Here Comes the Bride!

The Wedding Day - Part One

Can you Believe, Dear Readers, the BIG DAY is Finally here?
I, for one, am very nervous! Will it all go smoothly? Will everyone arrive on time? Will everyone Behave themselves? The answers, of course, we cannot know until all is said and done.... so we had best just get started! The Bride has spent her day in preparation... it is a complicated business looking exactly Right for your Wedding Day... and Pollyanna has tried hard to relax. Daphne and Sally May are at the Lovely Old Dollhouse helping her get ready, but Sally May has spent most of her time keeping Annabelle out of mischief... so Daphne has helped Pollyanna with her gown.....

Knock knock! Are you almost ready?

Can we come in for a glimpse of the gown.......?

The Photographer has arrived and is waiting to take pictures of the Bride....

He thinks the Chinoiserie bedroom is a Perfect setting....

Don't you agree?

"Move a little closer to the hearth..... that's it...!"

"Gorgeous!"

And more pictures in the Parlor of the Lovely Old Dollhouse......

To capture forever the Beauty of this Bride on her Wedding Day.....

And show the Details of her Fabulous Hand-made Gown.....

And her Sparkling Veil... which only Rivals the Beauty of her eyes.....

Are We Ready now?

We better Hurry or we will be late!

Most of the Guests have already arrived at the Chapel in the Castle Dollhouse....
Harold is the last to arrive because he did not want to upset Celeste....
(They have not seen each other since Arthur was a young child
and no-one knows how Celeste will behave..... Least of all Harold!)

He spots her at once... she is the Candle to which he is always drawn......

There are only two empty seats in the Chapel...

One for the Father of the Bride beside Joanna,
and one beside Celeste..... for the Father of the Groom....
Harold strides purposefully to the seat beside Celeste!

But perhaps he is not as calm as he looked.......

At least not after Celeste leaned over and gave him a Big Kiss that knocked his glasses off!

(Oh, you didn't see that ...? It was a bit of a Surprise!)

But now all eyes are focused on the doors...
Waiting for the Bride to arrive.....

Arthur has a clear view all through the Great Hall.....

Do you think he is just a Little Anxious...?

But at LAST they have arrived at the Castle.....

Is it Time for the Procession to Begin?

Annabelle goes first......

Followed by Sally May to keep her company in case she gets nervous.....

And then Daphne as the Maid of Honor.......

And Finally .......

"Are you ready, my dear?" asks Victor.......

"Very ready!" says Pollyanna.....

And they join the procession across the Great Hall......

(There really is NO Aisle in this Tiny chapel...

which causes all kinds of Logistical Issues....!)

Sally May and Annabelle arrive at the Chapel door......

And cross to stand opposite the door......

Followed quickly by Daphne.....

All eyes are on the door...

waiting for the Bride.....

The Photographer can't resist a picture of her glittering veil......

As she crosses the Great Hall toward her Waiting Groom......

Their Eyes meet as she approaches...

Arthur cannot take his eyes off her.....

At Last they stand together before the Preacher,

who speaks those familiar lines.....

"Dearly Beloved, We are gathered together......"

The Chapel is packed... not an empty seat to be had.....

And all are absorbed in the words of the Wedding Ritual.....
(Which some of you may know better than others, but which I shall abbreviate here.....)

"Do you, Arthur, take Pollyanna to be your wedded wife......"

"I do!" says Arthur with gusto!

"Do you, Pollyanna, take Arthur to be your wedded Husband...."

"I Do!" says Pollyanna with a smile....

".........Therefore I Pronounce you Man and Wife!" says the Preacher.

"You may now kiss the Bride...."

And Arthur leans toward Pollyanna to seal their vows with a Kiss.......

And Closer.....

There!

AAAAWWW. that was Sweet... says the assembled multitudes......

And they turn as Man and Wife to exit the Chapel.....

But they have eyes for only each other...

Filled with the wordless promises of what will come in their Future Life together....

And take their First Walk as Man and Wife.....out into the World......

Well, into the Castle Great Hall where the Photographer is waiting.....

They must have their Photographs taken before they can move on to the Reception.....

And with the rest of the Bridal Party.....

While they are absorbed in the complicated process of getting all the Right photographs taken..... the caterers will be setting up for the Reception.... So don't go too far!

Coming Soon... the Reception!
Here Comes The Bride!

Getting To The Preacher

Still MORE Sewing Clothes!

Dear Readers, I can't believe how Patient you all are with me while I try to outfit Almost EVERY doll I have for this Wedding! It is (obviously) taking me MUCH more time than I really ever imagined it would! But really, once all the Wedding Party are in Fancy clothes... it is too shabby to make all the guests come in their everyday outfits! And you really CAN'T have a Wedding without any guests! So I have continued to sew more outfits for all the little people! As you can see, Harold's suit coat is now finished. I think it makes him look rather Distinguished!

(I wonder WHAT Celeste will think when she sees him after so many years...?)

Now that he is ready he has gone off to The Folly to wait with the rest of the Gentlemen of the Wedding Party.....

Don't they all look Dashing in their Tuxedos?

(Do you think Arthur is getting a bit Nervous with all this Waiting?)

I am sorry it is taking SO LONG to get everybody ready....

but I realized that I didn't want all the Children to be left out....

and they Couldn't come in their grubby clothes!

So I started with the youngest ... this is Jasper...

The Aileens' youngest child. He got a new shirt.

And a vest... but I decided not to try a jacket for one his size!

He looks dressed enough without a whole suit....

After all.... his Daddy is sort of casual in just a blazer......

(Not Everybody has a tuxedo!)

Here is their whole family... already heading to the Castle!

And the daughter, Amber, is dressed in a green velveteen dress with gold tulle overdress.....

She feels like a Princess!

And here we have Fleur's family...

her husband Daniel and their daughter Juliet.....

I had to make Daniel some dressier pants to go with his jacket....

but he is also on the Casual side....

(Because I couldn't stand to make any more dress shirts and jackets!)

But Fleur is looking Gorgeous in a long patterned chiffon Wrap ensemble....

The pattern is large and vaguely Oriental, with gold and black figures........

And Juliet has the beginnings of her Princess Gown....
in a figured Gold Tissue.....

Paired with a Pink velveteen bodice and Pink satin sash....

(She is a Pink Girl!)

Here you can see her sash...

it is very long and wide in the back.......

And with better lighting......

She DOES feel like a Princess!

And then we must NOT Forget Cousin Kitty!

SHE is Not a Princess at all!!!

But she needed a fancy gown...
that might or might not conceal one or two of her cats.....
because she cannot leave them behind!

She got a rather Medieval style gown in a cut blue velvet....

that could be mistaken for a ratty old Bathrobe on a good day......
(that makes her look a little more like a Witch than a Princess.....!)

And WHO is that hiding in her collar?

Are we going to allow cats at the Wedding...?

But before we get TOO carried away in the Family Drama.....

we have to line up a Preacher for the Wedding Ceremony!
After a great deal of Searching to No Avail for a Ready Made Man of the cloth...
we had to settle on the Old Reverend Dr. Goodenough......

Who was willing to don the vestments of the Church .....

And even let me add the decoration to the Stola

using ready-made ribbon rather than hand embroidery......

I think he is looking rather pleased with the transformation.....

And he is More than Happy to conduct the Marriage Ceremony.......

As soon as he finds his Book of Sermons.......
Are we Almost Ready....?

Getting to the Preacher!

Flowers!

And CAKE.... and More Suits.....

The Crocus are starting to bloom in my RL Garden! This, Dear Readers, is ASTONISHINGLY Early! We normally still have snow on the ground for several more weeks! But it is very warm this week... and the first flowers, tiny little BRAVE blossoms are opening to the sunshine and calling to the bees! Spring is Early, it seems! (I THOUGHT this was going to be a Winter Wedding!) But these tiny little blossoms have reminded me that I have ANOTHER Big task to accomplish before the Wedding is Ready to commence..... The FLOWERS!!!!

But BEFORE I get to the flowers, let me reassure you that there Will be Refreshments too! The Caterers are Preparing the Cake..... and here I will give you a Sneak Preview..... it is not finished.... so you might not even recognize it when they are done decorating it!

Ah, this is a slightly better view!

(Observant people will recognize this as a Dollar Store Wedding Favor! :))

And IF you were wondering if I had Finished all the suits yet.......

I'm getting closer... but not done....

Chip has his Tuxedo.....
But without a complete shirt..... only a Dickie (False shirtfront)

But I made the jacket just like Arthur's.....

Sleeves first....

Then the rest..... even buttons!

I think it was a little bit quicker this time around......

but still took HOURS!

And Harold is getting a False shirtfront too.......

I still have to make his jacket......

All I can say is there better not be any more Male guests needing jackets!

(Sorry to keep you waiting, Harold!)

But I MUST get started on the Flowers!!!!

I started with a selection of Ribbon Roses..... bought for decorating wedding favors.
I glued stems to some and then trimmed off most of the green ribbon "leaves" which didn't look enough like leaves in my opinion!

Bunched together with some other tiny white clustered "blossoms" ....

I bought a bunch of plastic flowers that had tiny blossoms that might be the right size.....

And some antique velveteen "leaves" and some plastic "Ferns".......

Can you tell that I don't know WHAT I am doing??????

I Don't have any flower making skills... nor any kits... nor TIME......
So we will just Have to make do with these Not-to-scale blossoms!

That was when I realized I really should just Hire a Pro!

And so I went down to "Fleur's."

She assures me she does weddings all the time!

She has a lovely little shop tucked into the corner of an old Warehouse......

She gets the freshest blossoms.....

In all the most Beautiful colors.......

And she knows ALL the Bouquet styles and the methods to assemble them!

She was Thrilled to take on the Job!!!

Even at the Last minute!

I will leave her to her work.....

She has Wonderful ideas!

I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

I LOVE Flowers!