I know a bride that just threw the most lavish wedding, one of two: her husband is English and within days of their respective, “I do,” they were on the plane to Oxford where he, Chris, continues work on his PHD- so that they can celebrate with his family and friends as well.
The dress was elegant, the flowers, breathtaking, the food and wine, overflowing…just a dream of a day.
And before you nervous fathers start totting up the potential numbers for your own daughters, let me just add this: Bailey planned and executed the entire wedding, herself, while, of course, giving full credit to dear friends and family that were all caught up in the exuberance of a truly DYI wedding.
It also says something about Bailey, I think, that so many people couldn›t wait to roll up their sleeves and pitch in. I only know Bailey as she is a fellow equestrian from down the road at her folks› farm, and I was thoroughly caught up in her adventure.
Having promised to emcee a benefit on the day of Bailey›s wedding, I couldn›t attend, so the least Paul and I could do was offer roses for the bridal bouquet. Far ahead of us, Bailey planned to pick her bouquet from the field: Queen Anne›s Lace mixed with blue Hydrangeas, and she and her mother, weeks earlier, had grown all the other flowers, in pots, however rose petals for the flower girls to toss as well as scatter around the base of the 8 layer cake, which Bailey baked (a Victorian Sponge with layers of Costco organic preserves) were graciously accepted.
College friends from Maryland, for the price of tanks of gas for the trip and a place to bunk down, served as the wedding photographers and other equally cherished souls offered food, stemware and even a lovely home in Flat Rock, for the actual ceremony. Our vet, Bibi, along with her son and his girlfriend, and three other close chums, all accomplished musicians, played for the ceremony and the dance floor, afterwards, was a bargain-basement rented, wooden, ‹clogging floor,› with a 20 year old roll of linoleum, found in the farm›s barn, fitting perfectly over, ends tucked beneath, as was done to the LED lights draped over the tent, softened with layers of muslin.
Did I mention the dress and shoes came from Goodwill? For a whopping fifty bucks? And Bailey, a budding jewelry designer, made the wedding rings, herself, as well as sewed the pillow on which they would rest as they were carried up the aisle.
How refreshing, in a day of even small weddings costing thousands, nay, tens of thousands of dollars, creating financial strain at the beginning of a marriage (or a worried mom and dad, eyeing their own retirement), to see such a creative spirit and such a joyous and content couple. No wonder Chris fell in love with Bailey.
No wonder we all did.