The Wedding
Finally, finally, my gag order has been lifted –now that I am too busy to share details properly! 
My dear Amanda’s sweet fiance Ben arrived yesterday evening from college. They’ve been engaged since Christmas, and are getting married this Saturday. THIS Saturday! Valentines Day! Less than 48 hours from now!
The Owlhaven is a blur of activity. Today I spent all day decorating at the church (pictures coming!) Part way through the day, mobs of lovely roses came from Costco, and are now waiting in refrigerators for tomorrow morning when we will put together bouquets and boutonnieres and other hopefully lovely creations. We are rank novices at this, but really, how wrong can you go with roses?
I have been enjoying the preparations and the sight of the two of them so happy together and will share more with you very soon!
WOW!! Congrats to Amanda and Ben!!
I highly support short engagements. We were engaged only 3 months. That was long enough!
Also . . . WOW . . . congrats to you for helping them be able to pull off what I am sure will be a beautiful wedding in just a short, short time!!
Exciting
A few rose tips. You can dethorn them by holding a towel around the stem and pulling it over them or you can pull the stems through a wire potato masher, the type with the steel looping back and forth, not a grid.
Anytime you take them out of water you need to re cut the stems.
If you are arranging them in oasis, picture a marble at the center and point all the stems at that marble.
If you are arranging them in a vase, start with two with their stems crossed in an X and then add another X at right angles, keep filling in with X’s at different heights after that.
Let your oasis sink into the water on its own, it you shove it into the water to wet it, it doesn’t draw the water in properly and the center could be dry and your flowers end up wilting.
Relax, no one really remembers the flowers after a wedding, I carried a huge tulle bow myself and the table arrangements were also tulle bows.
Wow, is right! How exciting that you’ve been able to get everything together with such rapid fire speed. I am thrilled for all of you. Can’t wait to see pictures!!
I was assuming a summer wedding and wondering why things were so hectic and so all-wedding-all-the-time already! Now all is clear. Tell them a big congratulations from a long-term reader of yours, and best wishes for a long and happy life together. They seem to be starting out right. Things bode well.
Congratulations! Have a blessed day!
I hope the day exceeds both of your expectations!
May He be felt in the whole thing.
I love weddings!! I can’t wait to see all the beautiful details…and what are you wearing MOB!?
holy moly! that is awesome, though, and so great you guys are supportive-i know my praents would have freaked out if i had said that we’d be engaged 2 months but boy, i would have LOVED it! we waited 6 long months of TORTURE!!!! congrats to adding a new owl to the haven!!!
I think when you’ve known someone so long you just can’t wait to start your life together. A long engagement makes things so hard. My husband and I dated for 6.5 years through high school and college and were engaged a mere 9 weeks. I would not have changed a thing =) God was so gracious in those few weeks that our big day was perfect. We had all the amenities with less stress than my friends who planned their weddings for a year.
That is a short engagement! No wonder you have been so frazzled with wedding planning!
I agree….wow! Congratulations to the happy couple–I’m sure it will be quite lovely, and we all look forward to pictures and reflections on the sweetness of the day!
Yay! What an exciting couple of days! Make sure to slow down during the wedding and reception and really take it all in. It goes so fast… cherish the big and small moments. Suggest that Amanda do the same!
Congrats MOB!!! We’ll be thinking of you tomorrow!
I hope it goes perfectly, can’t wait to see pictures.
Such a lovely day for a wedding! Don’t forget some tissues, waterproof eye makeup and to cherish every single moment!
Tomorrow?! I love it. Short engagements make so much sense:) I hope it is a beautiful day for you all. I know she feels blessed to have such a wonderful, supportive, wise mama…and that is one thing that will never change. Jenny
Mazel Tov!
How exciting!! Will send lots of extra prayers and blessings for smooth sailing for Amanda’s big day!
Wow! and Wonderful!!! How amazing and sweet! Many blessing and prayers that the day goes well!
Wow, I had no idea it was so soon! I’m sure it will go fabulously! Congrats to them!
Holy moly, that was fast! What a good idea, though…we were engaged for 8 months, and it was miserable. I just wanted to get married already!
I’ll be thinking of your family tomorrow, and will send you positive energy and good thoughts from Washington DC.
Oh my goodness! Less than two months to plan the entire wedding!!! I can’t wait to hear more details, see pictures and find out how you pulled it off. Have a wonderful and blessed day tomorrow…what a special time in all of your lives!
This is wonderful news! I was hoping it was going to be soon based on all the wedding preparation posts, lately!! I can’t wait to read all about it. Congratulations!
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Saw your very kind piece on the big family website about the Octuplette mom. It was one of the best I’ve read out there. Congrats on the upcoming wedding. Many blessings. You have a great and strong heart to have been so open to others. I’m impressed and pleased to have met you just today via your words.
Enjoy the day. I’m sure it’ll fly by for you as it will your daughter. Blessings on such a special and memorable day.
I think it is wonderful that they will be able to enjoy married bliss so soon. They will be so happy to be husband and wife! Congratulations to your entire family.
I am appreciating all of the comments about supporting a short engagement. I am glad we gave them the freedom to plan regardless of where in the world we (parents of the groom) had to be a the time (Taiwan). It seemed right then and it seems right now. Not easy for me, but right. I expect I am looking forward to pictures more than anyone, though!
That was indeed a quick engagement. You seem to have handled things pretty well. I can’t wait to see pics, or hear about the wedding. What a memorable Valentines Day this is going to be.
I hope that you all enjoy tomorrow. Congratulations and many blessings!
So exciting!!! Congratulations!
I hope and pray that all will be as perfect and as real as can be for the happy couple.
Congrats to everyone! What a beautiful day you’ll have!
Congratulations!!!!
Oh how wonderfully exciting!! Enjoy and cherish each moment of such a special day!
How exciting! My husband and I got engaged on Christmas Eve and were married the following May. Short engagements are wonderful, lol. Praying that everything falls into place and they are blessed with a day full of beautiful memores.
How did I miss that they chose Valentine’s Day? Prayers for a fabulous day and a blessed marriage.
Wow–I too was thinking a summer wedding was in the works. Happy wedding day!
This Saturday! That’s today! Where will Amanda be after the wedding? How far away is Ben’s college? How often will they be back?
Congratulations by the way, I am excited for you and your family of course. But wow, I didn’t expect it so soon. Congratulations, again.
It’s HERE!!!!! I pray today is the best and that they are blessed. I suspect you will bawl your eyes out … LOL
God love you all. What a great day in the O-Haven!
I’ve been thinking about you and your family all day. Hoping today was every bit as wonderful and perfect as planned. This is a big day for a mother — a day when her eldest child becomes a lifetime partner to another. But as one who has a beautiful marriage, how thrilling to know all the good things that are in store. How comforting it must be to know you have a son-in-law who will be a true partner to your child. I can’t imagine a bigger step to witness a child taking. Congratulations to your dear daughter….and to you, Mary. Godspeed!
Congratulations! Reading about your daughter sure brought back memories as we were married 28 years ago today – it was the first Saturday in Reading Week. I had only just turned 22 (only one year older than your daughter) and although I was in second year university and my husband in fourth year we both were married students for many, many years. I ended up with a Masters degree and my husband with a PhD. We also planned our wedding starting at Christmas time and it all went well. We went out today to celebrate our anniversary and I thought of your daughter years down the road doing the same thing. I have to say that getting married on Valentine’s day means that it is easy for my husband to remember our anniversary and in fact the whole world is all mushy on our anniversary.
Congrats, again.
Oh. my. I hope all went well! If they ended up married then it did!
[...] busy by itself. This week has been particularly crazy because family has been in town for my niece’s wedding. Hopefully these next few weeks will be a bit more calm so that I can slowly whittle down that [...]
What???? Where have I been? It seems like it was only yesterday that they got engaged.
Off to catch up and see the bride!!!!!
Congratulations
Congrats to last years ceremonies and this years comming first anniversary. Feb 14th will mark my second wedding anniversary! Red and white roses made our perfect day.