[Marilyn]

Thank you all for your so kind words. Everything so far is falling into place. We interviewed two florists today and they both had very nice ideas to accomplish the look that Karen wants. Her bridesmaids are wearing black and will carry white and ivory flowers, probably roses with some other white accent flowers and touches of light green with black and green ribbon wrapping the stems. Karen will carry a mixture of ivory and pink roses with either white hydrangia or white orchids and white berry accents with light greenery. The stems will be wrapped with antique white ribbon and pearls.

We went to look at the church building at 6:30 this evening to see how it would look at night, and a family was there decorating it for a wedding tomorrow, so we got to see it all lit up and decorated their way. The building, being so old and historic though a very simple design, is decoration in itself. It has an old piano at the front in one corner and a pump organ in the other. The only decorations we are going to use inside are some ivory candle groupings on the piano and organ. Not the tall thin candles, probably ones that are 3" in diameter and at different heights. They had pew bows, an arch and two candelabras, but Karen is more for simple and elegant. Karen will have a matron of honor (Melissa) and 3 bridesmaids, so with the men, there will be 8 people plus the bride and groom at the front. She feels that the people and the flowers they will carry and few candles are decoration enough. We will decorate the railings on the steps and the porch in front. It's not a big porch, so a little greenery, a few ivory silk roses and some ribbon will be enough.

We are also working on the decorations for the hall. To decorate the dining tables, we rented white linen table cloths and for centerpieces we are using old style embossed square metal ceiling tiles that we are painting black. On the tiles we will place a 3" dia., 8" tall ivory candle with a pink or white silk lily laying at the base of the candle with a couple of smooth river rocks. The tables are 8' x 30" so between the centerpiece and each end, there will be some kind of container with the smooth river rocks and some tiny green silk wax flowers. For a table runner under the centerpieces we hope to use ribbon about 3" wide. We will alternate black and light green ribbons on the tables.

For flowers on the cake and punch table, we will use clear glass vases with some ivory and green ribbon tied around them and put the bridal bouquet and bridesmaids flowers in the vases. We did this at Melissa's wedding and it gave the girls a place to put their flowers and saved us buying more flower arrangements.

We're feeling better about everything. God's providence has been so evident in our lives lately that all we can do is pray and have faith that all will be well for our soon to be newlyweds. All Karen wants is a simple but nice wedding with her family and close friends and to be his wife. She has a very strong faith in God that grounds her. What more can we want!?