Planning for a Wedding

There's a wedding coming up in the family--my youngest daughter....it's pretty exciting.  It's been a crazy summer! She just finished her 2nd year of vet school and has had a life dream of going to Africa.   A LONG time ago, we were driving through LA and we were stuck in traffic listening to the radio and there came on the 'waves' a female doctor who just captured our attention.  She was an environmentalist way ahead of her time- an animal activist, an educator, a philanthropic woman whose message was this:  there is a causal relationship between man, animals, and the environment.  I won't go into the extent of her broadcast, but somewhere in the middle of it, the tears started to stream down my daughter's face.  "That is what I want to do with my life," she proclaimed.  Right then and there it was done.  She worked hard through high school, had a job, played in sports, was in the band, and graduated as valedictorian of her class.  Then she went on to college and received her BS, went on to receive her Masters of Public Health and is now starting her 3rd year of vet school in mid-August. 
That dream of going to Africa and learning about the animals there and how our ecosystem works was in her blood, and this year, she was accepted into the EnviroVet program, where for 8 weeks, veterinary students, doctors, and veterinarians work together to study the fragile and complicated world of this causal relationship.  Right now, she is in Tanzania.  Her wedding is September 2 and she comes home on Aug. 11, has to study for some capstone exams prior to the semester starting, then starts the semester....WOW, right?
Well, we got LOTS of the planning done prior to her leaving the US, but a lot of the 'creation' has taken place while she's away.  Her fianc'e is incredible; they've been together for over 4 years.  He and I have done so much this summer and now we're scurrying to get it all together prior to her coming home.  He calls it 'the reveal.'  The part when she walks in the door and sees all that we've done.  She'll either cry that we've done it all wrong, or hug us both and cry anyway in joy!

Prior to her future husband proposing, he came by the house to ask for her hand in marriage.  Of course, he had the ring with him.  That began the 'color theme' for the wedding.  They both liked chocolate brown and this color together, so the plans took off from there. The dinner is going to be catered; however, the dessert table is my job, along with centerpieces, and the details.  We're doing a large cupcake tower with a cake on top....I've been practicing cupcake recipes all summer, along with frosting recipes from cooked to buttercream, to whipped cream.... 

This is a batch I whipped up last week and sent them over to Chad for a tasting- he approved, but then popping the entire thing into his mouth doesn't count, does it?  

The bridesmaids will be wearing chocolate brown dresses.  Their nails will be done in a tiffany blue color called:  'for Audrey' named after Audrey Hepburn who appeared in Breakfast at Tiffany's....

The flower girls dresses are super cute---the organza is poofed at the bottom and filled with chocolate brown petals....

There's a butterfly 'theme' to the wedding as well, and the flower girls' 'glass slippers' have silver butterflies on them....The girls have already had a 'dress rehearsal' with official throwing of the petals in the yard!

The boutonnieres are simple and elegant and consist of natural and artificial flowers...dried stock and organza ribbon wrap with a pearl pin to fasten....the colors here aren't completely clear, but the brown and blue theme is carried out here in a subdued way.

Cupcakes will be wrapped after baking....some will have silver, some white, some tiffany blue...some with this laser cut butterfly wrap and topped with a personalized edible design with the bride and groom's name

Some of the cupcakes will have sugary butterflies on top!

We were able to find some tiffany blue sanding sugar...it's really pretty on top of the cupcakes and other treats...tastes good, too! 

Favors are chocolate brown boxes filled with organza bags of organic lavender so that guests can tuck them into a drawer at home and be reminded of the wedding a long time afterward.

Silver wedding plans were dipped in paint and Martha Stewart's tiffany blue glitter to be rung during the reception to encourage a sweet kiss from the bride and groom....

In keeping with the Bride and Groom's eco-friendly nature, plantable butterflies will be handed out and guests will be encouraged to soak the seed-embedded papers and plant to grow wild flowers where once may have only been weeds....what a lovely way to spread beauty in the world....don't you think?

So, there's a lot done but a lot left to do.  The cupcakes have to be baked and frosted and decorated at the last minute.  I've got to get a box of last minute 'fixer-uppers' to take along since the wedding venue is a bit of a ways from the house...scissors, band-aids, needle and thread....you know....

so for now, I hope you're having the time of your life in Africa Amanda....

Perseverance and hard work once again paid off....

We're all waiting for you to get home and walk down the aisle....I mean through the woods since it's an outdoor wedding....

Hope you like the DIY projects so for...let me know what you think!