A Wedding Designer's Challenge: From Concept to Concrete Reality!

The challenge? Design a wedding for $2,000 or less, including the dress!

You don't get that sense of completion until you see all the pictures. I finally got the disk, this past weekend.

It is official - I designed my second (and final) wedding. For $2,000. If we went over budget, I know it was by less than fifty dollars!

Our photographer did a stunning job, and did not charge us. She got it all, from decor and design, all the way to subtle expressions in the eyes of the bride and groom. This girl works for a print publication in west Knoxville - if you want her for your wedding, contact me.

Back to the wedding. From concept to completion, I took my daughter Sarah's general dream (of a vintage-inspired wedding, with western boots worked in, just for charm) and made it a detailed design. Here is how it all turned out:

The wedding was March 20th. Nothing was in profuse bloom yet, so we went with the idea that there are always bare branches and birds in early-early spring! Our photographer had taken engagement photos, and we enlarged two of them, and framed them for the foyer decor. This is how the concept came together, in the foyer of the church...

Sarah wanted rustic, vintage, and simple...the sunburst grapevine wreaths in all the windows tied into the theme of birds and branches. All table covers were burlap, covered in tulle. Love the contrast of rustic and fluffy!

We created the backdrop for the ceremony out of two room dividers, and the unity candleabra. It turned out exactly as we hoped!

I made paper cones from vintage papers for the aisle markers, and put fresh baby's breath in each one.

>

On to the reception~


Cutting the bundt cakes...I am crazy-glad we chose bundt cakes rather than traditional wedding cake, or ubiquitous sheet cake. It absolutely completed the atmosphere and decor!

We used boxes for cake stands, and created garland from twine, vintage papers, and clothes pins. On each paper, there was affixed a pin with a bird silhouette, and the bride and groom's name and wedding date. So the decor also became the party favors. Everyone took one home for their scrapbook.




Sage advice, on the "wishing tree". (An old custom. Guests write well wishes and blessings, and hang them on a "wishing tree". We chose a beautiful jardiniere, poured concrete in it, and set two very large branches trimmed from a tree that was storm damaged earlier in the winter. We draped pearls all over it, and created special tags with ribbon hangers for guests to write on.)

See all the birds? We gathered them from antique shops, Hobby Lobby, anywhere we could find them. We also used candlesticks from around the house - nothing matchy-matchy. There were wood candlesticks, mercury glass, and porcelain. We kept the candles uniform in size and color, to tie the look together.


Harvest Church's resident disco king...

A little line dancing - my daughters love country music! (The bridesmaids wore western boots too!)


The venue for the reception was extraordinary...and free. A dream location.

Did I tell you our photographer was good? Oh yeah...she's good.



Me, there in the middle, literally surrounded by family. Can I tell you? God's plan is that you "plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them". God has said, "You shall not plant, and another eat." It is not normal to have ongoing broken relationships. If you value relationships, and you stick and stay and cultivate continuity, you will one day eat the sweet fruit of all that labor of love. And there I am, up there...


This picture is such a metaphor. There they go, walking away into their new life together. The views at the Bower's home are so pastoral and peaceful.

Hope you enjoyed the results of my wedding "designer's challenge".

Inspiration

White/cream design inspiration...



round table in a white dining room, worn wood floors - lovely!


This is a project from the blog "Shanty2Chic". Love the idea - I would paint the headboard either a robin's egg blue, or a white, or possibly black...



Wonderful idea, the mirror over the nightstand! This would be very simple to do.


I am thinking I need an apron just like this.

It has been a busy, busy day. Got a whole lot done, here at the cottage! One way I unwind, is by enjoying interior design photos - either in an actual magazine, or in one of the many fantastic blogs out there.

So many beautiful ideas, so little time! Thank you for sweet comments and emails of encouragement regarding my redecorating efforts. This whole design style of whites and neutrals is much more difficult to pull off than I first thought. It is far more than putting a creamy white paint on the walls. It is really a way of creating a canvas of possibility, a restful, peaceful backdrop, using texture and subtlety and allowing only a very few beautiful things to "speak" for the space.

Hard to explain - even harder to execute. But I'll get there. The joy is in the journey, friends!

Justin's Graduation and One Year Anniversary!

(our son-in-law Justin, and our daughter Hannah, on their wedding day, one year ago today!)

My son-in-love Justin McConnell is officially a college grad - complete with Bachelor's degree as of yesterday! Today is he and Hannah's one year anniversary. What a weekend!

He begins his one year internship later this year, teaching high school math at Bearden High here in Knoxville, while finishing his Master's degree in Math Education. Then, long about December, he'll become a daddy.

That's our boy! I know his parents and brothers are so very proud of him, and so are we. You'd love Justin's parents...and both his brothers. Hannah could not ask for better in-laws. They all are a dream; they treat her with such love and care. Those McConnells are "the stuff"...each one of them!

Congratulations, Justin! We love you!

Anticipating Friday Evening Fellowship

Ring the bell, or come on in!




Candles are lit - it is almost time for some out-of-state friends to get here!

Wild roses are in bloom just off the front porch

impatiens in a strawberry pot - simple, simple...

The pond and its fishies...right by the front door.

I snipped some of my pink peonies - love!

The table is set - notice anything missing? No more buffet! Didn't want it anymore. Less is so often more!

Semi-homemade angel cake, fresh from the oven. Duncan Hines and I are real good friends on a busy afternoon. He has my back all the time.

Things ready to slice and chop...

Umbrella up, in case we want to sit around out back.

Soft, airy, clean, and simple. White-on-white is getting all my love these days.
(Corner cabinet will be painted soft white...eventually.)

the keys to good fellowship are first, a sense of joy within the walls of the home!

...and maybe a front porch that says, "Sit and relax." All of us may end up here at the end of the evening. Tim and I will for sure end the day here, after our friends go home, enjoying the sound of the waterfall, and basking in the afterglow of being with friends we've known for years.

Hope your weekend has sweet fellowship in store for you. It feeds the soul.

Church Membership

Interesting thoughts, by Kevin DeYoung, some with which I agree, a few with which I disagree. But, you see, it's all about the dialogue!
The church should be the safest place in the world to examine truth, discuss it with honest vigor, and no one snatches up their Barbies (or G.I. Joes) to leave.

God’s covenant with us is prior to any covenant we make with each other. He chooses us, sets us apart, calls us to holiness, and enjoins us to love one another. But all this must happen in particulars. The commitment to live out the principles of the new covenant takes place with a specific people in a specific place. This results in a local church. Membership matters because particularization matters.

According to Jonathan Leeman (whose ideas I’ve borrowed in the paragraph above), submitting to a local church accomplishes a number of crucial things. Church membership:

1. Identifies us with Christ.
2. Distinguishes us from the world.
3. Guides us into the righteousness of Christ by presenting a standard of personal and corporate righteousness.
4. Acts as a witness to non-Christians.
5. Glorifies God and enables us to enjoy his glory.
6. Identifies us with God’s people.
7. Assists us in living the Christian life through the accountability of brothers and sisters in the faith.
8. Makes us responsible for specific believers.
9. Protects us from the world, the flesh, and the Devil
.
In other words, “the covenant commitment of the local church makes the invisible new covenant visible. It’s an earthly symbol, sign, or analogy of this wonderful heavenly reality” (The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love, 267).
Kevin DeYoung

A Day In Pictures...

guess what day it was?


The classic mirror shot - me trying to decide, "Do I look like a grandmother?"

Cards from all six children...and one grandchild.

My present from the six children...(four mine by birth, two mine by marriage...)

From my youngest, Isaac - the big surprise of the day. He thought to get his momma these beauties...

Flowers from "the grandbaby", to "Mimi" (or Gran or Nonny or whatchamacallit, I really don't care how it comes out...just let me hear the beautiful name!) and a picture frame from a friend -

and some magazines from another friend and fun things to fill my pantry from a friend who knows my love for all things kitchen-ey.

From My Man.

The best Mother's Day ever.

Ever, ever.

Thank you, thank you Hannah, Sarah, Josiah, Isaac, Justin and Jonathan. I love each of you more than you can know.

Thank you, Tim. You know how to love me, and I love how you love me, and I love you. I wouldn't be the mother I am without you.

::goofy grin::

Thank you, thank you friends - you know who you are. This is why I say that the adventure of motherhood should never be undertaken without a few life-long girlfriends. I love you!

The Flesh Lives...

"Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant will I establish with Isaac..."

Have you ever wondered why it is so easy to confuse flesh with Spirit? Have you ever wondered why some people who are law-based, who don't understand the gospel of grace can seem so "together"? (Just don't look far past the surface...rarely are they truly whole people.) ...Or why some who don't even know Christ at all can be so incredibly successful?

Because God heard the cries of Abraham. Ishmael lives, friends, and he bears strong resemblance to Blessing.

If you are placing confidence in your flesh, you can look a lot like a Promise Child. You are receiving a limited blessing. You might "multiply" - even exceedingly. You might bear fruit. Ishmael begets Ishmael begets Ishmael. Flesh begets flesh. But it cannot beget Promise. Your level of performance can build the highest tower and birth a great nation, but it cannot please God, and it cannot have healthy relationships.

"In Isaac shall thy seed be called."

"For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath..."

There will be no flesh able to glory before God. "Flesh" is defined as whatever it is we do to get our needs met, or obtain favor, other than the sacrifice of Jesus Christ - and typically, somehow, some way, we default to the works of our flesh at the expense of another person.

(Anti-Christ simply means "instead of " Christ. Since Christ is the only way, the only truth and the only door, anything you depend on "in addition" to Him is actually instead of Him.)

There is an obvious way Ishmael differs from Isaac: relationships. Ishmael regards not a parent, a spouse, children, friends, or any authority, beyond how they benefit him. Even if all Ishmael gains from you is a sense of his own importance, if you ever stop allowing Ishmael to feel superior, he will turn on you. He's a wild ass of a man (or woman).

Here's the part that makes my heart fear: "And he (Ishmael) will be a wild ass of a man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him..." Gen. 16

Ishmael is a victim-iser (his hand will be against every man), yet imagines himself victimised (every man's hand will be against him). But the fact is, Ishmael simply cannot enjoy healthy relationships for very long, because if you let him get close, he will find something wrong with you. His hand will end up "against" you, and he will not back down or make things right. He is wild, and doesn't form meaningful ties. There is no continuity or faithfulness in Ishmael.

Interestingly, Ishmael can fake relationship for awhile, because "he dwells among his brothers" (same verse, Genesis 16), but if you investigate, you'll find out that nearly all his relationships are shallow and pragmatic. Ishmael makes "new friends", only to use them in an attempt to provoke old friends to jealousy. He flaunts people to impress other people, and needs desperately to be admired. When Ishmael trots you out in front of others, calling you his friend, you better be ready to pick up on his cues. You better perform.

Meanwhile, Isaac enjoys depth of friendship and relationship as a gift of grace. He dwells in peace, even among those who try to harm him. He is close to his mother, (as flawed as she might be), respects his father, (old as he is), and adores his wife. And everyone else is devoted to Isaac in return. Isaac is rich in all ways money can buy - and even richer in all the ways money cannot buy.

Yet he looks so much like Ishmael.

Examine yourselves, friends, to see if you be in the faith. Look for signs of you being in the true lineage of Abraham; first, you put no confidence in your flesh...and second, your great, great love for the brethren.

Your works can be blessed to the point they resemble faith, even when they have nothing to do with faith...because God heard the prayers of his friend Abraham.