Wedding Invitational

When our middle daughter (Joy) married the man of her dreams in 2008, we had one full year to plan.  We subjected every single detail to great scrutiny!

And when she finally walked down the aisle thirteen months after John's proposal, we knew this wedding would fulfill almost all their combined dreams.  Such a beautiful afternoon ceremony and celebration.  A lovely time was had by all!

When our third daughter (Meagan) married her beloved in 2011, we had only five short months from proposal to ceremony.  Yes, I'm completely serious!

Fortunately, Nathan comes from a small family.  Meagan had suspected a proposal for several months.

Once the ring appeared, planning kicked into high gear.  That morning in July, Meagan walked down the aisle to a song she and Becky (Nathan's mom) had co-written and recorded.  Every desired detail in place.  A lovely time was had by all!

Now, it's Kristin's turn.

First child.  Last to marry.  Thirty-one years of dreaming; planning; hoping; praying.

Cody proposed on Easter Sunday.   Kristin tried on her first bridal gown the following Tuesday.

It took a couple of weeks to choose the date; October 24th.  (Yes, a Friday.  Kristin wanted everyone to "recover" before church on Sunday.)

We were all pleasantly surprised by the proposal. But that meant no foundation of prior planning.  Consequently, not one spare moment has been wasted, I assure you.

After a dress, a date, and a venue, the invitations became priority #1.

Cody is a graphic designer.  So naturally, he designed their wedding invitations.  After several different drafts, they settled on a creative lay out that reflects them both.

Of course, it involves pictures.  (Kristin has served as the family historian for years. Since Noah's birth, Meagan has discovered that she too has a great eye for photography.)  And words.  Cody is all about words!

Such joy as we sat surrounded by the envelopes, invitations, RSVP cards, stamps, etc.  We laughed and organized and checked and re-checked lists and stuffed and stamped.  At 9:00 PM last night we were finally finished.

Time to seal the envelopes and drive to the post office.  Victory was in sight!

Imagine our shock and horror as we dampened the first envelope and discovered that it would only partially seal.  The next one bubbled!  The third one refused to stay closed at all!!

W.H.A.T.???!!!!

Yep!  Of all the hundreds of thousands of heavy linen envelopes produced by the paper company used by our long-time printer, our two hundred envelopes have a faulty glue! 

The very envelopes that are already addressed to places as far away as Venezuela, England and the Philippines. Two hundred fully prepared envelopes that bear specially purchased "wedding" stamps.

I placed a call to our printer first thing this morning.  She's a friend who has done a lot of work for our church.  Lisa quickly offered to provide more envelopes free of charge.

That's the only time I raised my voice.  "Oh mercy, no!"

I regained my composure quickly.  "These are all stuffed, addressed and stamped.  They're completely ready for the post office.  I'm just calling so you can contact the supplier before we bring them in.  Hopefully, they will have a solution for us that involves a sealant nicer than Elmer's school glue." 

I offered a nervous chuckle to smooth the tension we both sensed.

As soon as I finish this post, Kristin and I will head to the printer's shop.  Please join us in crossing fingers.  Otherwise, the postal delivery people will be struggling with sticky fingers for days to come!

It's a road bump we didn't anticipate.  But we hope to have these beautiful bits of graphic artistry in the U.S. mail no later than 5 PM today!

Whew!  Stayed tuned as we Embrace the Grace for another fabulous wedding.  We anticipate that the report will again be, "A lovely time was had by all!"