10/13/08

Shotgun Wedding!

Okay - visualize this with me, girls - it's Thursday night, 10:30 p.m., I'm getting ready to go to bed when I get a phone call from my girl Denise (she is our Relief Society President). She asked if it's possible to put together a wedding by Saturday for a couple in our ward (church). (that's 1 1/2 days, folks) She let me know that they don't have any money, it can be something very simple, but something to make the day special. The reason for the haste: The groom, fresh from Marine Corps boot camp, is shipping out on Tuesday for some more military training, so the poor couple wanted to get married before he left in order for her to join him when he's done.

Now this is where most people would panic but I got a surge of electricity through me because this could be FUN! I told Denise that it is ABSOLUTELY possible and this bride better like Fall colors because that's what she's getting! Naturally, I enlisted my girl Kadie and the three of us set to work on making a game plan. Also, there weren't going to be very many in attendance, so that also made this party quite easy.

Here's what we came up with in a couple of hours on Friday:

Food:
Dinner In a Pumpkin (SO good - you have to try this before Fall is over!)
Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars
Chocolate Eclair Dessert
Fruit Trays
Sparkling Cider
French Bread
(Thanks, Jen, for assigning everything out - and thanks ladies, wherever you are, for making, baking, and shaking for us!)

Decor:
Fall, Fall, Fall
Pumpkins
White lights
Dim lighting with lamps
Platters, cake stands, ANYTHING
Whatever we have at home - and between Kadie and I, we stripped our homes of every piece of decor and made the place quite cozy!

(honestly, people, we had to turn a seriously ugly room into something sort of pretty...big task but manageable...)


So here's our ugly gym - and all of our junk.


















Hard workin' ladies - Kadie and Denise









More junk...








Our centerpiece: Floral pumpkins

I spent about $60 on some clearance fall foliage and we clipped everything apart into piles. From there, Kadie and Denise stuffed the flowers into a pumpkin with the top cut off. We didn't have time to clean out the guts - we just stuffed! Normally, I'm sure you'd want to clean out the seeds and such.









They did great, eh?! I also had a bunch of these berry garlands that we encircled around the base of each pumpkin, along with acorns from my back yard. (I paid my kids $1.00 to gather as many as they could...haha!)



And here's our finished table. That tiny little cake in the back is all I had time for! Everybody we knew was either watching kids or baking themselves, so that left NOBODY to do a cake - which is fine. I found a cute little cake at the store, added some flowers, and that's what they got.








And, yes, those are paper plates you're seeing in the corner but don't judge me! We had no budget for cute plates! (besides, they match the decor...)








With a little bit of magic and floral tape, I put together a cake top and a couple of boutonnieres for the men. I'll give a tutorial on that when I get some time. (Heaven only knows that I've got plenty of leftover scraps.)

(The cake top is wet because I had to wash off the frosting...but you get the idea.)







All in all, I spent about $100, maybe $150 (I lost count, actually) on pumpkins, foliage, and a little food.

We all spent roughly 9 hours total on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. - unloading junk, decorating, ironing table cloths (you rock Denise), decorating, decorating, getting dressed quickly, serving food during the wedding, and then disassembling everything, cleaning the kitchen, then re-loading our vehicles so we could go home. We rock.



Was it worth it, you might ask? You bet it was. The groom, who is a sweet young man in our ward, had no idea it was possible to make the gym look so nice! He was SO very thankful and hugged all of us who worked so hard. We later learned that the couple had no expectations of a nice wedding since it was such late notice.

Great things can happen when we get the girls together! Not pictured are many, many other people who contributed to this event - thanks everyone!

53 comments:

Nicole said...

Looks Beautiful! Good job guys. I'm sure the bride loved it.

Ang said...

You and your team are amazing! I am sure the event was wonderful.

April said...

What an incredible gift for that couple! I imagine that starting a life together amidst a lot of chaos and uncertainty could be terrifying. I'm sure you blessed them with a peaceful and thoughtful reception. They will always remember your care! What a gift!!

Shawna said...

You're amazing and awesomely cool Abby! I've been looking for a good dinner in a pumpkin recipe. I'll have to try this one. Thanks for sharing!

Allison said...

That's amazing! What a gift of service...I am touched, as I am sure they were. I'll definitely be trying the dinner in a pumpkin this year for Halloween dinner!

Deb said...

How wonderful! That is seriously crazy that you pulled it together sooo fast!

jlk said...

Wow -- that is seriously the nicest gym wedding I have ever seen.

Twinlinebackers said...

Would you believe you made me cry? That is incredibly sweet of you. Sounds like you have a terrific bunch of ladies in your RS.

Maree said...

I don't even know you and I cried! I linked over from a friend's blog, and I LOVE to read your stuff. Especially loving the recipes. This story just goes to show you that a bunch of RS sisters can accomplish just about ANYTHING in 24 hours! You rock!

Kari Joy Hodgen said...

What a beautiful, intimate celebration! I think gatherings are always more special when they are put together by people with caring hearts. :)
Thanks so much for sharing that!
Kari
from thebabsblog.blogspot.com

Nancy Sabina said...

Wow! That you could and would pull that off is amazing to me. It looked great. I'm sure that couple will tell the story for years to come.

missliss5/Melissa said...

Whoops, tried to comment and the computer wigged out on me.

You guys totally rock. I just realized who the wedding must have been for and I can imagine they would have been full of sincere appreciation. You guys really did a beautiful job, Abby.

adorable pearsons said...

You guys are amazing! Why oh why can't we be in the same ward :)

jannypie said...

simply incredible! it turned out so well, the fall decorations are gorgeous!

Rae said...

Unbelievable!! You gals could go into business!! Great work!

Krista said...

you don't know me but you and your team are amazing to pull that off. It looked wonderful and I love the fall colors and pumpkins. I'm sure that couple is so grateful for all your hard work and making their wedding so special. Thanks for inspiring me to be more serving.

Kelley said...

Wow...I'm impressed. It looks like it was lovely. I'm definitely going to try that Dinner in a Pumpkin:)

LuckyRedHen said...

FANTASTICALLY AMAZING! What an example you are for taking on such a huge project and it looks like everything turned out better than expected (especially for the couple) :)

Lindsey said...

You girls are amazing! I'm inspired--not that I'll go out advertising that I'd like to do a wedding in 36 hours, but it'll make me think twice about saying no to something big. Great job!

jori-o said...

Impressive! It looks beautiful!

Tina said...

It's amazing what a bunch of RS sisters can do so quickly! How kind of you to pull that all together for them! Everything looked fabulous!

life in red shoes said...

Never underestimate the power of Mormom Moms, it turned out beautifully.

kristib said...

Very impressive! I love it when a good cause brings out the big effort!

Six-Pack Momma said...

I KNEW spending months on a reception was pointless! Fabulous job!

Amy said...

Oh my gosh! You ladies are incredible!!!!! That is the Relief Society in motion if I ever saw it! You should submit your story to be a video for a General RS Meeting! I mean it! That was INCREDIBLE!!! Wish you were my visiting teachers! Heck - even just in my stake! :)

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

You guys did a fabulous job!!

Lynaya said...

WOW! Aren't you glad that you have had a lot of decorating experience. It looked really good. Don't tell anyone I said this, but I don't think six sisters could have done much better. I love the floral pumpkins.

Kristine said...

Abby, you are so inspiring. You had a great crew too. You may never know how much that meant to the couple. It looks incredible. Your a Supermom! Want to give a shoutout to your mom to for the tutorials. What a great example she passed on down to you and look what your passing on to your kiddos. Very touching. Like I told you Martha Stewart's got nothin' on you. You Rock!!!!!

Rogers said...

You guys did awesome!!! Are you all on the Activities Committee??? You should be! Way better than anything I've seen in a long time, even with plenty of time to plan and prepare :o)

Alysia Cook said...

All I have to say is "WOW"!!!!!

Six-Pack Momma said...

I gave you an award on my blog...you are one talented lady! http://cutiepiehaircreations.blogspot.com

Frozen Cacti said...

You ladies are awesome. I can totally relate to that feeling of electricity surging through your body when you have limited time to be creative. I tend to work best under stress myself!

Tisha said...

Abby, is there anything you can't do? You are AMAZING!!!!!!

Abby said...

WOW! Thanks, everyone! Honestly - I think anyone in this situation would have done the same thing! And, let me assure you, that I was not the mastermind behind this project - Kadie came up with all of the good ideas!

Thanks again!

Dawn said...

I am in awe! What an amazing transformation. You all were truly a blessing to this couple who have a very special wedding day to treasure always!

Emma F said...

Hi, I just found your blog through a friend's blog. I saw this post and am AMAZED! That turned out so beautifully!!

Tommie Jo said...

Awww...that's so neat! Sometimes those last minute rush jobs are the best! Great job ya'll!

Chelsea Van Tol said...

Awww, what a heartwarming post. You guys did a great job on such a low budget, really great!

Leslie said...

Wow! I don't know you but today my google reader suggested your blog and so I headed over to check it out. I'm absolutely blown away by the gorgeous job you and your friends did to make this wedding special! Heck, it looks better than my own reception did and my family and I had months to plan, ha ha. And I know how hard it is to get a gym to look great (I'm LDS, too). Way to go!!!

The Black Family said...

Hey, I think I know you! Someone told me to check this blog out and I looked at your picture and said "that's Abby". We were at EAC together and we had public speaking. Small world

Jessica said...

that's so amazing!! I especially love the lamps and floral pumpkins!

Mabel said...

Wow! I am so impressed, everthing looked fabulous. Just goes to show what can be accomplished when you put RS sisters in charge! Great job and I'm sure this young couple loved it.

Kelli said...

I love the fall colors. We did the flowers in a pumpkin for a YW activity a few weeks ago. Yours look a little better than ours!! I LOVE meal in a pumpkin. I'm going to use your recipe for our neighborhood party next week.
You must have an amazing ward and a great group of friends to pull this off. Kind of makes me wish I were back in Grand Blanc. Until I think of Winter.
Way to go, Girls!

Corinne Baird said...

abby, you are wonderwoman. That decorating job is amazing! Incredibly done - and with such a little amount of time and money!!! I would have died, but as always, you rose to the occasion. What an awesome gift you gave that couple!

Court and Britt said...

WOW, I think that turned out AWESOME!! Everything looks so beautiful. I can't believe how quickly you were able to do everything.

PS- I found your blog on mormom moms who blog, do you mind if I put some of your pictures from this wedding on my blog to show ideas for Thanksgiving decorating? Let me know:) www.placeforinspiration.blogspot.com

P3 said...

I love the fall colors also. You rock, Abby - you guys did a fabulous job... Isn't it wonderful what we can do when we do it with our "sisters"?

Tracy said...

Wow, everything looked so beautiful, y'all really did a great job !

Tracy

Dawn said...

wow, that is AMAZING! I'm getting teary thinking about how grateful they must've felt. It's girls like you who are just great!

Sarah said...

THat is inspiring. Man, that's better than some of my wedding decorations, and we had months to prepare. You and your ward friends are incredible!

Preppy Pink Crocodile said...

That is the sweetest story! I'm sure that couple will talk about their incredible wedding for many years to come. And it just goes to show what one can do with a tiny budget and a lot of motivation. Everything is beautiful!

Wolfie said...

OMW!! You girls DO rock!!

What a wonderful thing to do.... and it looks fabulous too.

I'm sure you made their wedding day a memory they will cherish.

WOLFIE

Kristen said...

I would've loved to have helped with that - how FUN!!! You did an amazing job with your time frame and budget, what a wonderful gift for that couple! You never forget your wedding day and now they have something special to look back on!

Kathy - mom of many said...

Good thing you actually decorate your houses for fall. I have nary a stitch of fall anything. You did a great job pulling it off.