The wedding was wonderful, and beautiful, and a tear jerker, and I think a good time was had by all… Young love is SO precious these days! Meet Micah and Danae.
The reception was held in a very old building that had been refurbished…it was beautiful! If you are viewing this post on a laptop or a desktop, you should click on this picture to see the hand painted Dogwood flowers in the design. It was a stunning room!
My weekend was packed from beginning to end. I don’t think I ever stepped foot in my sewing room, so I’m thrilled that some of you must have sensed that… because I received some photos and will share them with you today.
Joy received a new Little Darling over the weekend… Meet Emily; painted by Dianna Effner herself. Emily was one of Dianna’s most popular dolls and it’s pretty obvious why…she is beautiful! Congrats to Joy on receiving her!
I received an email from Linda Gronvall and just HAD to share her picture. She told me that she and two of her friends got the American Girl doll, Kirsten, in honor of their Grandmothers who came from Sweden. They collected the clothes and then played dolls with their granddaughters as they came along. Linda and one of her friends did “Time Travels” with their 7 granddaughters for each of the historical dolls that they received when they turned 6 years old. She said it was so much fun and they learned lots of history.
She had always been fascinated by the folk dress from the different areas of Sweden and her dream/plan was to make each of her lady friends an outfit from the province that their grandmothers had immigrated from. She even had a cousin from Sweden who sent her fabric for the project. Finally, this week, she finished the outfits and they had a Midsommar Party with cake, strawberries and whip cream and the dolls donned their outfits for a photo. Thought you’d like to see it. The gal on the left is Linda’s Sweet Sue doll from 1952 in the Swedish national dress that any Swede can wear. The three in the middle represent the grandmothers, and Kit, on the far right, has her hat and scarf made of the fabric from Sweden with little Dala horses on it. She said now they might have to see about the granddaughters getting a folk dress, but she kind of has her doubts as they are looking at colleges now! Oh well, Congratulations on finishing your dream dresses for the dolls, Linda. They are just beautiful!
I hope you’ll click on the picture to see it larger and scrutinize all the details.
Well, I had a few Fourth of July doll dress pictures sent to me, but I think I’ll wait and do a post with just them in it. If anyone else has pictures of your dolls dressed up for the 4th, please send them to me and we’ll have a really nice group of pictures!
Thanks everyone,
Sorry, this isn’t longer, but I need to get to bed.
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
What fun pictures to see tonight! The wedding looks like it was lovely, and I did enlarge the picture of that room. Wow!! Such beautiful decorations on the trim!!
Congratulations, Joy, on your new addition!! Emily is beautiful, and I can see why she’s so popular!!
Loving all the Swedish costumes on Linda’s and her friends’ Kirsten and Sweet Sue dolls! I have Kirsten, and have done a little sewing for her, but never thought to replicate one of my great-grandparents’ provincial costumes for her. But, of course, I am PURE Swedish (3rd generation American-born), so ALL my great-grandparents came from Sweden! I would have to do some thinking, to see which one I would want to copy; I don’t think Kirsten needs Four of them! (And, of course, all my great-grandparents came from different provinces–there may have been two from the same province, but the others were all different, I think.)
Thanks, everyone, for sharing pictures!
Hi Charlotte,
The wedding WAS very special and that room for the reception was just the most romantic place ever!
After seeing all the pretty costumes on the Kirsten dolls, it makes me want to sew one for my Kirsten doll. Weren’t they fun to look at?
Blessings, Jeanne
What a beautiful wedding, Jeanne! The dress—-just lovely with those lace sleeves! A beautiful couple, so in love! The room is gorgeous, how hard that must have been to paint all those flowers way up there, so very unique! I must say, I am glad it was inside, with the heat we had this weekend!
Joy’s Emily is just adorable! Love those beautiful eyes and curly raven hair! Congrats, Joy! Now she needs a few Jeanne Marie dresses!
Oh my, what a beautiful scene, Linda! The backyard is as beautiful as the grouping of the dolls! You did an amazing job with those costumes, and how very generous of you to make them for your friends! Your Sweet Sue made me remember mine that I had as a little girl! Where did you find those beautiful wreaths in their hair? I recognize Kirsten’s on the sweet Sue doll, but the others draw a blank. Etsy? At any rate, they are just perfect!
Hi Linda,
Danae’s wedding dress had the most beautiful train on it…maybe 6 feet long trailing behind her. I couldn’t get a good picture of it from where I was sitting. She was a size “2” and the dress still had to be taken in…she’s a tiny little thing!
Joy must have know one of my Little Darlings is coming up next….it’s been awhile since I made something for them…I’m trying to decide if I want to do a dress or some kind of a casual set…hmmm…
I love seeing all those costumes on the Kisten dolls. She can always wear the most colorful fabrics and get away with it.
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
Oh, so young! They look very happy. Lovely reception room too.
Joy’s photo is off because her camera is acting up again. Darn.
I absolutely love the Swedish outfit renditions. I’ve always loved those silver buttons. Must be because of my sliver of Swedish/Finnish heritage before they moved down to Denmark some time long ago.
No one dressed up around here for anything. Not even a decoration, but I am working on a shirt and shorts for someone. We’ll see who it ends up fitting.
The chimney swifts are continuing to make a ruckus every time Mrs. Swift appears with a new round of bugs. Would be wonderful to have a camera positioned to watch them, but not possible.
Hi Joy,
I think everyone is loving all the pretty costumes on the Kirsten dolls…and Sweet Sue and Kit too. I love sewing outfits that use lots of coordinating fabrics. Making the dirndle’s for Kirsten is so much fun. Maybe she should be after my Little Darling… :o)
It would be fun to see what the birds are up to in your chimney. We used to have “bats” in our chimney…that was pretty creepy.
Thanks Joy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Joy’s new LD is beautiful. Something about that first face Dianna Effner did is so timeless and she has that Mona Lisa smile. Emily is so pretty as a brunette and the curls are amazing.
What a pretty wedding! The bride and groom belong in a magazine and that building was restored to perfection.
I’ll have to see what 4th of July things are hiding out around here
Have a good week!
Hi Kathie,
The woman who gave me my first Little Darling, (Isabelle) bought Emily at the same time. We called our girls cousins. Emily has such a beautiful look to her and is probably the most easily recognized Little Darling out there.
I’m going to have to scrutinize the pictures of Danae and see if I can one of the train on her wedding dress. It was unbelievably beautiful.
I’m sure you probably have some 4th of July pictures of your girls… :o)
Thanks Kathie,
Blessings, Jeanne
The Swedish dresses are so pretty. I haven’t had Kristen, but I have made national type outfits. For Marisol and then Josefina, I made a Mexican folk dress full of hand embroidery. For Kaya I made a fringed suede cloth dress. That one might not have been that authentic. It was a Vogue pattern. Hope they did some research. I’ve also used the original American Girl patterns to make a couple versions of Felicity’s Christmas gown,and one of Josefina’s holiday gown.
Emily is absolutely beautiful. I love her hair. Will it come off when you try outfits on? I’m scared of Cecile’s curls! If I messed them up I don’t think I could get them redone myself.
The wedding hall is amazing! I wonder if a stencil was used? I have had weddings on the brain. We are celebrating my parents 65th wedding anniversary over the 4th. My mom got out her wedding dress and some other memorabilia from the 50th celebration. She wanted me to bring her headpiece because I used it when I got married. I could not find it! I thought it was in the box my wedding dress was in. Nope. I thought she must still have it from the 50th. Nope. Finally I went through my tub of precious things piece by piece and there it was! I had a long veil and thought it would be a bulkier package. It was wrapped in tissue under my bouquet and I thought it was all bouquet. I am so relieved I found it. We are traveling to their house in Northern Minnesota tomorrow. A 10 hour trip and we don’t even leave the state!
Hi Julia,
Congratulations to your parents on their 65th wedding anniversary! What a milestone!!
I hope you have safe travels to Minnesota.
I’m glad you found her wedding veil!!! So glad it wasn’t lost.
I made some suede cloth Indian outfits too, but I guess they were lost when I switched to a different camera. I had almost forgotten about them until you mentioned them.
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Congrats to your parents on their wedding anniversary, Julia! That is quite a milestone. My folks made it to 60 years, but by then dad was dying (pancreatic cancer) and mom’s dementia was such she had to be in an adult care home.
So glad you found your mom’s veil! My mom was married in a suit (1945), so although I now have her wedding hat, I didn’t use it. I had a headpiece and veil, which a friend made for me. (I made my gown.) Another bride wore my veil/headpiece, too, when she had forgotten hers at home and “home” was about an hour away! My dad was the pastor, and I knew the young man she was marrying, so I said fine–it was still at my folks’ house (we hadn’t been married very long yet ourselves), so it worked out just fine. It’s now in a box in my basement.
What wonderful pictures of the wedding and church! Thanks for sharing the joy. All of the pictures are great of the dolls, too. Joy must be especially joyful to have her new doll. What a wonderful artisan painted the face. I find myself once again seconding the comments above about the pictures.
Thank you, Linda Gronvall, for the pictures of the dolls wearing your creations. Quite an accomplishment! The details are so interesting. Thanks for telling us about them. I have used the McCalls 6855 to make the Indian sari (one of my daughter-in-laws is Indian, born in Kenya) and the African ensemble. It’s fun to accumulate the proper fabrics as you did to use with the patterns. The pictures with the yard as the background are wonderful. I love seeing other readers’ pictures of their dolls. Thanks again.
Hi Susette,
Micah and Danae had invited 400 people to their wedding but it was way too many for our church so they had it somewhere else. It still was packed and I saw people standing.
I loved looking at all the Swedish dresses Linda made too. I should have said something about her pretty yard in the background too! It was a fabulous picture!
Susette, could you send me that link to the “Fashions through the Ages” again. I wanted to share it with everyone, but I tried clicking on the link I thought it was but it just came up as a facebook page. It was the one where the dresses morphed from one to another. Thst was so interesting!
Blessings, Jeanne
Dear Jeanne, what lovely wedding photos. Blessings to the couple as they begin their lives together.
I loved all of the doll photos.
Congratulations to Joy for receiving her precious Little Darling.
I had a great time at the Madame Alexander Doll Club convention! I only came back with one doll so I was very disciplined (laugh).
Hi Dorothy,
Thanks for all your comments…BUT WE WANT TO KNOW WHAT DOLL YOU BOUGHT!!!
You may have come back with ONLY one doll, but you also came back with a lot more $$$$ in your wallet. :o)
Thanks Dorothy,
Blessings, Jeanne
Wonderful picture of the newlyweds. She does look tiny. I can’t imagine wearing a size 2 at all let alone having to take it in. The reception venue was lovely and I love the painted flowers. In Schulenburg, TX, there are a lot of what they call the “painted churches”. They are very old and the history is amazing. You can find them online. They are a sight to behold. This room reminded me of them.
Joy what a fortunate person you are to have a Little Darling painted by Dianna herself. Every time I visit the website they are not taking orders. Emily is absolutely beautiful.
Linda Gronvall, I totally enjoyed the pictures of the traditional Swedish outfits. That was quite an undertaking. Definitely an ambitious project and you did an amazing job.
Can’t wait to see the July 4th pictures!
Hi Barbara,
I’d like to have one of my married couple parties in this room…it would be so romantic.
Dianna was sandis the artist who created the Effner Little Dsrljngs
I am very blessed to have my Isabelle, who is painted by Dianna. She does a marvelous job!!
I received your pictures, Barbara, and will add them to my post.
Thanks so much,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thank you, Jeanne for posting my photo and all of you ladies for your kind comments on the Swedish folk outfits. They were mostly fun to make… only mild frustrations. The garden is all my husbands work. Linda D. you asked about the flower wreaths. The middle doll’s wreath is from “Debbies Doll Dresses.” She has booths at Scandinavian festivals in the mid-west and a web site. The other two I made with flowers from the Dollar Store. Susette commented on collecting the fabrics. You might enjoy this story…. after several years of looking for a stripped fabric with the right colors to use for the aprons, I found a black and white stripped piece. Bought it, went home and got out my permanent markers and made my own fabric with the right colors!
Fun to visit with you all. Happy 4th of July
Linda G.
Wonderful!!! Love it!!! How very clever. I had better luck with a fortunate buy at M&L Fabrics, a huge store about three miles from my home, when I was looking for fabric to make the African dress with McCall’s 6855. I would like to make a Swiss ensemble as I am named after my great-great-great grandmother who came here from Switzerland. So my name has the Swiss spelling as opposed with a Z as in French.
Hi Susette,
Maybe Linda has inspired both of us to make a new Swedish or Swiss dress soon!
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Linda G,
It was MY pleasure to show your Swedish dresses to everyone. I can tell you, we all loved seeing them.
How clever to use markers to make your own fabric. That was pretty ingenious!
Thanks for the heads up about Debbie’s Doll Dresses! Maybe she’ll get some extra business!!
You thought I inspired you…I think now YOU have inspired me!
Thanks again
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
Anxious to see what you will come up with! Will be delightful, I’m sure!
Linda G