Last weekend, on November 3^rd, one of my daughters got married. Although we live in separate States, I still helped as much as I could. My husband and I  fixed most of the food, traveling to California a week before the wedding to help with last minute details and preparations. I loved being a part of this exciting event, but I wanted to tell you about an unexpected blessing that happened through the wedding.

My daughter didn’t have a long engagement so she had to be on top of getting things arranged and ordered. She contacted me one day in late May to talk about the Bridal bouquet and the flowers she planned to order. My daughters and I are almost all allergic to scents so having a floral arrangement so close to your face is a real challenge. Ardra decided to do something different and scent free. She wanted flowers made from the pages of books.

She found an artist on Etsy who makes flowers from books and has a list of titles to choose from. My daughter and her bridesmaids each chose a different book for their bouquet. Ardra chose The Hobbit for her bridal bouquet. She asked if I had a preference for what book would be used for my flower. My first thought was how wonderful it would be to have one of my own books made into flowers for her wedding and I said so to her.

Ardra contacted the flower artist, who lived in England. The designer said if I shipped her a book right away, she would use that to make flowers for me. I was so very excited. Ardra’s fiancé is a pre-published author. He sent me one of his stories to print out and send with my book, Bandolero. That way one of the flowers from his writing would be in his mother’s corsage. I believe Ardra carried one of his in her bouquet too.

Another of my other daughters crocheted some beautiful flowers in the wedding colors to use in the bridal bouquet and to add some color. The bouquet is pictured above. Most of the paper flowers are from The Hobbit, but mine is in there as well as the crocheted blossoms. This is a bouquet they will treasure, and one they don’t have to dry and try to keep.

I would never have thought of one of my books being used this way. What a privilege to have my words take part in their ceremony. As an author, you never know how your writing will be used. What a unique way to participate in the wedding.