I was just talking about this today with one of my coworkers, and I have to admit it was one of my biggest projects and one of the biggest successes of my “crafting” and planning career, prompting a very faint hint of a dream to be an event planner when I feel it’s time to move on from my teaching career. This may sound like a brag post, and I guess, in a way, it might be, but I worked really hard on making this happen for Mother and Daddy’s 30th anniversary in 2014, and it makes me smile still to think of their happiness, which was the whole point of the day.

The most amazing thing about the whole process was the unwavering support from those key people in my life. When I first hatched the idea and got the tentative go-ahead from Daddy, I immediately asked Bob, Mother’s brother-friend and my godfather for his opinion and approval, and he called and got all “misty eyed” and was all in. I then talked to Jan, Mother’s sister-friend and added her whole wonderful family to my group of conspirators. Then it was talking to Derek and Jessica, my brother and seeeester-in-law, planning and ordering invitations, and booking a plane ticket for Uncle B to be here. That was Daddy’s gift, since he doesn’t get to see his brother nearly enough.

Stage two was a bit more difficult. I had to get Mother’s dress measurements by telling a little while lie about why I was sewing something for her, find the perfect pattern (I ended up using two different ones and splicing them together), find fabric and sew the dress, hire a photographer, organize the food, put together the flowers, find and decorate the arch, work out logistics for serving people supper, and plan the cake. My (at the time future) mother-in-law was an absolute angel who let me use her kitchen to do a trial run of the cake and play with my first attempt at fondant. The lovely ladies I was working with at the time helped tremendously by being my highly qualified tasters, and were always encouraging me in my massive undertaking. The location was a bit tricky, because originally we planned on the park down the road from Mother and Daddy’s house for the ceremony, but the weather put an end to that idea and we relocated to the covered carport at Mother and Daddy’s house.

The final stages were the most stressful, but the most rewarding in the end. Monitoring and managing every detail with the help of my now-husband Michael and numerous friends kept me on my toes, and the end result… well, you be the judge.

It was a beautiful day in spite of the rain, and I hope they both know that I love them so very much and continue to wish them all the happiness in the world.