I promise I won't make you cry today like I did yesterday. Today (and for the next 8 blog posts) I'll be showing details of the wedding and spilling all the juicy details of how we pulled it off and stayed on a tight budget.
An amazing, miraculous transformation took place in our back yard. We had our church as a backup site, but our daughter really, really wanted to get married at Brown Wren Acres.
From Sunday night to the Friday morning before the wedding, we measured 14 inches of rain in our garden rain gauge. My hubs worked everyday, in the rain, to make sure the gardens looked good. We planted potted mums in the areas that had been beaten down by the rain, and put fresh pine straw (the preferred mulch here at The Wren) in all of the gardens.
Here is a photo of Ashley (the bride) and Kat (maid of honor) visiting Hubs in the backyard. He rented a sump pump to pump rainwater into the ditches that line the sides of our property.
Here is what it looked like 48 hours later for the wedding.
This is standing water just off of our deck. We wanted to put the food tables here as this area is right off of the kitchen.
And here is how it looked on the day of the wedding. We added some straw in the damp areas because it would have a lot of foot traffic.
This is the area where the cake table needed to go. I had worked so hard to keep the veggie garden looking nice.
And here it is on the day of the wedding, thanks to Hubs with the sump pump, a bale of straw that covered the ground and God's divine intervention.
Our good friend Amy baked the delicious cake and assembled it on site with the flowers Ashley had picked out. Sheri, another good friend, was head kitchen organizer for the day and official cake cutter. Like I said yesterday, we couldn't have done this without our talented and giving friends.
God was so good to dry up the ground in our yard. Most of our neighbors still have 6 inches of water standing in their yards. And just to remind us that He was in control of the weather that day, this is what the same yard looked like the next day when the rains moved back in.
An amazing, miraculous transformation took place in our back yard. We had our church as a backup site, but our daughter really, really wanted to get married at Brown Wren Acres.
From Sunday night to the Friday morning before the wedding, we measured 14 inches of rain in our garden rain gauge. My hubs worked everyday, in the rain, to make sure the gardens looked good. We planted potted mums in the areas that had been beaten down by the rain, and put fresh pine straw (the preferred mulch here at The Wren) in all of the gardens.
Here is a photo of Ashley (the bride) and Kat (maid of honor) visiting Hubs in the backyard. He rented a sump pump to pump rainwater into the ditches that line the sides of our property.
Here is what it looked like 48 hours later for the wedding.
This is standing water just off of our deck. We wanted to put the food tables here as this area is right off of the kitchen.
And here is how it looked on the day of the wedding. We added some straw in the damp areas because it would have a lot of foot traffic.
This is the area where the cake table needed to go. I had worked so hard to keep the veggie garden looking nice.
And here it is on the day of the wedding, thanks to Hubs with the sump pump, a bale of straw that covered the ground and God's divine intervention.
(you can't see the dry ground as it was covered with a table, but trust me - it was dry )
God was so good to dry up the ground in our yard. Most of our neighbors still have 6 inches of water standing in their yards. And just to remind us that He was in control of the weather that day, this is what the same yard looked like the next day when the rains moved back in.
God is good - all the time.
Wow amazing before/after's! I sit and read and keep thinking to myself how on earth did they pull that off!
ReplyDeleteDo you need a vacation? Some place dry!
I can see why your daughter very much wanted to have it at home!
AAAHHHHH!!! My face is on the internet! Why didn't I put on a little make up or something!!
ReplyDeleteStill it was a beautiful day and a beautiful setting! Your hand was all over the details and it was perfect! The bride was lovely, we could see the happiness in her face. It could not have been more gorgeous!!
Sheri, you were at my house at the crack of dawn - you didn't have time to put on makeup. Besides, you don't need it! You and Chris and the whole team did an amazing job. You'd better watch out - peope are going to want to hire you!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy it went well for you! We've had 5 of our children get married and 4 of the receptions were in our garden. Three went off without a hitch, but for one the skies opened up just as the reception started at 7pm and it rained -- no poured! -- throughout the whole evening. It was early August -- not a big month for rain where we live, so it was "unexpected." We were so worried throughout the week as the weather outlook went from fair to worse! We had a huge tent with sides set up in the backyard with thousands of candles and beautiful lights. We moved all the food under that beautiful tent and our guests sat under it listening to the rain as all the lush flowers in the garden soaked it up. One of my most vivid memories of that night is my handsome sons, umbrellas in hand, ferrying people from our back door to the tent. Their shoes and socks were soaked throughout the night, but the smiles on their faces as they celebrated that special day with their sister was priceless. It wasn't ideal, but it made us realize why we were all gathered together -- such a wonderful celebration. And, we all remember that beautiful rain -- the sound it made, the candles brighter because the clouds darkened the sky, etc.! In many ways, it's the reception I remember most.
ReplyDeleteI'm truly grateful that your day was saved all the water and that God intervened. Sometimes, however, God intervenes in ways we don't anticipate or wish for, but He makes it glorious even then!
I can't wait to read the next several posts and see pictures of the wedding and yard transforation. It certainly has been a touching story ...
ReplyDeleteI was actually on Jo-Lynne's site and realized she was posting pics of your daughter's wedding LOL I had completely forgotten that you guys were connected!
ReplyDeleteThe yard looks beautiful!! I'm so glad it all worked out!
and all the time God is good! amen & Glory to Him for giving you a successful wedding. He is gracious to His children, isn't He. Wow. What a beautiful bride you had, I saw her on Jolynnes blog! Congrats. I love weddings.
ReplyDelete