CONGRATULATIONS MR. & MRS. VAN GORP
Happy Wedding Day from Santa Barbara! Yes, it did finally happen. Rachel and Johan's day was June 5, 2009. Rachel and Johan are now Mr. and Mrs. Van Gorp. As the dust and the whirlwind days begin to settle I am left with a quiet home ( Yes:) and an orange flower garden all over my house. So now I am reflecting and thinking about all I have had this week, the many wonderful people that we met, and how I am so thankful to have had so much family help. So as I reflect, thank you for visiting with me and if you like to share with me............ read on.
As you can see from my previous blog, the month of May was busy with the fire " San Jesuita Fire". Packing up, evacuating, coming back home and trying to get everything back into order. Before I was able to even clean up,.... I was off to Napa to spend some time with my Dad who was in the hospital. I made it back to finish up what I could to be ready for the wedding week,... take off for Grandma's 80th Birthday party. Then back to pick up Johan and Rachel from the airport in Lax on May 27. Oh, yes, and my birthday on the 28th..... From there we had 10 days to be ready for the wedding. I thought I was ready, but Rachel had a bunch more small tasks for us to work on, and away we went. organizational important busy work, ribbons and flowers, decorations, curtains, flowers, bouquets, sewing, baking, cooking, planning, etc. On the 29th our family welcomed Johan's Dad Anton and his family. On Monday Johan's Mom's family arrived, and more friends arrived from all over the world each day. Sadly, Our weather was not cooperating and we were having definitely gloomy June days. On Wednesday began the floral decorations preparation. On Wednesday night my family began to arrive also. Jill, Bonnie, Marilyn, Brigitte were all there to help with the flowers on Thursday morning. Petra joined us, as did Jessica.
On Thursday the day of the rehearsal, the sun broke through and we had a beautiful time at the rehearsal as the sun was setting. We had an incredible Santa Barbara evening-- our rehearsal dinner was at our family homestead in Santa Barbara-- Uncle Clem and Aunt Sheila's garden in San Roque. Fred, Dorian's special friend cooked an amazing dinner for all to enjoy. It was so delicious, my mouth waters to think about that steak that I had that night--the best ever. And I have the recipe now-- In dutch though. Thank you Fred and Dorian, Hannie and Oma Jo for all your work to put that beautiful meal together. Thank you Anton and Petra for the sponsorship of the dinner also.
On Friday we woke up to a downpour of rain. Now ... we really need rain in Santa Barbara. Its is a good thing... But on Rachel's wedding day??? pray pray pray..... We had moments of panic....... but the sun broke through in the middle of day. Dreams do come true. They were married with our beautiful coast in the background. The wedding was beautiful, but most importantly is the new couple and the special people that they are. The wedding was so much fun. I think everyone had a great time, but mostly Rachel and Johan.
I am so thankful for all the friends and family who were able to come and join us on this day. We had many family members of Johan from Holland and China. Dorian and Fred, Anton, and Petra, Pepino, Martina, Anne Marie and Hanneke, Oma Jo, Hanney, Titi and Peggy, and I hope I didn't miss anyone. For all the friends of Johan and Rachel who came from out of state, thank you so much for being with us. It was so amazing to bring together the different people from literally around the world. Rachel was so radiantly happy, Johan stood strong and handsome as a prince. ( Were you ever a frog?? Just kidding) ....
As I begin to look back on the whole week of events I am amazed and exhausted . So allow me to recap our week and share my deeply felt thanks you to all our friends, family and new found friends and family.
I think one of my best memories of the night --- Fritz and Rachel danced to "Butterfly Kisses" which was truly special. But remember Johan -- our first choice song was " I loved her first"! Not wanting to shed any tears, we opted for "Butterfly kisses" which is also very special. . Another special memory was after Johan and his mother danced to a delightful Dutch song, we all joined in dancing. It was so wonderful to hear and sing the dutch songs and blend the two families together and we enjoyed the dancing and singing through the evening together. Tyler my nephew wrote a sweet song and performed this during dinner for Rachel and Johan. Thank you Tyler.
In order to have an event take place and run smoothly, a lot of friends and family were involved. I so appreciated each one for their extra help for me. As Mother of the bride.... I needed. HELP! Each of these people came forward and became a very special part of our day. I would be remiss not to say thank you for all the extra touches each of you included to help our day be extra special. So If this seems like some advertising,... well some of it is. But its the personal friendship and extra touches that have made this day special.
Thank you to Raya for all her care and work for the whole day creating beautiful pictures of the day.Her Engagement photos are adorable. For family, you will see them on Pictage. Follow the link. Raya you truly are the most creative young lady I know. Your Photography shows only a portion of all your amazing talents. Rachel and Johan's Engagement pictures
Robyn from Impressive Weddings was a huge help to us and I was able to truly relax and enjoy the Wedding day. Robyn came on board back in April and I am so thankful to have had you to work with. Thank you Robyn.
Jennifer Harnsberger was our ever present photographer for the "Picture Booth" creation. Rachel loved the picture booth at our cousin Laurie and Justin's wedding last year. So ever the do-it- yourselfer she had to make it. With help of course. Thank you Ryan for building the booth and to Jennifer and Link for your expertise with the camera set up of the booth. It was a very popular part of the evening as over 800 pictures were taken. Please take advantage of these pictures and purchase your favorites at Jennifer's site on Shutterfly. http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/gallery.jsp?gid=768a5498ce7e50496808
My awesome family was such a help. Jill my sister runs circles around me with all her help with food, flowers, set up and tear downs at the rehearsal dinner, candy table, flowers, deliveries, clean up, and on and on. Bonnie and Brigitte were quiet the team with the flower arrangement assembly on our deck and the set up at the reception. Jessica, Carrie and Rachel worked hard on the wedding bouquets, Laurie and Justin with the spray roses display. We were also joined by Petra on Thursday morning as we put the arrangements together. Nicky my sister every the camera queen has some great video footage of the wedding and reception.
My friend Nicole was an awesome babysitter -- thank you for volunteering. Tucker is in LOVE with you. And Retha filled in later -- Always a wonderful Grandma. It was good to see you also dear friend. Jacob the minister has been a friend of Phil for almost 20 years now? Thank you Jacob and Kim for being a special part of this day.
My dear friend Nancy baked part of the wedding cake--the delicious strawberry cream sections of the wedding cake. And she provided help and fruit for our Sunday brunch. Thank you Nancy. Karen thank you for the fruit platter. It was gobbled up very quickly.
If anyone in Santa Barbara needs flowers, I love Padaro Floral. Michel the owner was more than gracious to us with ordering ORANGE tulips all the way from Holland for our event. What is a dutch theme without tulips?
Jessica, you were amazing in so many ways with Rachel and helping her in so many details.-- the shower, decorations, program..... and so much more. And to the bridesmaids... to her girls, Andrea, Carrie, Christine, Jamie and Lynn, you all helped make this day special. Jamie and Annie, thank you for the Bachlorette party that you gave Rachel. That was so special also.
And then Annie decorated a cute bike, Liza handled the quilt squares, Phil took care of the bike, Ryan built and set up the Photo Booth and the hoopa. So many helping hands.Hairdressers Nancy, Nada and long time friend Gunilla were wonderful with their talents of making each of us feel beautiful.
Last but not least, my dear friend from Kansas City Missouri was here to be my special "gopher" girl. Since I have been the official gopher so many times in my life, I especially appreciated all her extra help in so many little things like ..... dishes, food, cooking, last minute shopping. you name it. Thank you Marilyn, and thank you Dave for sharing her with me.
Thank you so all the friends of Johan and Rachel who came from so far-- Boston, Washington DC. Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, ..... To all these new friends welcome to the United States, to California and to Santa Barbara. i hope you enjoyed your time here that it was pleasurable. And you are welcome to come again.
We have many new friends from Holland now to visit someday. Dorian and Fred, Anna Marie, Hanneka, Oma Jo, Hanney, Lowie and Yvonne. From Shanhai was Bart and from Bejing was Pepino, Martina, Petra Johan's Dad Anton, and his friend Titi and Peggy. What an international time we have had. I look forward to meeting each of you again someday. Thank you so much for making such a big trip to be with us on this special Day. I know Rachel and Johan were touched to have you there with us.
Thank you Fred for so many pictures that are on my computer. More Pictures from Fred Hoebink More pictures from other friends and family will come soon.
A couple months ago, my Dad said he hoped to be with us at the wedding. It was his birthday wish to be with us and make it to the next wedding. It was touch and go there for a while. A big thank you to Nicky my sister and Dr. Tom who brought Dad down from Napa. DAD, you made it. Thank you Dad for making such a super human effort to be with us. He is 89 folks, and a 7 hour drive is not easy at that age. To Dr. Tom the best doctor in the world, and my sister Nicky, thank you for your patience in bringing my Dad down and making this wedding extra special for all of us by having his presence. Thank you cousin Lynn for driving Uncle mike and Kathy up for the wedding and for a special visit with Dad also.
Last but not least, my dear husband Fritz who through all this hustle and bustle has truly been on a marathon. The constant company, early morning phone calls, interruptions, and all in the midst of an incredibly busy week. WE are excited to have him featured in Forbes magazine this week. Actually Marathon Investment programs has a little featured ad under California Weatlh managers. Marathon Investment Programs is in the top ten! .
This last week has been very stressful, and I was awake many many nights with "things" running around in my head. So this is the prayer I would say over and over each morning the past week... " Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord" . and "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." I believe that and I know I wasn't alone. The Lord was with me and he brought me so many angels to come along side of us.
So now we can continue on with our life. BC / AD. or BW or AW... Before the wedding and after the wedding.... Life goes on. The wedding day was wonderful, but now we have a marriage. Welcome to my new son-in-law Johan and welcome to our new dutch family in China and Holland. We look forward to a time when we can all meet again. Rachel and Johan--- enjoy yourselves this week and we shall talk soon.
