Kathryn and Thomas - A Day of Love in Early September.

When I was twelve years old, I did not have many friends.

I was homeschooled and we did not know too many girls my age that lived close to us.

I remember my mom and dad praying one night over me, that God would bless me with some great girl friends who would come into my life.

Literally a few weeks later, Kathryn moved to town.

 

Kathryn and I became inseperable.

I consider her probably my closest childhood friend.

We were best friends from the time I was 12 years old until we were well into highschool.

here we are ice skating...
hehe, love our outfits!

 

So many memories of my younger years involve Kathryn.

Ski resort trips, hiking trips, teaching 5-Day Clubs together for two years as partners.

Singing together, cooking classes, dreaming and scheming for hours at a time how we would get our parents to buy us American Girl dolls. (it didn't work..we each had to buy our own :)

library roaming, back yard dreaming.

Counting the stars, laughing until we cried.

Drawing together (Kathryn is a stunning artist - she hand sketched a photo of me for my birthday one year, and it is one of my most cherished possessions.)
 

"Keepers at Home" - a little homeschooled club we were in.

Shopping together, babysitting together. Pretending we had Austrailian accents at the mall one day.

We would also have lots of contests with our two other best friends, Danielle and Beth. We would have "who is prettier" contests, we would have "who can sing better contests" and yes - we would line up and judge each other.

We became known - the four of us - to our families as the 4 "Little Women", after the classic book by Lousia May Alcott.

Kathryn was Amy - the pretty and prissy one (she was a firecracker, haha, right guys!?? :)

Danielle was Beth - the sweet, loving one

Elizabeth was Jo - the tomboy

and I was Meg, the "motherly" one, ha.

 

Anyways, I could go on and on and on.

 

This beautiful girl was married to her soulmate on Monday evening.

I was so excited to take part.

I made Kathryn her wedding veil and her bridal sash out of bits of lace from her mom's wedding dress.

I also made the boutonneires.

Kathryn asked me to do their version of a guest book, which was to take photos in front of a chalkboard where the guests wrote their names or a message for Kathryn and Thomas.

It was so much fun being there and helping out in these ways.

 

Here are some photos of the event!

 

These pictures do not do the wedding justice.

It was incredibly beautiful, the perfect day...and to see Kathryn get married in the same backyard where we romped and played every day in the summer, built huge snow men in the winter, brought tears to my eyes many times during the day.

rehersal dinner - I sat next to my dear friend Stephanie who played violin for the wedding!
Stephanie is so talented - it was amazing to see you, friend.

Kathryn and I the night before the wedding at the rehersal dinner.

 day of the wedding with a new friend!

and with two more new friends...
loved getting to know all of her beautiful besties!

here I am with Danielle the day of the wedding -

 

and here I am with Elizabeth the day of the wedding.

 

When it comes to the four Little Women,

now that Kathryn is married we all four are married,

I have two girls and Elizabeth and her husband Edwin are expecting their first baby too!

 

Come on, Kathryn and Danielle...

I want to be an aunt!! :)

 



oh my goodness-
not sure if anyone has ever looked this lovely on their wedding day.

Kathryn and Thomas were married under a canopy of 2,000 hand folded origami cranes.
It was visually the most beautiful wedding ceremony I've ever witnessed.

75 people,
closest family and friends in an outdoor backyard garden wedding.

 

 

Kathryn and I joke that since we spent so many of our

formative years together, our styles morphed...

because we have basically the same exact taste and style,

which made it so easy and fun to design things for her wedding.

We both have a love of shabby chic yet upscale things...

I mean really...

could this wedding BE any more Ellarye Boutique-ish?? :)

 

 

 

 Two things I will never forget about this day.

 

1. As Kathryn got her pictures taken I stood and helped her adjust her train and veil.

It was just Thomas, Kathryn, the photographers and I.

I remember fluffing her veil, and standing back to watch their

photographers do their magic.

I saw Kathryn smiling at me, and she said to me,

"I love you so much.

I am who I am today in part because of you."

 

...oh my.

Being told this by a bride on her wedding day?

What better gift can you give someone?

Kathryn,

I will forever remember and cherish these words.

 

 

2. As Thomas and Kathryn got into their car and drove away, I noticed

Kathryn's mom Elaine, who has been a trusted friend,

mentor,

and second mom to me for years.

She was standing off by herself holding a sparkler,

watching Kathryn and Thomas get into the car and get ready to drive away.

I walked over to her and gave her a little hug.

I remember as K+T drove off,

we waved and yelled, and then they were gone...

and I turned to Elaine and said

"Well, shes gone...how do you feel?"

And I remember Elaine looking me in the eyes,

smiling

and saying softly,

"I feel great."

Knowing you raised a beautiful, articulate and smart daughter

and seeing her marry a godly handsome man who loves her to pieces...

I guess that would make someone feel great.

 

perfume - gift from Kathryn and Thomas,

the program,

the recipe that was served at the reception

(and it was what they ate on their first date - thats the real name!)

 

 

 

 

 

 This day was perfect,

and these two are perfect for each other.

I really do love you,

my sassy, silly, beautiful friend.

 

 

 

-

love,

e.

i am still in shock! (spread the love, matilda jane)

I am in awe.

I am in shock.

I am in love with some ruffled pants.

 

lol.

seriously, though.

 

I have been a huge fan of matilda jane clothing for over a year.

 

some of the first items I sold from my online boutique were m2m (made to match) Matilda Jane.

I have waited excitedly for each new release (august 15th ring a bell, anyone??)

although we can not afford it,

I have loved the companies growth, creativity and heart.

 

It has been a pretty insane year for us over here.

If you know us personally, you know what has been going on in our personal lives.

lets just say,

my two girls have been very brave as the world has shifted beneath their feet...

and if I did not have their faces to wake up to every morning, and the love of the Lord,

sometimes I have wondered if I could have done it.

maybe some day I will be brave enough to speak the actual words...
but for now I can say
I have been a single mommy (not by choice) for about a year,
and will be for about another 6 months.
our life was thrown into chaos in the course of a day.
it has been hard,
but we have grown.

as far as finances,

my little business has really taken off lately, 

but it is our only income.

sales are inconsistent -

I do not know week to week how much we will bring in.

I love doing it,

but on top of EVERYTHING else that has been going on with our family,

its been a stressful year financially too.

 

 

anyways,

MJC has a program called spread the love.

people can nominate families to recieve tons of new MJ clothing.

Well, yesterday was the best day I have had in weeks and weeks.

 

We got a UPS man knocking on our door.

When the big old box said "Matilda Jane Platinum" on it from the shipping address

at first I was confused.

Then I opened the box and I read this -

 

 

 

 

could it be possible?

had we been nominated for spread the love?

I literally started screaming at the top of my lungs and jumping up and down.

Tears streaming down my face...

the girls covered their ears and started jumping too, as we unpacked the beauty -

 

sorry for the blurry instagrams!

i was literally shaking, LOL. :)

 

mad swag!!!!

omg!!

I did not even want to open everything..

it was like a dream.

 

 

matilda jane SCHOOL SUPPLIES!!!

 

and this is just ELLE'S PILE!!

All the beautiful things I have ooh'ed and ahh'ed over on the computer screen-

in person, so much better!

 

chaos!!!
clothing for mommy too!
thats right - new new new!
for MEEEEE!!!!!
not thrifted, for once!
yahoooo!!
 
lets be honest, I could not believe it when
I saw that I now had...

 

all of these new outfits, and MORE!

(the last four photos are 100 percent property of Matilda Jane Clothing!!)

 

the words that MJC live by!

 

They are NOT just some company that does not care.

They cared for the girls and I.

They made us feel so, so loved.

They dressed us in the most beauty-full clothing I have ever seen.

They put huge smiles on my girls faces.

They put lots of love and renewed hope into mine.

Thank you MJC.

Thank you.

 

and to our secret friend who nominated us...

words cant describe.

so I will let these pictures do the talking...

 

 

 

thank you for nominating us! 

 

 

e

 

 

 

links -

 

 

 

matilda jane clothing website

 

matilda jane's facebook page

 

and yes, I have become one of "those" moms-

I have a new MJC facebook buy/sell/trade profile.

here it is -

ElleandRielynn's Closet -

(the goal is to trade and sell our MJC
then use that to buy more as they grow

to keep them wearing it.
There are thousands of MJC fans who do this...

I refuse to let this become an obsession!

But MJC mommies, I AM looking for some mommy ruffles pants,

and I DO want to trade my size M Beatrice Willow for a size L:) :) :)

 

 

 

 

this girl.

happy 6th birthday my love.

love,

mommy and daddy.