FRESH OUT OF AVAILABLE DAUGHTERS....

Yep... they are both married.  And I lived to tell the tale!  Scarlett's wedding is over and all the things I worried would go wrong didn't happen!

Well, I almost burned down the venue, but more on that later.

On to what did happen....

Thursday before the wedding, Corbin and I loaded up the van and the land rover and drove in to the venue to take all the decor, I'd been coordinating.  Things like the glittered lighted trees... (need one anyone?) the candle trees,

the candle holders, the love seat, 

the lighted twig arrangements, the chalkboards

...you know... the stuff....

I know you are thinking the love seat? What's that about.. well, she wanted some loungish furniture in the freight elevator that was the size of a small room.  I talked with a lady who ran a consignment shop in the building. She had high end furniture, and said, yes she'd 'rent' me some for the night.  So we meandered around, selecting some interesting pieces and talked money.  She wanted 20% of the purchase price.  For one night.  AND I had to use her delivery guys.. not my own strong son...okay, so I'm not a math wizard, but good lord.  We were talking a lot of money.  For instance, an interesting bench was $3,000.  20% of that is $600.  for one piece, one night, and lets not figure in what the Chicago moving men would charge.  ugh.

I'm nothing if not resilient, so plan B...

I happened to be at an interesting place searching for something other than what I bought (as always) and noticed a great antique settee.  It was a fraction of the price of the rental, so I bought it.  It fit the bill in the elevator, and now I own it.  Small detail, I have no place for it, so I stuck it in the barn.  Mark raised his eyebrow and suggested firmly that the barn was NOT there for me to fill with great finds.

He's such a kill joy.

But, back to the wedding weekend. We unloaded a ton of stuff, and my FAB wedding planner and I discussed where and what was to be put where. Thank God for Corbin- I told Scarlett she needed to host his wedding, he was such a great help with hers... Anyway, he took off, I headed to pick Mark up at O'Hare and we grabbed the tuxes, which, fit both Mark and Corbin and home to pack.  Is it any wonder I'm still in a state of exhaustion?!

Friday we headed in to Chicago, checked into our room, (which was like a small apartment) at The Palmer House.  The girls were ALL going to get ready in our room and we MIGHT want to host an after party (no not us) so we got a suite.  I like living that way. Ah yeah, who doesn't, right?  Anyway, we changed and headed to the venue for the rehearsal.  Everyone finally got there and we ran through how it was going to happen a couple times and headed off the the dinner.

Dan's mom organized a FAB rehearsal dinner, at a great restaurant Hub 51, with a delish menu.

There was advice from the bride's father?

and a bevy of beauties.

Dan's mom had little tins of M&M's at each place that had the kid's pictures on them and the date and their names (I can't eat them just yet- too cute)

and menu's with a picture.  LOVED the fun food and perfect room- we were kicking off the weekend right.

Headed back to the hotel, where, being the MOTHER, I lectured everyone on getting to bed early and not drinking to much- we needed to hit the ground running on Saturday. Well, Ardith, practice what you preach...

The bar at the hotel was full of people we knew, fun people that came in for the weekend.. we couldn't be inhospitable, could we? Gosh the night was short, and really dark in our shade darkened room when Jessica called the next morning, announcing the hair and makeup crew was 15 minutes from being there.  Mark ordered room service to bring up pots of coffee,

and Blain showed up with bagels.. giving me a hard time that 'someone had to be responsible'.  I'm glad that boy listens to his mother in law.  ;-)

The beautification began.  Seriously, these girls are all gorgeous, I felt like I was back stage at a beauty contest.

Fun time.  Flowers arrived,

bustle was figured out,

accessories were finalized,

handsome little brother checked in...

dresses were donned,  and it was time for the bride to put hers on...

She was stunning.  No tears for this mom, I had fancy makeup too!!

Time for the first look pictures.

Scott, Dan's brother took his best man duties seriously and scouted out the hotel, finding a beautiful ballroom and figuring how to turn on the lights.

 Dan was sequestered in there, looking into a GIANT mirror, waiting for his first look at his bride.  Seriously folks, it was like a movie.

But honestly, is she NOT just beautiful?

They took pictures in the ballroom, and around the Palmer House until the trolley arrived, announcing the importance of the day.

Off they headed out into the city to grab some outside shots.  Did I mention the weather was perfect? Sunny,warm for Chicago in January and dry.  Can.not.wait.to.see.the.professional.pictures.

part two - the wedding - let the fun begin!