Wedding of the Year!
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I’m finally getting around to sharing some photos of the wedding with you!
This will be a photo-heavy post… no faces except mine in the photos for privacy reasons, but I hope you still enjoy them!
Did I tell you I had to shorten the wedding dress? We couldn’t get a seamstress because we only got the dress right before Christmas, and DD was like – oh, it will be easy, you can do it, mum!! I wasn’t at all confident and did have a minor meltdown, but in the end I managed it… Isn’t it gorgeous?
My sister-in-law made the bouquet which matched the dress perfectly, even though she had made it before we got the dress!
The venue was a lovely Victorian hotel from the Gold Rush days, Craig’s Royal Hotel… they have a gorgeous staircase that is perfect for taking photos…
In fact, everywhere we took photos was beautiful!
Fun fact – in the foyer, there was a framed list of famous people who had stayed at the hotel, including Mark Twain in 1895!
Another fun fact – the hotel is said to be haunted by the original owner and by a little girl playing on one of the staircases…. we didn’t come across either thankfully!
Back to the wedding!
We had the ceremony in one room, and then the reception in another one down the hall, so it was easy to just go from one to the other without everyone having to get their cars and drive somewhere else…
My youngest son took the official photos… and DD had chosen two types of wedding favors for the guests – one from our hometown (Fairy Drops from Sovereign Hill):
and one from the groom’s state (Anvers chocolate):
DD had designed special name place “cards” for each of us:
Victorian puzzle purses… I had never heard of them before, but they were perfect for the wedding (you can read more about their history here)
We needed to unfold them to get to the thank-you message from the bride and groom:
You might recognize the drawing style from embroideries she designed for me many years ago.. she is an amazing artist!
The mother of the bride and the mother of the groom got a special gift:
DD had bought both of us a Villeroy & Bosch teacup and saucer, the exact same one that the hotel uses for their High Tea…
And High Tea is what we had for the reception…. such a delicious assortment of petit fours and some of the best scones I’ve ever had!
And of course, a quilt had to be involved…. DD decided to have a quilt guestbook – have you heard of them? I hadn’t until now….
I made a sample block, and DD wrote this on it:
Please sign our Quilt Guestbook. These squares will be sewn together to create a wedding quilt. Grab a square and write a message inside the marked box.
I had also cut out a heap of squares, with extras in case anyone messed up… Now I need to sew them up into blocks and make the quilt… I will share more on that when I get started!
All in all, it was a wonderful day… Our new DSIL is a wonderful, caring young man, and we are so happy to have him part of the family!
Thanks for letting me share this special day with you!
What a gorgeous dress! From what I can see she is a beautiful young lady. I love the little puzzle purses, what a special gift. Your teacup is beautiful – and so are you! The quilt will be such a keepsake. Thank you for sharing your special day!
Thank you!! I am looking forward to making the quilt! xx
awwww – huge congratulations to the bride and groom (and the parents too). It looks like an amazing place to have a wedding and all the special little touches that your daughter added made it even better. I’ve never heard of a quilt guestbook (but have seen signature quilts that were popular years ago) but what a great idea! Oh yes – and that dress is divine!!
The dress was like it was made for her! I’m going to have fun making the quilt… xx
Beautiful wedding! When my youngest son got married I did a quilt using batiks. It was the blocks were divided in half with a piece of tan fabric separating the batiks where guests signed. I also did a block that had large embroidered floral arrangements on it with their names and wedding date.
Thank you Angie! Oh the quilt you made sounds beautiful! Love the idea of the large block with their names and wedding date! xx
Congratulations! It sounds like a wonderful day. Wishing your daughter and her beau all the very best. Love the quilt idea too!
Thank you Raewyn! I’m looking forward to starting the quilt! xx
What a romantic, gorgeous wedding dress! It is straight out of a fairytale. Blessings to the couple for a long life together. I did a Guestbook quilt for my son & his wife, too, in their wedding colors. I hope you share the quilt when you get it done. The star motif will make a good size quilt.
Thank you! Yes, DD kept saying she felt like a princess ! I will be sharing my quilt progress with you all… xx
How wonderful! And I have altered wedding dresses and it isn’t a piece of cake-good for you! Love is an amazing motive! lol Beautiful food for the tea! Such a perfect day!
I had one moment of thinking I had ruined it… but thankfully I didn’t, lol!!! The high tea was so yummy! xx
Just stunning Joy, I love the dress and the high tea…. Beautiful Day out…. Congrats to DD and hubby
Hugz
Thanks Fiona, it was a perfect day! xx
Well, this looks like a lovely celebration! Congratulations are in order, especially for being able to hem the dress, that is a lot of hemming!!! Thanks for sharing a glimpse of the wedding in a beautiful victorian hotel!
Actually it wasn’t that bad, it was only the bottom layer at the front.. the rest was just cutting four layers of tule – but I was so worried about cutting it too short!! It really was such a beautiful day and venue! xx