Beautiful Wedding On A Budget

This will be a short-ish blog post, mostly because I'm "tooting the horns" of others without their knowledge. But since November is the month of "thanksgiving," I thought this would be a good opportunity to express my gratitude for having so many very talented friends. That blessing was really brought home to me over the last couple of weeks, when I helped out a little bit at a friend's wedding.

My friend's name is Sandy; she's a member of my LDS congregation, and she is "getting on in years a bit," as some might say. I don't know her exact age, but as I have gotten to know her, she seemed ageless to me. She has a beautiful smile and always has a twinkle in her eye. She works at a local quilt shop and is always quick to lend a hand of service to her friends & fellow church members. I sometimes think I'd like to make her my "adopted grandmother," but I've always been too shy to ask.

Long story short, Sandy lost her husband a few years ago after a lengthy period of illness. Then, just a year ago, a neighbor and friend of hers named Andy lost his own wife after a similar long period of illness. Sandy & Andy had lived on the same street for about 40 years. They'd raised both their families alongside each other. And now both of them were left without spouses. After several months of tentative dating & courtship, Andy asked Sandy for her hand in marriage. She accepted. The news of their engagement was terrific news in our congregation. We were so happy for the both of them!

I attended a wedding shower for Sandy a week before they were to be married. It was very different than most showers I'd been to before, but it was still awesome. Sandy herself was as giddy and blushing as any first-time bride; it was adorable (if my saying so doesn't sound too condescending). Sandy and Andy had wanted their wedding to be a small, low-key affair, but our bishop's wife Susan was determined to make it a memorable occasion, even on a tiny budget as it was.

Here's where my gratitude (and my respect) starts showing up. Susan was an interior design major in college, and she has a terrific eye for design and tasteful decor. I'm not sure if she was ever formally employed as an interior designer, but she clearly has tons of practical experience in that sort of thing. She is a regular helper at ward parties and other special events; she always opens up her gorgeous home to my piano students & their families for our winter recital. Susan is a miracle worker, in my opinion; she has an incredible gift to make even small, simple things appear beautiful and precious. Case in point; the wedding of Sandy & Andy.

 I did none of the planning for the wedding, but I did show up early to help set up chairs and a few other things. There is a small covered pavilion behind the old chapel in Sahuarita; normally, this area is used for family picnics and other informal gatherings. On this day, though, it was transformed into something beautiful...

 

 

 I helped hang up some of the white curtains and the floral garnishes on the wedding "frame." I also helped arrange some of the table centerpieces...

There were fresh rosemary branches stuck everywhere, so the whole pavilion smelled lovely...and so did my hands, after handling all the plants!

There was a lot of other talent on display as well; lots of ward members contributed food and drink to the reception afterwards. There were too many helpers to name individually, but the cake deserves special mention...

The cake was made by a former professional baker in our ward named MeShell. Every time I hear that she is bringing something she's made, I have to show up and try it out! The three layers were each a different flavor of cake: chocolate (which disappeared before I could try it); white with raspberry cream filling (superb); and carrot (which was shockingly fluffy and yet still packed with flavor. This was one of the best carrot cakes I've ever had).

The bride & groom with the cake

I participated in a couple of musical numbers just before the actual wedding ceremony. I accompanied two different groups on the piano. The first was a husband and wife (Jan and Nathan) singing "I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me." The second (trickier) number was a duet of two ladies (Jani and Jenn) singing "Love At Home," with another sister (Sue) providing a flute part. I'd been nervous about this number because we had never practiced it together until literally the night before the wedding. During that rehearsal, we kept changing parts of the song and making things up as we went. And yet, it all came together and sounded great!

Here's some more gratitude: I am constantly in awe at the musical talent in our ward. Not since living at BYU have I lived in a ward in which so many people are musically gifted. In some wards I've lived in, I was one of the only piano players available; in this Sahuarita ward, there are probably close to two dozen people who are skilled at playing the piano. It's very possible I'm not even in the top ten, skill-wise. We also have a handful of music teachers and several other current or former band members. We have multiple violinists & flutists, we have a trumpet player, and we have one sister who teaches drum lessons, plays in the Green Valley band, and regularly composes & arranges musical numbers on her own.

And of course, we have many many skilled singers, some with lots of formal voice training (Jenn, who sang "Love At Home," was in one of BYU's choral ensembles, which are very competitive. She usually sings without a microphone, as she doesn't need one). One of the great blessings of being choir director in our ward (a position I've had for a little over a year now) is that so many talented people show up, and they learn the music quickly and with little coaching. What's even more amazing is that I can name at least a half-dozen more people in the ward who have amazing, solo-quality singing voices, and yet never come to ward choir due to a variety of reasons. Our ward's musical bench is just that deep (to borrow a sports analogy). It is such a great blessing to make lovely music with so many talented, enthusiastic, passionate musicians.

So anyway, even though I was nervous about performing these musical numbers, I needn't have worried...both went off almost without a hitch. The only (small) mishap was that my sheet music was blowing around a bit as I played. I am not used to playing my instrument out of doors! But I had someone come to my aid quickly, so everything turned out well after that.

As for Sandy and Andy, they both looked happy throughout the whole service. It occurred to me as I watched the bishop read out the marriage vows (it was the first wedding he'd ever performed!), that I had never before attended an LDS wedding that wasn't inside the temple. While I love the sacredness of a temple wedding, this simpler service also filled me with joy. I could feel the love everyone had for Sandy & Andy, and the love they and their families had for one another. I loved the more jovial, energetic feeling that was present there. I loved that people clapped afterward, and that Frank Sinatra music was played afterwards.

Most of all, I loved seeing two people find happiness again after losing their significant other. It was a balm to my soul, after seeing my beautiful mother-in-law suffer the loss of her beloved husband last month. I'm not saying she needs to get married again soon (or even at all, if it comes to that!), but this wedding reminded me that time can heal our most painful wounds, and I hope she will be able to find happiness and meaning in her life again to help ease her hurt. It has been a sad month for our family, but seeing this wedding reminded me of many blessings in my life I sometimes take for granted. We are surrounded by loving, amazing people.