I have been meaning to write this post since April!
August 2019 : The plans are set in motion for an April 3rd wedding for my daughter and her fiance at a beautiful venue about 45 minutes north of Dallas.
March 2020 - The plans are all finalized - the money has been paid - everything will be handled by the venue, the florist, the baker, the chef, the photographer and the band.
We all have purchased or rented our special dresses/suits for the day...
March 16th - Dallas begins shutting down restaurants, bars, and other businesses due to this thing called Coronavirus... COVID-19.
The suburb cities of Dallas follow suit and pretty soon the Wedding Venue is only allowing weddings with 25 people or less. Also my daughter isn't even wanting to be around that large of a group of people any longer.
Oh, and if my daughter wants to just have the vow ceremony and small dinner reception at the venue; that will be $2000.00 more! Why?
Because my daughter and her fiance still want to have their big, fancy reception with the rest of the family and all of their friends in the future,post pandemic!
Besides the venue wasn't offering to refund the money we had given them for the ceremony, etc.
Well pretty soon the decision is made to have a small vow ceremony and dinner in my daughter's backyard in Dallas with only a few family members and the officiant attending.
I searched and found some plans for a wooden garden wedding arbor which my daughter liked and my husband agreed to build!
March 26th - Time to Build an Arbor!
All lumbar sawed and ready to be weatherproofed!
(A few days before this, we purchased the lumber at Home Depot and had some of the pieces cut into smaller lengths. Then at home my husband did the rest of the sawing of the lumber into the appropriate pieces for the arbor.)
Painting on a couple coats of waterproofer stain, even though this wood had been pressure treated for outdoor use; beside it also made the wood a pretty shade of yellow!
Okay, all the wood is sealed and dry.
Let's put the arbor together!
It's finished right about the time the sun was setting!
View of the arbor moved into our backyard for safe keeping.
April 1st - My husband took the arbor partially apart, loaded in our blue van and we drove it to Dallas to my daughter's backyard.
Once it was put back together, I spent about 1.5 hours decorating it with silk flowers. I needed some help attaching the flowers from my husband and my guidance from my daughter- from 6 feet away! !
It's finished and decorated for the ceremony!
Me and my husband with the beautiful arbor!
April 3rd - The Wedding Day!
Me, my husband and the happy couple! Socially distance photo so as not to give the parents the virus and vice versa.
No hugs of congratulations...
Made me a little sad!
The couple with the groom's parents!
Here's to a long married life and a future reception (with friends and the rest of the family)
now moved to April 2021!
Just a note about the weather on April 3rd in Dallas at 6 pm - it was cold, very cold for an outdoor ceremony and dinner.
Yes, we ate dinner and wedding cake outside. Haha
Oh and the special wedding dress for my daughter/fancy rented suit for her groom and all the rest of us with our wedding finery purchased for April 3, 2020 - well, we all saved them for the future ceremony & wedding reception April 16,2021!
So COVID-19, tried to steal our daughter's wedding day, but it happened anyway!
Have a Blessed Day
July 11, 2020
All original photos