The aftermath

When things in life come to an end that I have looked forward to, or put a lot of energy into I find there is always a let down, a period of what now?  I must say that I have felt this over the past few days, and yet the conflicting emotions of being so blessed to have had it come together so wonderfully, and witnessing nothing short of a miracle as we did our only run of staging the reception and then taking it all down.
It was like watching a masterpiece be created by a whole team of individuals who took care of their portion and handled it so incredibly well.
I learned so many different things as I went through the process of having the reception and wedding.  The first was that I could do something like this, with lots of help and inspiration that came as I turned to Heavenly Father for help.  Only a week before I still didn't know how I would transfer what I was creating piece by piece in my home, with only an hour and a half to set it all up at the reception location.  I prayed to know what or how and ideas started formulating.  I learned the art of delegation, and that a lot of people doing tasks can accomplish great things when directions are fairly clear.  I also asked for heavenly help in it coming together and we were ready to go just about 10 minutes before it was time to start.  I quickly scanned every aspect and then changed into my clothes and  greeted friends who came to congratulate Taylor and Bailee.  One thing that was  hard for me on a personal level is I wanted to just walk around and soak in the event.  I wanted to look at everything set up together, because it had all been in stages one at a time in my home then packed away.  I had lived in a construction zone for weeks and to see it all cleaned up and set up was a bit overwhelming with how lovely everything looked.  I was so aware of enjoying the moments with each person that I met, and trying to soak it in because I knew that all of the hours and hours of work were happening in 2 hours and then would disappear forever.  I loved seeing that people seemed to be enjoying themselves and having fun.  I loved watching my children and grandchildren creating memories together in the photo booth.  I loved watching others do the same. Most of all I loved the peaceful feeling I felt during the night.  it felt like a piece of heaven was there.  I felt a spirit of love that seemed to permeate everything about the evening. I loved seeing so many friends and family members all together in one place seeming to be enjoying themselves. I remember one time looking down the line and seeing the Madie corner and it kind of took my breath away.  From my vantage point the 6 tiered candle decor on her table next to the painting of her being welcomed into the Savior's arms  completely lite up Madeline and she was radiating.  It was as though Christ's light was illuminating on her and it was so weird because I hadn't seen her table look like that when i was staging it with friends the last few days.  it was the table that had Madie memories, but kind of also got what was left over after having done all the other tables.  I could see that there was so much help that I had received as I created each of the tables, but for me the real masterpiece was this final table, Madie's table