July 10, 2014

Brooches for the bride...


One of the many things I love about Thing #2 is that our brains often share the same wave length.  Not always...but frequently.  I can honestly say we did not have one stand-off on any wedding choice.  We might not always have agreed, but our opinions weren't so far off kilter that a meeting of the minds wasn't a possibility.  Thing #2's wedding was a harmonious collaboration...and if it wasn't...then she was just too kind to correct me of my misconception.  Granted, with the bride living in Cincy and the wedding in Philly....many of the smaller decisions had to be left up to moi for convenience sake.   So it's a good thing we were both surfing that same brain wavelength.

One of the choices was Thing #2's desire to forgo the traditional flower wedding bouquet and opt for one made out of brooches.  As she often liked to say during the course of her wedding plans "If I'm gonna be sparkly one day of my life...it should be my wedding day."  Again, we were hanging ten on that same wavelength.



"All that Sparkles"


Thing #2's wedding vision was "vintage".  Thing #2 is also quite the "do it herself-er".  So the goal was to collect jewelry brooches in her color scheme, so she could make them into her bridal bouquet.  Some came from my jewelry box.  Most were found on excursions over the course of a year.







Also included in the bouquet were strands of necklaces and a single quarter.

Thing #2's wedding date just happened to be on the wedding anniversary of my parents.  Even tho it was not planned that way, I'm confident Dad had a say in it.  God works in mysterious ways...and apparently so does my Pops.  Dad always liked to give his grandkids quarters when they visited.  It was one of those happenings you could count on.  Even when the grandkids got older I think they would have been disappointed if they didn't get a few quarters outta their visits with Gramps.  Pops was taken from us 1 1/2 years ago.  At his funeral, each of his grandkids received a bag of quarters to remember their Gramps by.  One of those quarters made it into Thing #2's brooch bouquet.  It only seemed fitting he was present at the wedding.  Afterall, not only did he provide the shared wedding anniversary, I'm pretty sure he pulled some strings and managed to provide his grand daughter with one of the most glorious days I've ever seen!  Thanks Pops!



"Quarters from Gramps"


Thing #2 started by wiring all the brooches and forming long stems.  But once it got to forming the stems into the shape of a bouquet...things got a bit unruly, and HEAVY!  Luckily for Thing #2, one of her students has a mom who is a florist.  And this florist also just happens to create brooch bouquets.  Who would have thunk it!  She was so kind as to step in and take over control of the bouquet.  Thing #2 was very glad to hand it off as she started to question whether "being sparkly might perhaps be over rated."  Plus, it was getting dang heavy!





And for those of you who are wondering about the safety of Thing #2 and 2.1's  wedding guests when it came time to toss the bouquet at their wedding?  







(Iphone)


Well...they decided that giving concussions probably wasn't a good way to start a marriage.  So they opted out of that tradition.  Their guests should be eternally grateful for that choice.   Again, we both shared that wavelength too.

Besides, there are too darn few times you can pull off that kind of sparkle in your life...to just throw it away!






Here's where I "link up" today.

(Song-ography is on vacay til August 5th...and we're moving to Tuesdays!)


28 comments:

  1. How gorgeous!!! Sounds like it was a flawless day and a wonder start of a beautiful future!

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  2. Wow, that bouquet is amazing. I bet you all had some good times collecting the brooches too.

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  3. This is so unique and I love it! What a gorgeous idea! The story of the quarter makes me all verklempt! Very sweet and touching.

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  4. What a truly wonderful idea. I always think flowers seem to wasteful, but this is something very special that will keep and be a life long memory of their day

    Mollyxxx

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  5. That bouquet is stunning and so unique! I really love the quarter and it's symbolism! How special!

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  6. I love it - absolutely love it!

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  7. Beautiful ! Really like the idea of including the quarter.
    My granddaughter's best friend's bouquet had brooches/pins that had belong to close members of the family.

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  8. Love the detail ~ would you post a photo, so we can see the overall effect. I have never heard of brooch bouquets.

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    1. Carol...I just added an iphone shot at the end where you get the whole visual. I didn't take any photos the day of the wedding. When the photographs come back from the photographer I'm sure there will be some of the entire outfit and bouquet which I will then post.

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  9. VERY pretty bouquet. She can always buy an inexpensive real bouquet to toss if she decides she wants to toss one. Lots of brides these days do that so that they can keep the one they carry down the aisle.

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  10. A brooch bouquet !!!! How awesome! And it is sooooo beautiful.
    diane @ thoughts and shots

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  11. Beautiful post! I had tears in my eyes as I read about your dad. A brooch bouquet is a wonderful idea. I have never seen one, but this is gorgeous! And I love the personal and special touches.

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  12. Wow, that is stunning! I bet it got more than just a few comments from the guests. I love that a quarter from gramps made it in to the bouquet. So very sweet! Love it! Thanks for sharing it with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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  13. Never heard of that before but I like it. Sounds like it was a beautiful wedding Wish them all the luck in the world! Count down is on for my youngest he's becoming a nervous wreck.

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  14. Oh Kathy, (and your thing 2) - what a beautiful, sentimental, vintage, classy idea. I think this is so lovely and if I could go back in time......... I'm enjoying the snippets from the wedding photos - the location alone is just wondrous. I'm really pleased the weather was great. Keep the photos coming - and this beautiful style.

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  15. Oh my....I've never heard of a bling bouquet but it is SO beautiful! wow. And the story of the quarters from your dad...just perfect. This post is wonderfully delicious!!!!

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  16. What a 'hugely' wonderful idea... I've never heard of that before, a bouquet made of brooches, but it is a lovely one and from your pictured, it turned out fabulous!

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  17. The bouquet is totally stunning, and so sentimental too ! Wonderful photos :)

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  18. what a wonderful idea ... love it ... the bouquet is exquisite! And how special to share your anniversary date with your grandparents ... and the quarter ... oh all so special!

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  19. What a great idea. It is beautiful!

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  20. Oh that is just fabulous - love it!

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  21. Love that Grandpa was represented. Beautiful and meaningful = fabulous in my book.

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  22. Well don't cha know I stopped by to do a little Songography this morning and BAM! No can do. But that's all about me.....This is an amazing series of pics. I'm not a sparkly girl or even one who likes weddings much, but what a cool thing to do for a bouquet. Keeping the concussions down-very wise, and somehow I think that piece will be tresured (pardon the unintended pun) for years to come. Congrats to you and yes I miss you and no I can't commit to regular blogging-still not feeling it and biz is busy, but will try to drop in from time to time.
    Happy summer to you and maybe Tuesday will be a better match than Sunday. We'll see.

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  23. How creative and beautiful!

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  24. I've been away from blogging for a while and am trying to catch up. Congrats to Thing #2 and what a wonderful idea -- love it,

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  25. So beautiful and what a piece to keep for memories. A very unique idea and fun collecting those brooches. Also love that quarter

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  26. Thing 2 incorporated a brilliant and beautiful treasure into the wedding with this bouquet- wow, I am so impressed! It is so gorgeous.
    I love that Pop's quarter had a special place. What a sweet element to add to the overall beauty.
    How is she keeping/storing/displaying it now that the wedding is over?

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  27. I adore the light pink color scheme of your daughter's bouquet, Kathy! This is such a special way to add sentiment to the wedding day. Thanks for stopping by to see my daughter's brooch bouquet, as well. Great minds must think alike, as they say ;)
    Julie @ Renaissance Mermaid

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