This was a very full day. Very full of driving. About eight hours’ worth, for a two-hour event. And it was worth every mile in bumper-to-bumper Friday afternoon South Bay commuter traffic at 10 m.p.h., and the stiff neck and shoulders I earned by stressing over said traffic!
It was also very full of happiness. If you read yesterday’s post (“I love weddings”), you know that we drove to Palo Alto to watch two very delightful young people get married. I knew it would be very special, because I knew all the players. I also knew that it would be uniquely staged and accessorized, with the bride and her ladies all carrying flowers knitted by the mother of the groom, accented with vintage buttons.
What I didn’t know was that those same vintage buttons would appear everywhere…from the bride’s necklace to the photographs of the wedding couple on each table to the bow at the back of the bride’s gown. And it was those three little red buttons on the bow on the back of her gown that totally did me in.
For you see, when the wedding was being planned the groom’s mother called, reminded me how much the bride loved vintage buttons, and asked whether I would like to share any of Mom’s buttons with her. I spent an evening happily going through box after box of buttons from her collection, picking out ones I thought might work, and adding little notes about some of them. Then I shipped them off to the bride.
Before the ceremony I admired the bouquets, and was tickled that the buttons were being enjoyed. But after the groomsmen and bridesmaids were in place, and the flower girl had skipped down the aisle with her basket of autumn leaves, the exquisite bride came in on her beaming father’s arm. And when she walked past me and I saw those three little red buttons on her bow, matching her adorable red shoes, it was though Mom hugged me from Heaven and gave all of us her blessing. And that’s when the tears started.
Did I mention that I love weddings?