Tag Archives: weddings

January 16, 2014 · 11:17 am

Honey lovers

I finally finished a wedding gift I dreamed up for my cousin Kelley and her husband Paul — almost six months after they tied the knot. You have a year to give a gift, right? Also, the ferns in her hair and the pearl-studded pins? So incredibly gorgeous.

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Theirs was the amazing Hood River wedding (read about our adventures that week here) and I knew I wanted to create something special for them. Kelley and Paul raise honeybees and love the outdoors, so I decided to make them a quilted table runner meant to look like their initials carved in a birch tree, with some honeycomb-style hexagons pieced and quilted on top.

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With a newborn, I haven’t had a ton of hands-free time. Joe gave me the girl-you’re-crazy look when I started this, but I was possessed by the idea.  I’m so happy it turned out like I envisioned!

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I freehanded most of it, but for the letters inside I printed a font I liked and copied it onto the fabric with disappearing ink that I stitched over. I also traced a heart design and then stitched over that. 

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The hexagons were all cut after being traced from a quilting template. Sewing hexagons together is kind of tricky!

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My heart is full of joy for this dynamic duo!

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August 19, 2013 · 8:46 am

Hood River Flower Power

On wedding eve, the women in our family traveled to an organic flower farm to assemble bouquets, boutineers and fresh-cut table flowers for my cousin’s ceremony and reception.

My cousin Kelley is a total earth goddess and this seemed like the perfect way for us to celebrate and prepare for the Big Day with her.

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Armed with some boxed wine, red solo cups, clippers and floral tape, we got to work.

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Wendy, the owner, even showed me how to prepare a real boutineers — something I attempted as an amateur for past fundraising events.

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DSC_0227Before long, the group had created cheerful Mason jar bouquets ready to grace the tables the following day.

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The wedding the next day was at Mt. Hood Organic Farms which is not only the most beautiful venue I’ve ever seen, but the prettiest one I could imagine. Emmett kept my hands full, so I didn’t get nearly as many photos as I would have otherwise taken, but here’s a family shot in the shadow of Mt. Hood. This was the view from our dinner table!

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Kelley grew up in Santa Barbara, California, but was always a free spirit whose sense of adventure I admired and emulated. She went to college at Notre Dame and I feel so lucky she lived close by during those years. I’m thrilled her husband is an outdoorsy Midwestern guy from Minneapolis; hopefully there will be a group Boundary Waters trip in the future!

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November 15, 2012 · 8:15 am

WWII wedding

I know you all love my Grandpa stories, and since it was just Veterans Day, I thought it would be sweet to post this.

R.E. Kelley — I’ll need to add my grandma’s photo from their wedding day to this post, too!

My mom found a newspaper clipping from a letter my grandpa wrote into the Santa Barbara newspaper (I think) about 10 years ago and typed it out because she thought it might be fun to share:

Our wedding day, March 2, 1946 was a day never to be forgotten. After receiving a telegram from the Navy ordering me back to the ship in two days instead of 10, I spent most of the evening at the reception trying to determine if these orders were official or my friend’s idea of a prank.
They were official. Alternate honeymoon plans were made. A luxury hotel on Chicago’s lakefront had a suite available (at $11.50 / night) However, what awaited us that evening was not the honeymoon suite, but a smoke-filled conference room with 100 chairs stacked against the wall. Room service was kind enough to deliver a bed and chest.
Wedding plans made hastily in three weeks are fuel for fond memories. At the rehearsal, the priest asked my bride-to-be and me separately who was going  to be the best man. I told him one name, she another, when in fact, a third person actually did the honors. We signed our marriage license not realizing it was dated incorrectly.
Regardless of this confusion, the wedding and marriage was a success as five children and 10 grandchildren will attest. My wife passed away 10 months prior to our 50th wedding anniversary, but she will always be with us.

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