One final walk-through

Audrey's shoes were by Betsey Johnson

What you may not yet know is what inspired Mike and Audrey's wedding theme.

In the early part of May of 2024, before they were even engaged, Mike took Audrey and Dagny to Europe. No; not just the three of them.

Mike's mother, Judi, went along, and his three adult children, none of whom live in South Carolina, met them in Paris.

The trip had been planned for a long time -- long before Mike and Audrey met on January 31, 2023.

Audrey's stationery suite

It was essentially meant to be a family trip, as Mike's wife and the children's mother had passed away in the summer of 2020 and the group had been to Paris together in the past, when the first Mrs. Erni was alive.

Mike had arranged three different lodging plans for himself, his mother, and his children. He paid for the trip for everyone.

He had reserved a room for himself at the Hyatt Paris Madeleine and a room for his mother at a completely different hotel.

His children were billeted at a comfortable Airbnb.

The pearls have been in Mike's family for many years

His reasoning was that, at the end of a long day of sightseeing, they could all go to their spaces and relax without being constantly in one another's pockets.

When Audrey became a character in the cast, Mike invited her and Dagny to share in the trip, in order to spend time with and get to know his family.

He gave up his room at the Hyatt Paris Madeleine for them and stayed in the Airbnb with his children.

During that trip, they visited Versailles, the palace of Louis XIV and later, the home of Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette.

He wore Polo Red; she wore YSL Mon Paris

You know how they ended up: at the guillotine.

From Wikipedia: In 1783, the palace was the site of the signing of the last two of the three treaties of the Peace of Paris (1783), which ended the American Revolutionary War.

So, the palace and gardens at Versailles are impressive and full of history from both sides of the pond, and therefore made a great impression on Audrey.

She came away from there dreaming of a wedding and reception that was not only French-themed, but heavily influenced by Marie Antoinette's memory.

Audrey wanted low-profile rings; diamonds and sapphires set in platinum

It was for that reason that she wanted the bridesmaids' dresses to be of French blue (a color that one could argue is called dusty blue or slate blue in America), with red accents.

Because that looks French. I think you will agree that it really does.

Originally she wanted French blue dresses with red sashes, but after some research we came to the realization that the easiest way to make the French-blue-and-red thing happen was for the girls to wear red velvet sandals with the blue dresses.

And it had an undeniable charm, and was perhaps a tad bit unusual, and did the trick.

Hydrangeas in her bouquet echoed the French blue

Another thing we did which turned out to be somewhat of a stroke of genius -- if I do say so myself (because they were my idea) -- was the cardboard chandeliers.

I purchased them on Etsy -- four in total -- and TG painted all of the cardboard pieces gold.

The Monday before the wedding, Erica met me at the church and we worked for several hours assembling the chandeliers (it was not difficult) and outfitting them with battery-operated fairy lights.

One hung over the cake table, one hung over the photo booth, and one hung over the gift table at the reception.

You can see the chandelier in the lobby behind them

The fourth chandelier hung in the lobby of the church, and if you look closely in the photo where TG is walking Audrey down the aisle, you can see that one twinkling behind them.

Audrey's dress was meant to evoke the opulence of the French royalty of the pre-revolution era, and also pay homage to the gardens at Versailles.

She said of her dress that when she wore it, it felt indestructible. She'd worn it for her pre-bridal shoot at the Governor's Mansion, in October, and wore it for several hours before the wedding and several more hours after.

It looked delicate but the dress was sturdy and comfortable to wear -- as much as any formal wedding gown can be. She said she loved wearing it and that made me so happy. Because it cost more than she had budgeted for that expense, and TG and I helped to pay for it.

Audrey still accuses herself of walking too fast

We girls -- Audrey's sisters, Stephanie and Erica, her niece Allissa, her daughter Dagny, and me -- gave Audrey a small personal shower about a month before the wedding.

I chose as the theme all-out Marie Antoinette. There were the cards with ribbon that you see in a few of these photos -- they were actually gift tags -- and, not pictured, an ornate stand on which the mini cupcakes and treats were displayed.

We gave the girls, as part of their bridesmaids' gifts, Marie Antoinette tote bags, and ornate teacups with saucers, and a delicate lace oval-shaped doily with pink roses embroidered into the netting.

And I think we imbued the wedding with enough of the Marie Antoinette and French-in-general vibe that it was felt and it was recognized.

Let's make this a quick getaway

I think we succeeded. Even if things went wrong, we cannot and will not say that we failed.

And I will tell you here in case you have not heard me say it before (and when would you have?) -- I do not have another wedding in me. So it's a good thing that all three of my daughters are married.

Our granddaughter Allissa will be graduating from high school in the spring, and Stephanie has asked me to design her graduate's table for the after-graduation party at the school.

So I have a project to look forward to, but although it is no less important, the scale is nowhere near as large as a wedding.

I think she is giving him a coquettish look

This concludes our look-back at November of 2024, and the wedding that is now securely in the books.

So, onward to Thanksgiving and then Christmas, and we're all going to be busy so I am glad that our wedding reminiscence is done.

And that is all for now.

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Happy Friday :: Happy Weekend