It's Panama Week! - Day Three - Wedding Day! The Ceremony

The report on the Panama Wedding continues...

To see the post from Day One, click HERE.

To see the post from Day Two, Morning, click HERE.

To see the post from Day Two, Afternoon/Evening, Click HERE.

Sunday morning arrived before we knew it. We headed back to the Gamboa resort bright and early. Zett's orders were to relax and drink champagne, while I put my mom to work :)

I had spent a lot of prep time on the ceremony details, back home in the US. We had the larger pompoms - these were to be hung on the chairs along the aisle.

In the cones was eco-confetti. Being in the rainforest, we had to have something that was environmentally friendly. This eco-confetti simply dissolves in water!

The aisle runner was inspired by a wedding Zett had seen featured in a magazine. She saw it only weeks before the wedding and asked if I could create something similar. I went to JoAnn's the next day and found this fabulous fabric. 

I bought all that they had - 12 yards - and hemmed the edges. It was the perfect width for the aisle. It was more of a turquoise color than it shows in this photo.

The biggest project for the wedding was the Chupah (separate blog post on this coming next week). When Zett and Bryan first got engaged and we started talking about wedding ideas, I suggested this to Zett.

I picked out five different fabrics several months ago - all complimentary styles - and in the color palette of the wedding. I cut the fabric into squares, and we included one square in each wedding invitation. Invitees were asked to write their best wishes for the bride and groom onto the fabric, and return it with the response card.

I collected all the squares of fabric, and after creating a random pattern on the floor, began to sew them together. I did not make a traditional quilt with batting or even an underside of fabric. I didn't even really use precise measurements! I just sewed everything together and then finished the edge with some quilt binding. I then sewed some long lengths of ribbon to each corner, so we could tie it to the poles.

The end result was even more beautiful than I had expected. We tied the ribbon to the poles with the patterned side facing downwards. Then the front two chupah holders would hold their poles higher than the two in the back, so that the audience could see the patterns and colors. 

The idea is that Zett and Bryan would be married underneath a chupah made of all the good wishes of their friends and family - from those who were there in Panama, as well as those who could not make the journey.

Tomorrow's post - the reception!