I now Pronounce You 'Man & Wife'!

Well, it's Thursday and the wedding is over and the newlyweds are safely (except for a sprained wrist) on their honeymoon. There was a point last week when I wondered if we would all survive the big event, but we did!

As much as I'd love to jump right back into to thrift-treasure posts, the good-mom in me just has to share a little about THE WEDDING.

From Wednesday afternoon on, this yard was just a beehive of activity!  The tent (complete with side-walls, tables, chairs, dance floor, and linens) was supposed to be here on Wednesday at noon.  Without  going into too much detail, I'll just tell you that it all arrived in 3 stages over 3 days, with the LINENS arriving on Friday afternoon.  Needless to say, the bride was not happy (and was really just a step or two above frantic)!

The tent on Thursday morning

The tent on Friday morning

The new dock (complete with the groom and best man fishing on Thursday afternoon) 

There were so many people in our house on Friday and Saturday, getting things ready, running errands, getting showers, getting 'beautified' and changing clothes (I estimate 15-18), that you could barely move. At one point about an hour before the wedding, I walked past a young man who'd obviously just showered in our basement bathroom and I had absolutely NO idea who he was! I just smiled and said hi!

Here's the funny part -- I grew up in a household where my mom would freak out if she even had 4 people over for dinner, unless they were very close friends.  Every entertainment was a major event, causing so much tension and upset that it just wasn't worth doing it.  My husband (and his family) couldn't be more opposite -- they love nothing more than opening up their home to people.  Thankfully, I've learned a lot from him in 35 years and have gotten much more relaxed about it all.  Still, my sister said no less than 6 times on Saturday night, "I can't believe you did this!  Our mother would be amazed!"  Well, I'm amazed, too!

The weather was absolutely picture-perfect... 75 and sunny, with a light breeze, a brilliant blue sky and big fluffy movie-clouds.

At about 11:00, the 'venue' was ready and that's when I shot these pictures:

Even the scarecrow dressed up for the wedding

The gate & flowerbed leading to the garden

This picture and the one above are the bed where we had 3 dead pines removed.  The flowers were hanging baskets I bought on Wednesday!  As a thrifter/hoarder, I had plenty of containers for them...

This bed was completely dug up, 'repaired' and the plants replanted.  They didn't come back very well, so they were helped along with some annuals.

The inside of the tent on Saturday

No venue is complete without the 'necessaries'

50 to100 guests sat (and stood) by a 275+ year-old oak tree as my son & his bride were married.  It was his special request to be married there because of the age and strength of the oak (pretty neat imagery, I think).

The wedding site & the old oak tree

I got as far back as I could
and you still don't get a feel for how big the tree is

The reception was in the tent between our barn and garden and about 125 people were there for that.  We celebrated the bride & groom, at cookout food, wedding cake and danced the night away.

I had cleaned out the chicken coop on Tuesday and it's a good thing I did -- lots of people wanted to see the girls and get their picture taken with them.  It was sort of a poor man's photo booth!  Between the loud music, extra light, 'tourists' in the hen house and people walking back and forth, the girls were NOT amused!

I can still hardly believe that we actually hosted a wedding here!  I was busy Saturday night being 'mother of the groom' and didn't take a single picture -- fortunately, we have the wonder of Facebook!  Within an hour there were pictures online that I could grab for this post.

The happy newlyweds

First dance as man & wife

As a parting shot, I'll share THIS parting shot -- it's one of my favorites and the one I thought they should use for an engagement picture.  That's Sylvia, the world's sweetest dog, in the foreground!

Slow down, you move too fast...

If you're 'of a certain age' (like I am) you'll remember those lyrics from Simon and Garfunkle and can probably sing the rest of the song.  Those words have taken on new meaning for me this summer because of THE WEDDING (cue ominous music).

Having your son get married is a big deal.  Having the wedding AND reception at your house is a BIGGER deal!  We have been SO busy getting the yard ready and making sure that nothing's been overlooked that we've barely had time to breathe.  There have been wedding showers and dress shopping trips and what seems like a thousand details to see to.  The big day is a week from this Saturday and *I think* everything is coming together.

I feel bad that I haven't posted much this summer.  Sadly, I haven't shopped much either.  My day job keeps me busy until mid-afternoon on Thursdays and by then the garage sales in our area are picked over and I'm too tired to drive very far.  Fridays are spent at the mall 'fluffing' the booth and occasionally stopping at a sale along the way.  I never really thought about what a luxury it was to be able to hit estate sales on Fridays and Saturdays until I didn't have time for them any more.

Here's the good news, though...our yard is looking great!  The aging pine trees are gone and new landscape beds with white birches and a redbud are in their places.  The dock on the pond has been rebuilt.  Lighting's being added outside the barn (how else will people find the port-a-potties in the dark?).  The perennial beds are rejuvenated and the weeds are gone from the garden.   I'll take pictures when everything is ready and will post them so that you can all see that, though I don't have many thrift finds to show, I've at least been doing something!  Who knows -- a thrift find or two might sneak in to the pictures, too!