When I last blogged (way back in April!), I was getting ready to go to California for my brother's wedding. There's no way I can catch up all of the past couple months in one post (plus: boring) but I just have to share some happy-making pictures from the weekend here as I jump back into blogging.
Aw, it was a good time, guys. My brother, Michael, and his awesome wife (!!) Julie had such a beautiful and fun ceremony and party, with lots of happy family and friends celebrating. From the rehearsal and meal after at a beautiful winery, to Mike & Julie's exit at the end of the reception, it was such a fantastic weekend celebrating the couple.
Michael, Julie, and mom arriving at the rehearsal dinner.
Cousins!
Me and mom.
Mom and Michael, dancing.
Jacob!
Me and dad.
The ceremony was held in the Santa Cruz mountains in a grove of redwoods by a lake. I spent the whole time crying and smiling - no surprise there, as I'm a sap. The reception, held in a giant barn-type building, was incredibly fun - good food, good music, family and friends, lots of dancing (I love weddings where people really get busy on the dance floor!) and of course, some gnomeslaying.
I mean, all weddings should have Thor hammers, assorted giant toy weaponry, and a statue of an enormous lion with a saddle. So much fun. The big fake weapons were purchased by the groomsmen the morning of the wedding, after we'd spent time goofing around on the lion statue before the rehearsal the previous day. I don't even remember how these shenanigans came to be called "gnomeslaying" but we definitely ran with it.
Flower girl shrug.
The crafts I contributed were well-received - yay! (And phew!) I wish I'd taken pictures of all the handmade touches at the reception: from the centerpieces that Julie made, to the favors for which my brother Brian sliced up discs from the branch of a fallen redwood, there was lots of DIY love... but I was busy celebrating!
Julie's party shrug!
The sweetie-pie flower girl, all dressed up and ready!
I made two shrugs for the reception: one for Julie, and a matching one for her adorable flower girl. They were both variations of the Lace Wedding Shrug pattern. I used a different lace stitch, but it was very easy to use those instructions for a different stitch pattern and gauge. When the flower girl first tried hers on, she said she didn't want to take it off, and I did a mental fist pump. Both shrugs are knit from Quince & Co Chickadee in the Frank's Plum colorway, which was a great match for the bridesmaids' dresses! (The dresses were in the plum color from David's Bridal, for any crafters hoping to find yarn to match dresses in that shade.)
The collage of Julie and Michael's childhood photos turned out well and was so fun to make! Julie's mom bought a great big frame for the photos, and to go with the woodland theme, I backed the frame in a faux-bois wrapping paper I found at Paper Source. I bought some foam letter stickers in white at Michael's (thank you, scrapbooking section), and painted them a deep plum before spelling out their names. I double-mounted each picture (and their names) on a shimmery cream and then plum scrapbooking paper before the trip, and then assembled the collage at my mom's house.
Hooray for Michael and Julie! I'm so happy for my brother, and feel so blessed to have gained such a fantastic sister-in-law. It was wonderful to be a part of their special day!
