Gathering wedding stuff

I’ve felt so privileged to be able to divide my attention between my sweet hubby and my two daughters during these past few weeks. Sweet hubby is recovering at an amazing speed. DD#2 has just finished her first trimester, but she is still exhausted most of the time. In the midst of doctor appointments, we’ve also been starting to gather stuff for DD#1’s upcoming wedding. Sometime last week I mentioned that my 30 year old wedding dress was up in the attic of our old house where DD#2 lives with her husband. That motivated us to run over for a little visit and a treasure hunt.

It was so much fun digging through old memories. We found my old yearbooks and some photo albums, my swimming medals and some other childhood treasures. We even found a time capsule that was put together at DD#2’s “welcome to the world” party when she was a month old. It was supposed to have been given to her and opened on her 13th birthday. Oops… We brought it downstairs and sang “Happy Birthday” to her and enjoyed watching her explore the contents.

Among the boxes in the attic I found the garment bag that held my wedding dress for many years, but it was empty! Unfortunately, it was now time for us to leave, so we carried a few boxes downstairs so I could explore them at my leisure. DD#1 decided to look in one more corner of the attic. She saw a crushed box labeled “Kitchen / Empty Modular Mates.” You have to understand that Modular Mates are my favorite line of Tupperware, so she knew I’d want more. She peaked inside. Lo and behold, inside the uncovered box in an unceremonious heap was the wedding dress!

Once we were back home, DD#1 decided she just had to try the dress on. I’m thrilled that despite the neglect and abuse, it was unstained and still intact. I was also amazed that with just a few alterations, it would fit her perfectly! After trying on a few dresses at David’s Bridal a couple days later and a long discussion, she decided that she is “98% sure” that she wants to modify my dress and wear it at her wedding. Sounds like a fun project! I actually designed and sewed that dress when I was just 19, so it should be fun working on it again.

Since DD#1 wants a vintage, tea party feeling for her wedding and reception, a thrift store is the perfect place to pick up special decorative items. Today, I was inspired to stop by one of our favorite thrift stores, a Goodwill Outlet that is very close to home. This is where all the stuff that didn’t sell at the regular Goodwill stores goes for one last chance. They load everything in big bins. You dig through them to find your treasures, and everything is sold by the pound. Today was my day! I picked up several random items as I rummaged, and on the last row I started finding hoards of little cut glass punch cups. Look at all that I got for just $9!

Final count:

• 2 plates
• 4 bowls
• 5 stemmed glasses
• 4 vases
• 4 candle holders
• 15 votive holders
• 40 (yes, 40!) punch cups

All for just $9! I could have gotten so much more, but I was being choosy and just picking out things that had some special feature like cut glass or swirls or etching. (And I haven’t even told you about all the lace tablecloths and lace curtains I’ve been snatching.) Now we can sit back and imagine all the ways we could use them at the reception. I love daydreaming about weddings.