Gardenias and Bootens

I can't believe our daughter's wedding has come and gone; it was a wonderful weekend. The facility was gorgeous and has a great story behind it. The property houses a beautiful mansion along with some amazing gardens. The man who owned it has long passed but requested of his best friend to open a school for mentally challenged children and adults, since his friend had a child that was mentally challenged also. His friend fulfilled his wishes. There is a school on the grounds along with these beautiful gardens. It's non-profit so most of what you pay goes right back into the school - pretty nice feeling.
The night of the rehearsal when it was still relatively calm and a good opportunity to take pictures.

I happen to love the flowers that bloom in May so the gardens were perfect for my taste!

Foxglove being one of my favorite.

This is a path that winds around the back which the bride walks on to get to the back of the gardens.

I loved this area with the statue - still the same path.

All set ready to go and no raindrops, not a single one!

And now for the Gardenia story - you know there's always a story. Jill wore one in her hair and also presented me with one to wear. When my kids were little and we would visit my mom in Florida, one of the bedrooms had a Gardenia bush right outside. It must have loved the spot because it was monsterously big with hundreds of blooms. It was amazing; you would wake up to the wonderful fragrance of Gardenias. My mom also put them around the house. My kids can't smell a Gardenia without thinking of my mom, so this was a tribute to her.

And here comes the Bride..

Okay, so as a mom, I went through a check list of important things to bring and comfortable shoes were at the top. Her wedding shoes were beautiful but didn't look too user friendly so I said "just in case" have some comfortable shoes along - no one will notice if you change. Well I remember as a toddler one of Jill's favorite things were her boots which she called bootens because they had to rhyme with mittens.

So was I surprised when she whipped out her pair of cowboy boots? - not a bit and she had a great time dancing all night - Moms know best!

It was a great weekend and think we'll be floating for a long time.