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Over the past few months the back bedroom of my house, which was originally Matt’s bedroom, then an office, then a guest room has morphed itself once again into an all- out flower shop.
My mother-in-law, Jackie, has spent countless hours in that room over the last few months. Jackie was a florist in her life before retirement so it was with great glee she accepted Matt and Kathleen’s request to do the flowers for their wedding.
Slowly but surely white plastic bags full of brightly colored flowers, glittery ribbon and shiny glass vessels began to fill the room. My demure little blue and white room exploded into a kaleidoscope of red, blue, gold, and green! Peeking in one day, I realized that the dreaded flower monkey had left the debris of its stomach all over my back bedroom.
As the days to the wedding have ticked down, Mom has been in full force florist mode. She has spent countless hours wiring, arranging and fluffing the debris that the flower monkey left behind into graceful, elegant flower arrangements.
Along the way she has had several helpful assistants. Matt and his grandma came up with a way for the centerpieces to stay on the bases—who would have thought of using industrial magnets! Kathleen spent hours scouring the internet in search of just the right pictures to act as guides for the bouquets and arrangements. Stephie, my niece, Jackie’s granddaughter, Matt’s favorite female cousin, and Kathleen’s maid of honor came down from Chicago and spent two weeks being her Grandma’s ever faithful worker bee on the flower farm.
Grandma and Stephie
Flower Central
Amazingly, with 5 days to go before we head out to Charleston for the wedding, Jackie has managed to transform all the flowers, ribbon, bows and sparkles into beautiful centerpieces, elegant bridal party and bridal bouquets, as well as various decorations for the wedding and reception. Everything has been packed into tubs and is now sitting in my back hallway awaiting their transport to the big day.
This morning, looking into my demure little blue and white bedroom at the back of the house, no one would believe that just a few days before the flower monkey was alive and well living life large in that room.
