Elizabeth & James

Written by Rick Poppitz Saturday, May 30 2009 00:00

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Liz & James are a wonderful young couple... whose dreams for a wedding were sidelined because James has been pulled into a battle with cancer for the past year and a half. Yvonne had heard that Liz dreamed of a small wedding on the lake... and decided that was something we could make happen since duh we live on the lake. It was an ambitious plan for us to consider having a wedding at our house... but there was never any question that we were going to get it done. They've been through a lot - and were deserving of this magical day! It was so good to see them enjoy a blissfully happy day.

	Click on the photo at left to view a slideshow of Liz and James's wedding photos. I've recently updated the slideshow - it now contains 26 pictures. Please do use the fullscreen button once the slideshow starts!
	Our list of thank you's: This was mainly the effort of a small group of people - who all wanted to make something good happen for James and Liz. We are so blessed to have friends who were so willing to jump in and help out in numerous ways. First - we needed a dress. Jean Norris loaned us a beautiful Maggie Sattar wedding gown... Liz came over to try it on and it fit perfectly. The first of many things that fell into place. Remember this wedding was planned and executed in about 2 weeks. A lot of little miracles happened!
	The floral theme of the wedding was wildflowers. The Bride's & bridesmaids bouquets were a gift from Nancy Tally, a co-worker from Meadowbrook, which were accented by wildflowers from Yvonne's gardens here at the house.
	Live music was provided too... here is Jimmy & Sylvia (of Project DNA) pictured doing an amazingly inspired version of "When God Made You". This special song was chosen for Liz & James by their friend, Lisa Perez.
	Lisa's husband, Mitch Perez was the officiant at the wedding. Mitch is a pastor at Life Abundant Ministries in KC MO and the church also provided the chairs for the wedding guests. We still needed a few more chairs and those were supplied by Meadowbrook Rehab of Gardner.
	A wedding has to have a wedding cake... and this cake complete with matching wildflower theme, was delivered and served by Heather Blecher of Sparkle wedding cakes. Heather - thank you & your mother for an incredibily beautiful (and yummy) wedding cake !
	Reception music was provided by Project DNA . Pictured are Jimmy, Beaver and Kendall members of Project DNA. They played several songs from their new album that will be released later this summer.
	For the most part, this was all done by a small group of friends - but there were a few local businesses that we did ask for help.The very first place I called upon was my friends out at Enright Gardens. Steve & Sue happily agreed to supply us with whatever we needed. On the wedding day, we had a convoy of three SUV's head out to Enrights and loaded them up with all the flowers they could hold. All the flowers lining the rock staircase in the photo are flats that we just sat on the ground there. We also had numerous hanging baskets. Thanks to Steve & Sue, and their staff at Enright Gardens for helping to add to the beauty of this day! When I inquired about getting an extra dumpster for the trash we would have that day, Gardner Disposal instantly volunteered to deliver and pickup whatever extra we needed.
	So - a lot of people just said yes! And the reason was to put a smile on this young family's faces. A personal blessing for Yvonne and I was getting to know our new neighbors, Curt, Patty and Ashlyn. They helped us haul flowers, make tea, clean up and just anything else we needed done. And our other neighbors, Jim & Shelley Lehman, offered necessary space for the wedding guest parking. Erica Carsella created the personalized wedding favors - Erica, they were beautiful and the bride & groom loved them! My friend, Daryn Cashmark of Cashmark Media, furnished us with a brand new HD video camera. Another friend, Maria Holiday, showed up to help out any way she could... and she ended up being the volunteer videographer who used that fancy new camera! Maria also supplied the tent for the cake table, as well as helping in numerous other ways! I hope we didn't forget anyone -- it all happened so fast! But we truly appreciate everyone - all those who helped out and all the guest who attended in supported of Liz & James. It was a beautiful wedding!