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!

Registry Information

We've registered at three places.

View and shop our wish lists by clicking on the linked names below:

JCPenney

Pampered Chef

Target (click on giftregistries and under "club wedd" enter either the bride's name-- Debra Kakuk-- or the groom's name--Edward Smith)

Trip the light fantastic

Ed and I had our first ballroom dance class this week. It was a good time, filled with a lot of laughter and smiles. We’re both relieved to report that all 20 of our toes are bruise free…we managed to not step on one another even once! Huzzah! We’re going to continue taking private and group lessons at the Dance Time Studio in the coming months. They also offer social dance nights, so we’re looking forward to becoming better partners for one another.

On that theme, we’ve begun to draft our “play lists” for the reception and this weekend we’ll focus on picking out “our first dance song." Do you have a particular song (or songs) that you'd like to dance to at our reception? Suggestions are most welcome (but I warn you, the “chicken dance” is OUT right along with the “Macarena!”). "Cha-cha Slide" or "Time Warp" anyone?! *grin*

Update on our wedding planning

A week ago I bought the pattern for Ed's vest as well as the cream, flower-patterned brocade that Mary will use in the inset of my dress. I must admit that, every now and again, I find myself opening up the bag to have a peak at it and imagine how lovely it will look in the finished dress. *smile* Sometime in July we'll purchase the royal blue velvet. Our latest topic for discussion is what type of fabric and trim we should use for my hooded cape. Mary and I have been enjoying ourselves coming up with a variety of dramatic options!

Mom emailed to say that she has picked up our invitations from the printer in Michigan. She assures me that we're going to love them, and I am eagerly awaiting the day when we'll be able to see them for ourselves. We'll probably pick them up when we head to the UP for my family reunion in July. Invitations will go out sometime in August.

I've continued to pick up other wedding odds and ends. When I get a chance, I'll try to take some pictures so that I can post some of the things for your viewing pleasure.

Reflections on Wedding Weekends

Rebecca and Richard's wedding was lovely. They looked so happy on their special day. It was great to meet so many of Ed's family and to see him enjoying himself with those that he loves. Here are a few pics:

Rebecca and Richard dancing together

Ed and I outside the Church

Everyone enjoyed teasing us about our coordinating outfits! The next weekend, in New York, we didn't match, although if you look closely, you can see that my handsome Edward's clothing coordinated well with Aaron and Becky's blue and black wedding color scheme! *wink and a chuckle*

Here we are in Central Park just before the wedding.

Aaron and Becky looked awesome and the ceremony was beautiful. It was a delight to be with my friends again and to attend their wedding. It sounds like they'll be able to make our wedding in November--HURRAY!

We also had the pleasure of staying with Ed's Aunt and Uncle (Jean and Stewart) as well as getting some quality visit time with their son, Russell. Our thanks to everyone for making our trip fantastic!