Luck & stability
Did you know that's what a Magnolia tree symbolizes? I had three magnolia trees in my backyard when I was pregnant with our twins and when my saint of a mother came to stay with us for three months while Brandon was in and out to sea and I was set to deliver, we would cut Magnolia buds from the tree and put them in a small glass of water on our nightstands. The smell was intoxicating and it quickly became "our smell." Our flower.
So when my mother got remarried and asked me to run the show on hair, make up, photos, and team up with my sisters on design and florals I knew her flowers needed to incorporate Magnolias. I am not kidding you, I gathered Magnolia branches from my home here in Virginia Beach, scoured our neighborhood, and FLEW these branches home to the wedding in Washington State. Since we didn't have the actual flower we substituted with a vary dainty and soft white hydrangea.
The wedding was in August, which for those who haven't been to Wine Country Washington, it can be HOT! A dry 80 degree day is warm... a smoky 105 degree day is LESS than ideal! We had it all set out for a quaint backyard wedding, just immediate family and a few friends, and crossed fingers for the smoke to clear. When the air index had been in the dangerous zone all week and we saw that Saturday was being forecast for 100+ degrees, we started to worry a bit.
And then, the Magnolia luck kicked in, y'all! The morning of, my older sister and I popped in to her backyard full of reed grass, and natural to the area filler florals. We went for color tone more than a specific flower. We wanted everything to look very organic and like it could be found in a rustic kitchen which, if you knew my mom you'd say to yourself "oh that's so Susie." We added baby's breath, white roses, eucalyptus because that was a request she had, and the reed grass. Y'all it was gorgeous. It was simple. It was perfect! It reminded me of everything I missed in that moment of my now home, Virginia while being HOME in my mother's backyard.
This wedding day was a battle of the natural disasters, right? Hot hot heat, wild fire smoke, still making sure we worked within pandemic restrictions BUT! We did it. It was a dream. A warm sweaty dream but dreamy none-the-less.
