Wedding Bells Toll Family Charm

      Wedding season is upon us, and though I don't get invited to many, I find them highly entertaining. (Or perhaps because I don't get invited to many!)

      This past weekend I attended an elegant affair at a Cedar Rapids hotel, that was a marked contrast to many. Summer & flowers being so synonymous, they are almost cliché. The remarkable shindig décor featured not a single posy! Rather fish swimming in bowls and vases, with luminescent marbles at bottom. Cool and novel.

      My cousin, who, one might assert has a surfeit daughters (7), married off the youngest last fall, A prominent feature of the wedding was a phalanx of raven-haired sister-bridesmaids in matching maroon chiffon carrying single white calla lilies. The bride carried 7 maroon callas, a lovely visual reflection of the family.

      Hands-down winner of the most hands-on event was the niece's. Her master gardener-groom manages a greenhouse and grew the flowers; friends helped pick and transport them to the mountain resort for the ceremony.. Early afternoon, relatives set the tables in the gazebo, with the white dishes the bride had accumulated Goodwill, St. Vincent's, et al. Along with a stupendous variety of vases, which we then filled with the friend-picked flowers under the aesthetic guidance of the bride's art-major/florist friends,  A fine reflection of a family that is a buzzing hive of worker bees.

In weddings, a critical eye can discover the strength and individual charm of a family.

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