Bollywood Bridal Shower

Ive been very scarce lately, not checking in with my Ebay groups like I should, not checking in with my Hive Homies either - I've been VERY busy with my daughters upcoming wedding. She does not have a female bridal party to speak of, its just her best friend who is in Florida, and her friends 4 year old daughter as flower girl. There are 9 groomsmen, though, and while we know the party is very "lopsided", my daughter did not want to burden the younger girls in our family with the responsibility of a wedding party. Much of the planning and contributions for the shower and day to day tasks have been me and my daughter, and so I've been VERY busy. I am very happy, however - we had a rocky start, my daughter and I - it wasn't until she was 7 that I married my current husband, who adopted my daughter and has been raising her as his since she was 4. She is a daddy's girl all the way, and he is very happy to be walking her down the isle - we have no contact with bio-dad and Im very happy about that as well. She has grown into a lovely, lovely woman and my best friend, and is an amazing sister to her brother, and I could not be more blessed. But, it wasn't easy. It took courage to realize that the first choices I made were soooo wrong, with no money, no skills to speak of, and with the support of my family (which was difficult as well - crowded house, I had to share a room with my little sister when I had to move home with my baby daughter, it was not easy. Two city buses to work just to drop her off at a baby sitter I had to split my paycheck with - it was not easy back then.) I walked away, took my daughter with me, and never looked back. Twenty five years later, I am still very happily married and very much in love with my husband, who has been as faithful and loyal as any woman could hope for. And in less than a month, we will host 150 people at a VERY fancy venue (I'll be paying for this wedding for the next four years, but I couldn't be happier to do it.) and I will get to see my darling girl walk up the aisle with my beloved husband as he hands her off to our future son in law, who is a considerate, kind, caring, funny, loving man who works hard and wants nothing but the best for our daughter. I expect grandchildren and a lovely house will follow very soon - we could not be prouder or happier with how our children have grown and the adults they have grown into. Nothing like bucking the odds to make you feel accomplished. Anyway, here are pictures from the shower and the wishing well construction. Im sorry they are not in order, but Im happy I could actually remember how to post at all!! There are pictures of the well construction, as well as pictures of the shower. We had a henna artist, and a belly dancer who was wonderful, we had an amazing cake that was just perfect (I brought them a picture, the promised to deliver, and boy, did they. The Pillow Cake was a HUGE hit - everyone who saw it, including the patrons at the bakery while my husband was trying to pick it up, loved it and could not stop commenting on it and despite the fact that my daughters friend showed up at 7:30 PM the night before the shower with several ropes of Elephant Spirit Bells that needed to be unstrung, rewired and hung (she is sooo lucky I know how to do that stuff, they came out adorable after all) from fancy hooks and wrapped as favors, we got it ALL done, and it was a VERY unique and VERY lovely shower. My daughter was shocked and could not be happier, she ADORES Indian Food and the cooks at this venue ( http://rangmahalcuisine.com/ ) did an amazing job with the food. The resturaunt is beautiful (check their site - it has a gallery) and I was very very pleased to leave the well with them for use with future bridal showers. (My daughter and sister in laws all threw a fit. I tried to explain to them how I create and let go. When the HECK am I going to use a Bollywood Bridal Shower Wishing Well again? The resturaunt hosts LOTS of parties and they can make very good use of it. I was happy to give it to them and I think the woman in my life are over it now ( they could see how much time, money, love and effort went into it, they need to realize the pay back was the look on my daughters face when she saw it and realized I made it for her. We don't need to keep the object for posterity - it will just gather dust here. At Rangmahal's, it will make other brides happy and it will give these lovely people something else they can offer for future parties - a unique wishing well for bridal showers - my girls just had to  realize that if they want something for another event, all they have to do is ask and I can make it. We are giving away a single, unique item that I was happy to give away, we are not giving away my ability to create more in the future. Silly girls. Anyway,  I hope everyone is doing well and being creative and enjoying the comfort and warmth of the holiday season!! I am really hoping to free up after the holidays so I can concentrate on creating again and getting back into the swing of creating and selling. I hope you enjoy the pictures - thanks for stopping by!