Days 15, 16 & 17: A Bride, A Groom and A Stanky Leg

Well hello again.

I know that I have been missing in action, but I assure you that this post shall prove that I have indeed been in constant action. I am giving myself Days 15 and 16 for wedding stuff (which you will see below was way more than two days work... so I am not really taking an out on this one I promise!)  Here are some pictures of all the work that I was claiming to have done, of which I can finally provide evidence! 

The total was somewhere around 55 pieces completed for the festivities. Including...

Hairpieces for 8 bridesmaids and 5 flower girls. Boutonnieres and bow ties for 7 groomsmen, 2 dads and 7 ring bearers. (Yes, you read that right... there were more children IN the wedding, than there were guests AT the wedding.) ;)

Snazzing up my dress, and the girls' dresses, as well as some alterations...

London the (bossy) fashionista requested a vintage hat/blusher veil! 

Wrist corsages for 2 moms and a grandma.

Headpiece for the bride (which included a bit of vintage lace from her mom's veil)

And the piece that took the most time (over 60 hours to be precise!) was made from those same tiny bits of lace that edged along my mother-in-law's veil. I sewed together the lace trim into one large piece to create a new back to Carlie's dress. My sister-in-law, Shannon, and I spent countless hours working and re-working the piece to make it perfect. She is a very talented seamstress and was able to attach the lack back to the dress. We created lace cap-sleeves that connect the back to the front. It was basically Carlie's dream dress that we custom built by repurposing her mom's bridal veil. If you aren't impressed with us at this point, then I can't help you.

This is the lace, about 60 hours in, all sewn together from pieces of lace trim about the size of my thumb.

Then attached to the dress.

Carlie's first fitting! As you can see, she was ecstatic...

Apart from those things, I did Carlie's hair and makeup and hosted the pre-wedding photos at my house. (This may not be that big of a deal, but we only moved like 3 weeks ago, so it was no small feat to get the house host-ready!) 

But is was all worth it for the big day!!

Congratulations Calum and Carlie Shaw!!

Day 17, I wrote thank you notes to Calum's family for coming all the way to New York from Scotland, and for hosting the rehearsal dinner. They were wonderful people, and we enjoyed them so much that this was literally the least we could do.

I also offered to babysit for two little girls whose brother was in the hospital... but their super aunt stepped in to save the day, so instead we got the joy of having them all over to our house for dinner and a lot of excessive screaming-while-playing.

Day 17 is always special to me because 17 is an ongoing theme... Adam only lived 17 years, and that happened to also be his jersey number, and mine and my siblings', etc. This post is mostly about having spent the past few months preparing for my husband's sister to get married. Tom and Carlie have almost the exact same age difference as Adam and I. As hectic as my life has been in preparation for Carlie's special day, I couldn't imagine not doing this for her. Of course, I adore her and she is also my little sister, but more than that, I know what it is like to lose a sibling, and I would give anything to have worked my fanny off for Adam's wedding. When every part of me knew that the rational thing would be to say "no," I cannot imagine looking back and regretting doing for Tom's little sister what I believe Adam would have done for me.

I hope you all don't feel abandoned during the past few days of insanity. I hope you know that I have felt lifted up and encouraged and inspired by all of the #AdamsActs that have spread (lilterally) around the world. I hope to part by inspiring you with a couple ridiculous videos of our family shenanigans.

And since poor Jay did all the work of rehearsing this dance with us, but lost his head at the reception and was banished to bedtime... I also want to feature a little taste of what he would have brought to the table. Enjoy the unnecessarily high falsetto.