Old Wedding Videos

Remember the days of VHS tapes and VCR's?  They are truly a thing of the past, but last night the past and present collided in glorious fashion.

With the upcoming nuptuals of Colby and Danaca creeping up on us (53 days), I am getting into the groove by watching all the wedding movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime.  I want to be helpful with the planning but that's not really for the MOTG, so I'm staying happy with the movies and thinking about throwing a shower.

Anyway, the other day we found a VHS tape that said "Ed and Kaye's Wedding" on the label.  I don't know what possessed Ed last night but he hunted down a VCR we had tucked away and we watched the video.  It was recorded by Todd Christiansen- a dear friend and the father of the flower girl- Jocelyn Christiansen.  It was fun to watch the video version of the formal photography session.  It also made me re-think ever wanting to shoot a big wedding, but that's another story! 

After we watched that video, Ed announced that there was another wedding video that was probably different.  He trotted downstairs and reappeared with a video that was shot by my brother, Bruce Foster, and it includes footage of the day before the wedding, the wedding day events, and the actual ceremony.

Here's the amazing part.  We have been married 21 years- almost 22- and we had NEVER watched these videos!  What a blast from the past. It was cool to see our first kiss as a married couple, but what was really awesome was to see and hear our parents, Uncle Ralph, Judy Brackett, Earl Bilodeau, Oaksman Smiley, Margaret Chase Smith, and many others who are no longer with us.  What a gift to see and hear them and to remember how they blessed our lives.

So to Colby and Danaca and Dan and DiAnna, we apologize for making you watch, but I wouldn't trade last night for anything.

Party Planning

It was a party.  Daniel and Tanika decided just a couple of weeks before Christmas that they wanted to get married on the 23rd.  On the 15th a location was booked and the race was on! DiAnna, Ed and I are a force to be reckoned with once we are all headed in the same direction.  The menu was planned, food purchased, and decorations gathered.  It was a beautiful event and the food was yummy. Here's a few helpful hints that we learned.  I am putting them here so that I will always be able to find them!  They are useful for any large gathering. 

1.  Have a meeting up front with everyone so that you are all on the same page.

2.  Find the inspiration piece.  DiAnna and I found one stem of absolutely gorgeous silk flowers at Michael's that gave us the look.  There was only one stem, so we had to use it carefully and build everything else around it.

3.  Use what you have.  DiAnna's mom collects old-looking clocks.  I had lots of glass containers and candle holders.  DiAnna's mom also has a treasure trove of ribbon, silk flowers, and other odd craft items.  We had some old picture frames and baskets.  I had pieces from an old Christmas tree.  All these things combined with some photos of the couple, a few quotes about love and time, a can of champagne spray paint and a few cans of spray snow added up to some beautiful decorations. 

4.  Figure out how much food you need for your particular army and then reduce by about 1/3.  Ed and I always worry about running out of food because we didn't get any food at our wedding, but we had way too many leftovers at this event.  (And most events we do!!!)

5.  Borrow what you can.  We borrowed some beautiful serving platters from a friend.

6.  Buy what you will use again.  We bought some chafing dishes for a great price.  It made the table look professional, we didn't have to worry about the meat cooling off, and we get to use them at the next party.  Now we need to plan a party!

7.  Be careful about using real candles.  All containers must have bottoms to catch the melted wax.  Them, leave everything in the car on a cold winter's night and the wax will pop right off the glass in the morning.  I used a scrubby sponge to get the wax residue off and all is well.

8.  Glitter is beautiful, but hard to clean up.  Our ribbon had glitter on it.  But mostly off it.  Maybe I wouldn't do that again.  But I do love glitter. . .

9.  Get kitchen helpers.  DiAnna's neighbors came and made sure that platters and punch bowls were full.  It was nice to sit and enjoy the event without worrying about what was happening in the kitchen.  Colby was a big help. . .in my apron.

10.  If you are doing the cooking, keep it simple.  Do a meat that has built in portion control- like a chicken breast or pork medallion.  Buy the rolls.  Don't worry about fancy toppings and such because they worry people.  Simple, clean food.  Easy. (And 1/3 less of it! Remember that!)

11. Why not cupcakes for a wedding?  It was awesome!  Everyone had their choice of flavors, they were easy for the bride and groom to handle, and it was an impressive display. 

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Rice!

Fashion Sense?

Although I love watching the pomp and ceremony of anything that the Royal Family of Britain does, I was not really planning to watch William and Catherine's wedding yesterday. But it is not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night, so it worked out that I tuned in just in time to see two horribly dressed young women getting out of a car and entering the church. Turns out that they were Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. I know the Brits are crazy about head gear, but these were unfortunate choices in my opinion!

Luckily, Catherine had MUCH better taste and looked beautiful. She probably would have looked good in anything, but I am glad that she didn't go with some slinky, "Hollywood-looking" dress. Not that she cares what I think. . .

So, back to fashion. Apparently I have none. I look at fashion magazines and designer collections and mostly I just want to laugh. I think about The Devil Wears Prada and I wonder how much of what I wear is actually affected by these horrific trends. I have a few "trendy" items in my closet, but mostly it boils down to jeans with a loose bottom hem, straight easy-to-wear skirts, round neck t-shirts, turtleneck sweaters, and lots of cardigans and jackets. So. . . maybe the colors are affected season to season, but truthfully, not much else!

And that's ok by me. . .