A Cinderella Moment

There are certain times in a lifetime when a gathering is called for. Family and friends come together for a celebration. Weddings, baby showers, birthdays, anniversaries, and significant holidays all fall into this list of moments with expected frivolity. Along with these affairs there often comes a period of tedious planning. Meticulous details that are outlined so that everything just goes perfectly. Timelines, checklists, endless shopping, and of course the hours of preparation before the execution that some of these activities require.

Entire empires have been built upon this entertainment phenomenon. Just think of the party stores, event planners, and rental companies, not even to mention the well-known card companies. People such as these make it their business to assist individuals in these moments of joy. 

The party process has been on my mind as the season of hosting quickly approaches. For the next several months, every weekend has plans. A wedding here, pumpkin regatta there, not to mention the impending first birthday celebration for a certain little someone. While also, taking into account that in the garden world, we are already thinking about next spring (eek, talk about scary!) All followed immediately by, dare I even mention it, the winter holiday season.

  Looking forward, it is very easy to be instantly overwhelmed. Thankfully, I am surrounded by a little empire of my own. It has been my experience, that these occasions create a cause for everyone in my family to celebrate their strengths. We tend to live out the saying “Many hands make light work”. 

For example, this past weekend, the clan came together to transform an empty hall into an ethereal gathering for a wedding. Every truck, car, and wagon arrived full of flowers, tables, linens, food, and boxes of decorations. Three days, we spent laboring over the space, carefully placing plants and decorations to create an illusion of something that had always been there. Imagine, an aisle lined with rows of white pansies. Chairs stationed in exact rows silently ushering the crowds towards an altar of ferns and mums. Tables set with gold chargers and wreaths of eucalyptus lit by the light flickering of floating candles. 

The thought, the planning, the growing, all the tiny details that have been in process for over a year to execute this visionary garden oasis. My husband repeatedly observes the process with a slight sense of awe, as he affectionately references us as a hive mind. When the moment comes, we all move seamlessly. As if invisibly instructed, nobody questions where they are supposed to be. These are the moments we have been trained for, our entire lives have been devoted to creating seamless gatherings as a large family. 

All of this work we did, happily, side by side. Equally exhausted, devoted, and excited for the event to come. Three days went into this set-up, three days for one night, three days for one night to be deconstructed and swept clean in only three hours. It left me feeling happy, thankful, and just titch satisfied. All of the evidence of a wonderful night now remains only in memory and photographs. One might wonder, why go to all of this trouble? The answer? We did it for the Bride. It is a unanimous effort to create a true Cinderella moment for someone special. 

To do something with the intent of creating a moment for someone is the most gratifying reason. There is a reason to do everything. Wedding, for the Bride. Pumpkin regatta, for the community. Birthday party, for the birthday girl. Turkey, for the tradition. There is one thing, I plan on doing this season specifically for myself. That is pre-ordering my Christmas tree. 

Now, before you send the masses after me, I am not an early celebrater. Fall is where I thrive; however, that being the case, fall is also where I have my moment of clarity to prepare for the flurry of activity that comes with the holiday season. I order my Christmas tree in the first week of November, planning on it not being delivered until I am good and ready to be in the spirit (say the second week of December). That way, if the chaos of the hosting pressures gets to me, there is one thing that I know for certain, I will have my Christmas tree already taken care of. While it may not be as large and extravagant as a wedding, something as simple as a lit green tree right when I want is a moment worth gathering for.