Back Interest

Where was I

·    before the most brilliant week of fall weather in New England history ushered in and then ushered out Emily and Ryan’s wedding day 
·    before those present and those passed became fully invested in their moving ceremony

·     before the sky bore a message of everlasting love

·     before the groom’s mother graced us with a  lullaby

·     before the bride’s brother pulled off a powerful toast –    with a case of Milwaukee Light

·    before we danced and danced and danced and danced?

I was getting out the sewing box, - remember?  Trying to figure out , at eight in the morning, how to secure a loop on the back of Em’s gown, by which to lift its bustle to the lowest satin back button,  so she could dance without tripping over her lace-scalloped train.  

And I was worried. The seamstress’ loop had snapped during the first “dress” rehearsal. The wedding was just a week away. With no time to head back to her– 2 hours away –  to replace it , it was up to me – Ms. MOTB.  How could I mend better than a dress designer with an MFA in Textile Construction?  Really!

Then I remembered, Em’s grandmother Mimi had always been a wiz with a needle and thread (and crochet hook, and macramé yarn, and knitting needles, and quilting stitches and. . . ) 

I thought : What would Mimi have done?

Mimi would have addressed the need for a bit of stretch in the fastener, as well as strength (Em’s gown was beaded – therefore heavy).  Mimi always had elastic thread in her box of sewing doodads, the same box I had open before me. I also remembered how my mother would strengthen  thin crocheting yarn by crocheting it into a chain, using as tiny a hook as she could find.

I took the elastic thread that still remained in her box, dug out a hooked needle from deep within and  crocheted away. Not sturdy enough I decided. So I chain-stitched that chain into a thicker chain. Liked the thickness – but not the give. Wrapped around the satin button, the weight of the skirt  s t r e t c h e d  the loop like an elastic band, which, in fact it was!

I felt defeated. Needed a break. Went to brush my teeth, a  ritual I hadn’t gotten to – due to the long morning mend-fest. A failed mend-fest.  I went on to floss. Floss  as in using  a soft, strong, waxed thread, made of nylon. Sturdy, unbreakable nylon.

 I broke off a piece of floss, threaded it through a  needle, and wove the floss through my morning's handiwork - the elastic loop -  to inhibit its stretch. Sewed the loop onto the lower back seam of the gown. Lifted the skirt up to the lowest back button. Secured  loop .

 IT WORKED.

No matter how big the wedding – it’s the little things!  

Some Pics Are Worth 1000 Blogs!

Didn't even have to bring a camera. Various folk took various shots - all night. Here are the links to what our friends and family captured from Emily and Ryan's Big Day

Ceremony starts

Ceremony ends . . .

. . .with a surprise from the groom.

.Click the links below for more.

ASA Photography

Cousin Amy's awesome photos
                    

Even the DJ snapped the night away

six minute video

(to be continued)

Dress Rehearsal

First allow me to clarify: Dress Rehearsal is NOT Rehearsal Dinner, the get-together that celebrates all systems go for the wedding day to follow. It’s Dress Rehearsal. That is, going through the motions well before the Big Day. Motions in which the engagee ( accent on the last syllable,long double - e)  will don her dress, walk in it (as in down the aisle) bend in it (as in crouching down low enough  to  hug toddlers of full- grown cousins) , and , after a hearty dinner, dance the night away in it as a married lady. That’s a high order for a single garment  – any garment – on a single night -- not to mention a reconstructed full length wedding gown(with train) that has been altered to fit like a glove.

Dress Rehearsal discoveries:

·    That the bride must put  the gown on over her head, not step into it, because the slip that poufs out the A-line of the gown cannot be tucked down into the dress’s skirt without stressing the seams of its  lower half . Good to know. We don’t want stressed seams (or stressed bride or stressed MOTB) the day of the wedding.

·    That the hooks on the bodice of the gown will stretch to the farthest row of eyes on the built-in corset as long as the bride sucks in her  breath as deeply as  possible  Do not underestimate the extent to which a bride will inhale to  zip the snug bodice of a fitted gown. I understand there is no need to worry unless – after all hooks are eyed – a bride-to-be’s complexion matches the latest craze of wedding party gray. Fortunately, Em retained her rosy glow throughout the Dress Rehearsal.  

·   That there is one concern. The threaded  loop designed to hook the lower half of the gown to the lowest button of the bodice's back, thus  lifting the gown’s train high enough to let  the bride dance the night away, that loop doesn’t look as if it can stand up to  the job through ceremonial pomp and celebratory circumstances on the dance floor.  

Time to get out the sewing box – which is what Dress Rehearsal is all about.

Welcome to Wedding Central

I have to admit Em's wedding  - less than three weeks away - is too close for the comfort of my being able to put off this or wait till later for that. We're beyond prioritizing. It's do-it-all-now time: the final flower decisions, the DJ song list, the hotel and party count, readings, guest bags.
And that's just this weekend. The storm before the calm - I hope.  I'll  gladly face a frenzy a few weeks before the wedding for a smooth run on October 8.

My tiny house seems to be getting smaller and smaller now that it's Wedding Central. Gowns - the bride's and mine - hang, out of the closet, to avoid wrinkling. Gift boxes are stacked here, cartons of goodies for the candy bar show up there. Baskets are being amassed for the sweets. There's 300 feet of packaged string lights piled on the piano bench. 

Good thing I haven't played the piano in a while. Maybe I'll get it tuned after the wedding.

After the wedding. Now there's a thought that hasn't crossed my mind in a long time. There's got to be a morning after the wedding, right? A quiet break of day when bride and groom are off to Vermont for a  long weekend. When the to-do lists are all crossed out and the happy hello hugs and kisses have been replaced by  bittersweet goodbyes.

When the Mommy of the Bride becomes the Mommy-in-law.

Oh my!

Better dig out that piano tuner's phone number!              

Thank You Kenny Chesney

Where was I?

Oh yes, Emily's bridal shower.

A shower  that Hurricane Irene almost crashed. We missed her rude entrance by a single weekend.

 But there is more to that lucky miss than meets the eye - of the hurricane or mine.

Em’s shower was originally planned for the day Irene would eventually crash through Connecticut . But that soiree was moved up a week because two bridal party members had tickets to see Kenny Chesney in Boston on Sunday, August 28. They couldn’t be two places at once. So we switched the date of the shower.

My English teaching colleagues and I call that situational irony.

We Wedding Planners call it Miraculous.

A fortuitous twist of fate of which Jimmy Fallon might write:  Thank you Kenny Chesney for being the reason behind having to reschedule Em’s bridal shower which in the end inconvenienced her family and friends much less than if your concert  had not inconvenienced them in the first place.

Extra Extra

Bear with me as I interrupt this blog of wedding news with other family news.

The Mommy of the Bride has just become the published  Mommy of the Bride.

If, while reading about the closer-than-ever nuptials,you have  strayed to the right margin of the blog and ventured to my website at http://www.laurabhayden.com/,  you are aware of the book I wrote – last year – about my family. One MOTB blog, in May,  spoke of the death of Emily’s father over ten years ago. Emily, her brother Conor, and I have come a long way through the years, adjusting to our daily lives without Larry.Yet his presence has really never vanished. Every day, what we say, what we do, what we think, triggers memories of his love and devotion to us.

I began writing the memoir about our life with Larry – and our life without him a few years ago. If you feel as if you have become part of my family by reading about Emily’s wedding, I invite you to become an even greater part of it by reading the memoir Staying Alive: A Love Story.You will find the first chapters  here for Kindle readers and here for Nook readers.  The paperback can be ordered here from Barnes and Noble and here from Amazon

Now, back to the busy-ness of planning a wonderful wedding.

A Shower - not a Hurricane

Em's bridal shower was supposed to be this coming weekend - but it got pushed back to last weekend. Thank goodness. Hurricane Irene would have crashed the party this week. The shower would have been torrential.



Thanks to bridesmaid Mary, the rest of these photos start to capture the wonder of the day.  




Linda's cake looked exactly like the invitatin

 



Nancy's decorations gave us a hint of what October will bring.






The bridal party gathers for a photo.

More photos to come