the ceremony

Here comes the Beautiful Bride ...

At the church

My mother and I;

Lyden and I ....

Rachel almost ready

Makeup done & finishing touches on the hair ...

Wedding Flowers arrive at 8:30

simply beautiful .... the bride's and bridesmaids' boquets

Wedding Day Makeup

Laura arrived at 8am to do makeup ...

Wedding Day Arrives!

All the months of planning came together in a beautiful way today!

Up at 6:30 this morning - when I got up I was surprised that Rachel had already showered and was getting ready, with the assistance of Erin. After popping the quiche into the oven, making a pot of coffee and cutting up fresh fruit for breakfast, I gave the other bridesmaids a wake up call. Erin and Rachel were first to arrive in the kitchen, Rachel in her crinoline and a buttoned shirt.

The hairdressers arrived at 7:15 and got straight to work. Rachel and Erin first ... then me, followed with Kristen and Chadley. Poor Kristen looks as though she's in pain!

Bridesmaid Tea (Dec28-06)

I was up before 8 am this morning to bake off some delicious scones for the bridesmaid tea (after a very late night! Andy and I entertained Marian and Alban the evening before and didn't get to bed until at 1:30 am) ... 3 types of scones: rich, currant and Rachel's favorite, gingerbread. Rachel helped out too .... she cut them out, brushed with milk and sprinkled with sugar before baking. Rachel then set the dining room table, placing a card and gift at every table setting.

Kristen, Rachel's maid of honor went home for Christmas (London, Ontario) - she returns to Calgary on December 29 so sadly she missed the tea and we missed visiting with her!

Rachel's bridesmaids received a sparkly brooch to wear on the wedding day which will help keep their bridesmaid shawls in place. Helen (Tyler's mother who also unfortunately couldn't make the tea) and I also received a special brooch!

Snowflake Cookie Favors

The last snowflake cookie has been rolled, cut, baked, iced and bagged! Phew! I am so pleased to have this task accomplished before Christmas! I started mixing up the several batches of sugar cookies on my first day off work, Wed. December 20 and by 3:30 pm Saturday, December 22, we were finished! On Wednesday Andy helped me get started on Wednesday and placed the silver balls on the iced points of each snowflake cookie I had baked that day ... Thursday Rachel and Christine, one of her bridesmaids helped out ... Rachel applied the labels to each of the cello bags, punched holes to thread the ribbon through and cut lengths of ribbons; Christine cut the "thank you" cards, punched holes in each of the cards and got a good start placing cookies into the bag, threading the ribbon through the bag, affixing the thank you cards and snowflakes and tying the bags close while I continued to roll out, cut & bake cookies. The girls ran out of decorated cookies so I switched gears, whipped up some royal icing. Christine and I "painted" on the icing while Rachel affixed the silver balls. Andy and I finished icing the last of the cookies and bagging them all on Saturday. Andy organized all the cookies to coordinate with the table seating plan and boxed them up, being careful to insert bubble wrap and tissue paper between each table of cookies. What would I do without him?!

Shower - Dec 12/06

Vickie, Kristen and with the help of future sister-in-law Chadley together organized a mixed bridal shower for Tyler and Rachel at the church. Given the busy time of year, we had a good turn out; about 30 people! After playing a few ice breaker games Vickie gave a short devotional on marriage, using a house floor plan to illustrate her points (and for those who know Vickie, we all know how much she love to give object lessons!!). Appetizers and desserts were served, all very delicious indeed!

Finalizing Reception Details

Wow, just when you thought you had things under control... there is definitely MORE to planning a reception than I realized. Do we need/want a gift table? any food allergies? high chairs? when will the speeches take place? can the servers clear tables during the speeches? etc. etc. ... when you're being asked these kinds of questions you know it's getting down to the wire!

After the kids decorated the family Christmas tree on Sunday afternoon, (Dec 3) Rachel, Tyler, Andy and I went to the Ranche for our "sample" dinners and had a very pleasant time, the only thing was, it was so hard deciding on just one dessert so we're going with 2 - both chocolate, (one nut free) ... our guests do not have a choice of what they receive but will be free to swap or sample from each other's plates. Hope that adds to the comfortable, casual feel we're aiming for!!

My mother, niece Chantelle and Rachel have a nail appointment set up for Wed. Dec 27. Going to a nail appointment is the LAST place I'd ever expect to see Rachel at - it's so NOT her, but she was easily persuaded by the excitement expressed by Chantelle and Grandma, not to mention the twinkle in my mother's blue eyes! I'm sure she won't regret the experience and not to Rachel's surprise, I've asked if I can tag along to take photos - I'm not about to miss a photo op! Needless to say I won't have any problem filling in all the "free time" I'll have after the wedding drawing upon my life artistry skills to put together wedding albums. Ok, ok, I know, I'm forever the optomist ..... "free time" is something I'll find in between working full time, my involvement with CREW Calgary, choir and general life!

Alright, I'm posting out of chronological order, but that's ok, right? On Nov 25 Rachel had an appointment with Tracy at Izo Bizo for a trial run of her wedding hair up do. Colleen, our usual stylist was rather annoyed that she wouldn't be in Calgary to do Rachel's hair (she'll be vacationing in Maui) and referred us to her friend and fellow hair stylist Tracy. We had a 10:30 am appointment and after grabbing our favorite seasonal coffee (peppermint mocha) at Starbucks on a chilly -25 Saturday morning off we went! I think Tracy was rather surprised at Rachel's laid back, easy going attitude. No, she didn't bring along any magazines showing the hair style she wanted, didn't have any set ideas about what it should look like. Her only request was that some of her hair be swept up and some left down and so armed with that knowledge, Tracy went to work. After talking through some options and positioning of the hair piece and veil, (whereupon I'll have to make some adjustments to the veil), Rachel was very pleased with the results. Tracy and one other stylist will be arriving at our home on Sat. December 30th at 7am to tackle the job of bride, mother of the bride and 3 bridesmaids' hair! Our kitchen will be converted into a salon and I'm certain there will be plenty of laughs and pre-wedding excitment that morning!

Wedding Dress Mishap!

December 1 - 06

Last week I took "our" wedding dress in to be cleaned. I expressed my concerns about the process, would the cleaning process be gentle enough for a dress that's 28 years old? ie: it wouldn't dissolve or come apart would it? I was assured by the owner, Mr. Kim that it would be fine, the dress was in good order, not to worry ... it would be ready for pick up in about a week's time. I then received a call on Wednesday night advising the dress had been cleaned and had come up beautifully but there were several pieces of lace that had come off - could I come in and have a look? I said I would be in on Friday, December 1st (which I had previously booked off).

When we arrived at the shop, Mr. Kim, took me into the back where I saw the dress hanging on a rod, the lower quarter of it puddled in a blue bucket so as to keep it clean and protected from the floor. He handed 14 pieces of lace to me and asked me to show him where they were to be reattached. I told Mr. Kim that I would reattach the lace pieces myself as I had photos of the dress at home which I would study to determine placement.

It was immediately apparent lace was missing from the bodice and centre panel of the dress ... but upon closer inspection of my wedding photos, I also realized that pieces of lace were also missing from the sleeves, at each of the cuffs and tops of each the sleeve. Of the 14 pieces, 4 were small and 10 were large, thankfully, they were all the same design. It was much like fitting a jigsaw puzzle together.... I started with the 4 small pieces, pinning them into place; 3 of the larger pieces were slightly soiled - Mr. Kim explained they wouldn't come clean. I decided not to use the soiled pieces and did my best to come up with a design as close as I could to the original.

Surprisingly my wedding photos did not show off the dress in much detail. Any close ups were head and shoulder shots (which showed the bodice to a point) and long shots were so far away you could not see the lace detail. After pinning on the lace pieces I started to sew them on by hand.

I found hanging the dress from the top of the pantry cupboard in the kitchen provided the best light and after 3 hours, I had sewn on 4 of the 5 pieces in the centre panel. It is clear I have my work cut out for me! Thank goodness we didn't wait until closer to the big day to have the dress cleaned!

Aside from picking up the dress, Andy and I ran various errands on my day off from work, picking up clear cello bags and curling ribbon for the gift favors, grocery shopping, renewing my car registration, going to the bank, sending off Andy's company GST and corporate tax remittances. But it was not all work and no play ... after dinner, Andy, Lyden, Erin and I had a bowling game on Lyden's new Ninetendo gaming system, the "Wii". It was a tough fought battle but I came up the victor with the top score of 223! A new personal record!

It's November

The countdown is really on now ... I'm constantly updating the wedding RSVP listing and scanning it for errors or omissions. One major disappointment for us is that Nev and Teresa cannot come. It looks doubtful we'll have any UK family representation at the wedding. (repeat flashback to 1979 when Andy and I were married)

Rachel had her final wedding dress fitting Nov 4 and we brought it home. Kristen couldn't make the appointment so she and Rachel will do that separately. All that's left now is to dryclean the wedding dress and sew on the barrett to the wedding veil. Speaking of the wedding veil ... November 25 is the day Rachel gets a trial go at her updo! She and I will be going to see the hairstylist for a "consultation" and trial run.

Our original plan to have fruitcake as the wedding favors has been set aside ... not that many people are fond on fruitcake and generally speaking, in today's age, response to fruitcake is generally negative. So, we're considering sugar cookies in a snowflake design wrapped in individual clear bags which will serve as a place setting as well. I think this is a good alternative and I'm up to baking & decorating them all between Christmas and the big day!

3 month countdown is on!

Jenni Shores' engagement photos turned out lovely ...

I cannot believe how quickly the summer passed. Rachel, Kristen, Tyler and I sat down on Sunday, October 1st to address the invitation envelopes. I popped them all into the mail on Tuesday, Oct 3. RSVP deadline is November 1st ... yes Andy, it's really going to happen! Your daughter is getting married. I think he knows that in his head, it's just that his heart is having a hard time keeping up.

We had a 2nd dress fitting on Sunday Oct 1 - still more alterations to be done ... should be done by the end of the month. Kristen (maid of honour) came along and saw her dress for the first time - it needs to be taken in so Saada will do her dress alterations as well.

I haven't started having dreams yet of things gone wrong ... but I have no doubt they will come! There are bound to be little hiccups along the way.

Spoke to Andrea at the Ranche Restaurant today and they will not allow us to have a snow making machine on site for the photos (kill joys) so I guess we're just going to have to go with mother nature.

Thanksgiving weekend this weekend ... gosh, how time flys. I am trying to remain calm and on the outside, I likely appear in control but my daughter is getting married in less than 3 months time!! So much to do and October is such a crazy busy month for both Andy and I. He's working on a film (finishes Oct 20), I'm busy at work these days - lots going and on top of that, I'll be attending a CREW conference in Atlanta & will be away Oct 17-22. It will be November before you know it and you know how quickly that month flies with preparations for Christmas in the foreground. Going to take it one day at a time ... that's my strategy to remain calm and have a sense of feeling in control. Even though I'm far from feeling desperate and overwhelmed, it certainly wouldn't hurt to say a little prayer for me!!

Taking a break with Teresa

We took a couple days off Stampede to go to Waterton Park. This photo of Teresa and I was taken just outside of Waterton Park.

Making the Invitations

Rachel was right; the night we spent creating the wedding invitations was a BLAST! Teresa kept everyone in stitches with her comments. For the record, I think I was definitely unfairly labelled the scrapbooking Nazi ... someone had to be in charge! Included in these photos is one of Teresa trying to catch her breath from laughing so hard.

Super Support from Sally

May 31-06 ... it was just another ordinary day at work; I was just about to leave my office this afternoon when the phone rang. I came back to my desk, checked the call display which didn't reveal anything, other than the call had been transferred from reception. I answered the call and to my surprise, heard my good friend Sally's voice. She wanted to hear all about the latest plans for the wedding. After filling her in on the latest news (and giving her the blog addresses) she then asked me to guess what her news might be ... I guessed correctly! She quit her job at the BBC! We chatted for a bit about that, and about her new home in Royal Leamington Spa and her plans to decorate it and about her plans for the next year.

I met Sally when I moved to England for a short time in 1978. Andy's friend "Sniffer" introduced us and we hit it off right from the start. Although my time in England was short, we formed a friendship bond that has lasted all these years ... (how many? more than she or I would like to admit!) Maybe that has something to do with the fact that we were born in the same year, only 1 day apart.

Although we've remained friends throughout all these years, time spent together has for the most part, been limited to short visits and mostly on those rare occasions when we as a family travel home to Coventry. Sally came to visit in 1990 and stayed a week with us when we lived in our little white raised bungalow in Mountview. Rachel was 8 years old then and the fondest memories we share from that trip were enjoying "sin"amon buns from Heartland Cafe and enjoying a decadent massage from Brenda in front of the fireplace in our living room! In 1996 Sally "dropped in" for a surprise visit on Oct 31, showing at McCarthy Tetrault's office but it was a short visit, we only had a day or so together which was spent in one of Sally's favorite places in the world, the Rocky Mountains!! (After a quick whirlwind tour of the Lonesome Dove set where Brett the Hitman Heart gave her his handwarmers which she promptly plunged down her jumper front!)

Sally is so excited about the Rachel & Tyler's wedding! Even though she's so far away, she wants to be involved and supportive in any way she can. Her life has been full of challenges and hard work which left her with no social life; she hasn't been able to stay in touch with us as she would have liked. I am so excited to hear that she is taking some "me" time and reconnecting with her friends and catching up on the things important to her life. She claims she's technically challenged and may not be able to "post" a comment on our blogs but she's one smart cookie & I have no doubt she'll figure it out!! Love you Sal!!

"to do lists"

Good thing Rachel is a lover of "to do lists"- it's easy to put together the "to do" lists ... the hard part is executing them! I think we've covered off all the major items (with the exception of the photographer) in relatively short time ... so far we've got:

1. the church booked
2. the reception booked
3. the bridesmaid dresses
4. flower shop selected
5. have a "sense" of what Rachel & Tyler want for invitations
6. a guest list
7. a cake decorator (tentative, not yet confirmed)
8. a lead on a seamstress to do the wedding dress alterations
9. the bride's shoes

We need to nail down:

1. hairdresser
2. photographer
3. master of ceremonies
4. men's suits
5. bridemaid shoes (closed toe, black)
6. guest table decorations
7. wedding favors
8. wedding cars
9. a MOB dress

I'm sure there is a lot more to added to our "list" but I'm confident those things will naturally evolve along the way.

I am baking the wedding cake (traditional fruit cake) which I must do soon ... the longer it has to age, the better the flavor and easier to cut! Having fruit cake in the house is always a risky venture in the Price household, so as per usual, I will have to "hide" it to keep it safe!

Engagement photos

Much to Rachel's chagrin, I suggested I take engagement photos this weekend (May long weekend) ... my reasons of course were three fold: (i) it gives me an opportunity to create a scrapbook page; (ii) it is a photographic marker in time for the happy couple to look back on years from now and marvel how young they were; and (iii) it would be nice to have a photo for her wedding blog!

Flowers: Rachel and I went to a local florist and had a consultation; we are now awaiting the quote. Suprisingly, most flowers are readily available in December. We are selecting "hardy" varieties given the time of year.

Ok, so this is a new experience!! I now have my first & only blog which came about as a result of trying to "post" a reply to Rachel's wedding blog. Come to think of it, having a blog will be a good thing - I can use it to record my thoughts & feelings about our first child's wedding and all the planning that has to happen between now and December 30th! I have to confess, whenever I thought of the day when Rachel would one day marry, that day would be years off in the future; I had lots of time to worry about that then, not now! But then she and Tyler had other plans ... I was abruptly jerked out of my "someday way off in the future" fantasy land. They broke my comfort bubble! First off, I am too young to have a daughter who is getting married .... when asked the ages of my children, I have grown accoustomed to responding that they are both "in university". Yes, my children are still in school ... after all, that is where children are typically found! But our children are 19 and 21 which means they are also adults.

Adult:
1. One who has attained maturity or legal age.
2. Biology. A fully grown, mature organism.

Adults make grown up decisions like getting married. *sigh* Let me reassure you I'm not delusional. I know they are are adults. As parents, Andy and I have done our best to prepare our children to make their own decisions (guiding them through the process), be responsible and accountable for the consequences of their actions. I knew this day would come; but I just don't feel like I've prepared myself well enough to embrace it. But then again, I have a whole 7 months to adjust. Come to think of it, when Rachel moves out of our home, we'll have a spare room to decorate! We've always wanted an office/study room.....