illumination

The wedding will be held in a room that has curved outer walls. There are thirteen ledges (each 7 feet long) separated with wooden support beams. I'm going to use thirteen lamps like the one in this picture as well as a garland of ivy to decorate each ledge. I received 10 of the lamps from a dear friend and coworker (she created them for her daughter's wedding a little over a year ago). All that I had to do was re-glue some of the flowers and replace a few batteries and bulbs. I have three more to make but my friend helped me gather the necessary materials as well as modify the battery-operated candles that are used to illuminate the porcelain lamps. Aren't they dainty? My friend used them to decorate the tables at her daughter's reception. They'll do an awesome job of brightening up the sides of the church during the ceremony. I plan to use some modified and enhanced white pew bows to decorate the wooden support beams. All side decorations will be light and more "traditional" wedding fare but the altar arrangements, like the flowers we'll carry, will be vibrant color.
Here is a picture of the ledges and supports: In other news, I graduated to regular shoes (of the solid sole, lace type) this past Friday and the Dr. says that if my foot holds up well, I can resume dance lessons with Ed in two weeks--HURRAY! During the time that I was in the walking cast, I had a slight mishap on my stairs (lost my balance) and fell injuring my right shoulder (yeah, yeah, I know, what an accident prone bride-to-be am I!!). MRI results last week showed that I may have a slight tear in my shoulder as well as a serious sprain. Luckily, surgery isn't the answer! I'm going to be doing physical therapy a few times a week and if all goes well the numbness in my arm/hand and pain in my shoulder will go away *fingers crossed.* Right now, I can't lift my arm up or away from my side more than a few inches. Isn't it a grand thing that both Ed and I are LEFT-handed? I managed to make all those flowers with a bum right arm!

I took Ed to his very first Renaissance Fair this weekend. We went to the Bristol Fair which is near Kenosha, Wisconsin. We met two other couples that are long-time friends of mine from Madison, Wi. I went in costume (as did several of my friends) and Ed surprised me by purchasing and then wearing a handsome hunter green ren. shirt. Go Ed!! We really had a nice time sampling the different foods, watching a juggler, a falconer, and a professional insulter as well as checking out the vendors and socializing. Ed is looking forward to going back with me (muahahahaha....another ren. fair addict is born!) [editor's note: Ed says that you won't get a picture of him in tights though, so stop thinking that RIGHT NOW *grin and a wink*]

Gun Control

Growing up in the UP of Michigan, I'm no stranger to firearms. I have many memories of drawing targets and coloring in the rings with my Dad and brother. We'd take the targets out to "camp" and practice shooting our rifles and pistols. Targets precluded hunting season and I've "bagged a buck" or two in past deer seasons. These days, however, my "weapon" of choice seems to be my handy-dandy glue gun (ah how far I've fallen!!). I guess you could say it is "open season" on the flowers tucked into vases lurking in the corners of my dining area. At least I don't have to wear bright orange, strap a license on my back and don thermal underwear in order to keep my extremities warm when doing this kind of "hunting!"

My latest project was the creation of a small altar arrangement for a stand located near where Pastor Jennie and Reverend (Aunt) Jean will sit. The arrangement is in a fall-themed, gold colored bowl that sort of reminds me of a pumpkin in shape. The first time that I brought Ed home to Michigan with me to meet my family (he'd already met my Mom once in Chicago), he gave my Mom a beautiful floral arrangement in the very same bowl! When Mom heard that I was doing the flowers for the wedding, she offered me the use of any suitable vases or containers that she had at her house. Ed and I picked that bowl because of its fall "flavor" and because we remembered what a lovely time we had that first weekend in Michigan. I'm grateful for my Mom's hospitality, her generosity in letting me "re-purpose" the bowl, and all that she is doing to support Ed and I in our wedding plans and our new life together.

Birthday Cake and Flowers :-)

I created most of the boutonnieres as well as my bridal bouquet last week. Mom says that I need to keep some things secret, *wink and a grin* so you just get to see a close-up of my flowers (they are done as a cascade bouquet) and none of the boutonnieres! I will tell you that I was able to add to my bouquet a lot of the pearl, rhinestone, and butterfly accent pieces that were in my Mother's bouquet! It is a blend of old and new.

My new "love" is the handy-dandy glue gun! But oohhhhh what a mess I'm making of my dining room area! That part of the house looks like the backroom of a florist shop. Yikes!

Ed and I traveled to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and attended the annual Kakuk family reunion over the weekend. He got a chance to meet about 80 of my relatives in 2 short days. Way to go Ed! Saturday was Ed's birthday. Here is a picture of him showing off his birthday cake surprise from my Mom. It was designed and baked by my cousin, Cathy, who owns a cake business. The cake was a big hit at the reunion--YUMMY! We jokingly told people that they had to sing happy birthday or at least wish Ed a happy birthday before eating the cake. He received an overwhelming amount of birthday well wishes and quite a few renditions of the birthday song. *giggle*

Mom had the wedding invitations all set for us to take back to Illinois. Oh my, they look so elegant! We're really pleased at how nicely they turned out. With the help of my "editorial board" (Ed, his parents, and my mom) the inserts have been created for the invitations as well. Now we just need to start addressing envelopes and putting all the pieces together.

I "graduated" from a walking cast to a "surgical shoe"--HURRAY! Hopefully, I'll be back to normal shoes in two weeks. I'm happy the fracture in my foot is healing. We can't wait to get back on the dance floor!

Airport and Cab Information

Cabs or rental cars are available from both O’Hare and Midway airports. It is about 30 minutes from O’Hare to the hotel and about 35-45 minutes from Midway.

If you take a cab, DO NOT hire a yellow cab (they'll charge you a round trip to go to the suburbs). Use a limo service or American Taxi because they are reliable and serve the suburbs. Below is a link to American Taxi’s web site, you can "book" rides in advance or call once you land and get your baggage. They have cars at the airport 24/7 so we usually just call and order a ride when we’ve landed. It should cost approximately $31 (O’Hare) or $43 (Midway) to get to Carol Stream:

http://www.americantaxi.com/Home.htm

Carol Stream, where the hotel is located, is in the "South West Suburbs" (phone for the southwest suburbs is: (630) 305-0700)

If anyone has alternative suggestions or wants to arrange "ride shares," I encourage you to post comments or contact Ed or I and we'll help facilitate communication!

Cake Topper and Remembrance Candle

Here is the finished cake topper and the little accent flowers for the cake layers:

Behind the unity candle, I'm going to place a unique tall glass candle holder and burgundy candle that I will have my brother, Jeff, ignite at the beginning of the ceremony. The candle will be in remembrance of my Dad. My mom and Ed's mom will ignite the taper candles from Dad's candle. Their tapers will represent our family and friends that cannot be with us physically but are with us in spirit on our special day. Ed and I will light the unity candle from these tapers. I decorated Dad's candle holder with ivy. The glass candle holders that we'll use for the tapers (you can see one of them in the right upper corner of the picture) belonged to my Grandma Machalk (my mother's mother).

Matron of Honor

I can't show you a picture of my dress because it currently exists only in my imagination and the imagination of my wonderful seamstress friend, Mary. However, I CAN show you the dress that my oldest friend and matron of honor, Erica, will be wearing. She's already ordered and received her dress. It is hunter green velvet with sleeves that lace on and off.

Before the pictures of the dress, a bit about Erica or "EO" as I tend to call her...we met in the 3rd grade when her family moved from Chicago to the Upper Peninsula. We've been best friends ever since riding the "highs" and slogging through the "lows" together. I love her dearly! She's married to another of my childhood friends, Stewart (I've known him since kindergarten). Many of you will get a chuckle out of hearing Erica call me "Debbie" at the wedding. Don't get any ideas though...only those who've known me since I was a "kidlet" can get away with calling me "Debbie" *shudder*

Here's a picture of Erica:

And these are pics of her dress [note that these are pictures from the dressmaker and the model is not Erica]:
First an overview of the whole dress:
Next a close up of the sleeves:

Finally, a close up of the bodice with the sleeves removed (if I know EO, she'll lose the sleeves by the time she gets to the reception!!)

Last but not least, there are definite up-sides to having a broken foot...since I can't move around too much, I'm more inclined to work on wedding "stuff!" Since our dresses are renaissance themed, I decided that instead of a traditional bouquet, I'll have her carry a grapevine wreath decorated with ivy and flowers similar to those that I'll carry and use in the altar area arrangements. Today I finished her arrangement. Here it is:

Brief Pause

We've had a busy two weeks. Ed went to summer scout camp in Wisconsin and helped the troop's new scouts learn knots and orienteering. Highlights of his trip included melty-hot weather and an unintentionally ignited tree! I flew to Washington, D.C., and attended the annual American Library Association conference. It was my first time in DC, and I was treated to a great night tour of the monuments by an old friend that joined me for dinner one evening. The downside of the trip was that I managed to stress fracture a bone in my right foot. *sigh* Dance lessons are on hold for a while until I can heal. BUMMER! At least I'm just in a walking cast right now and, thankfully, I have Ed to help me out. He's really getting a jump on the whole "in sickness and in health" bit! Not only is he being a total peach about helping me, he's also getting a HUGE kick out of responding to people that ask me what happened to my foot. With a straight face, he likes to reply "we started dance lessons." HA! (For the record, he never stepped on my feet once.)

Have I mentioned that I'm doing all the floral decorations for the wedding? My gal-pals are getting a kick out of teasing me about my newly found crafty side. *good humored smile* My dining room area is overflowing with silk flowers and a variety of crafty tools and accessories. Last week before heading to DC, I made the cake topper and floral accents for the cake layers. Traditional toppers didn't exactly thrill me, so I modified a unique ivy themed candle holder that I found and added blue hydrangea. When the flowers didn't "pop" enough, I used a hint of gold glitter spray to give them some sparkle when the light hits the petals. *laughter* Now can you see why my friends are teasing me? I've never been the crafty one and here I am converting candle holders, flower arranging and buying glitter spray to enhance the flowers. ARGH! I need to cut off a couple inches of an opalescent candle that I bought to complete the arrangement and then it'll be done. Would you like me to post a picture when it is finished?

I also found an interesting template for our wedding program. It took a bit of time, but I managed to "tweak" the fonts, borders and type-face to suit us. The first draft is finished, but I need to get the ceremony details and all the musical selections finalized before I can proceed further. One piece at a time things are falling into place!