Love is Blue wedding week officially kicked off yesterday when the bride and groom to be dropped by to put a bow on last minute it’s all in the details wedding planning.
They love the wedding week themed accents and decorations on the dining room table and sideboard- save the date cards for both weddings (local and Canada), photos from family weddings past, and custom wrapped wedding gifts.
Vintage ivory and wedding white lead the color palette, and a subtle hint of light blue celebrates the baby boy coming into our oldest nephew’s family this August.
Light blue ruled the color scheme of the 1960s and 1970s wedding.
As I primped and prettied the wedding themed vignettes, the phrase love is blue popped into my head.
Boy, does that bring back a fabulous memory!
Mr. and Mrs. Ron Howard ~ June, 1975
These Happy Wedding Days are Yours and Mine
What a difference four decades make!
Elle Decor ~ Chaz Cruz Photographers
I have always loved the song “Love is Blue” by Paul Mauriat.
The beautiful instrumental was a favorite song of a childhood friend.
Each time I heard the song over the years my thoughts immediately went back to times spent at her house- one of my favorites in our neighborhood and one I spent countless hours in when growing up.
I had no idea a come full circle moment was in my future.
Who knows why I was coming over to my parents house on this particular late Tuesday afternoon in the summer of 1986, but it turned out to be a fabulous decision to do so.
As I was getting close to my parent’s house (now our home) I noticed a U-Haul truck backed up to the garage of the house referenced above.
Flippers can spot a potential flip property a mile away.
This time I spotted a property a block away that maybe, just maybe we could buy, remodel, and call home.
I hit the back door heading straight to the kitchen Trimline telephone (no cell phones at the time) to place a call to Dave the Builder.
The Trimline telephone was about to put a new home in our remodeling hands.
That phone call was a life changer for us, and the call to action fished out the information I was hoping to hear.
The owner (the father of my childhood friend) retained ownership of the house when the parents divorced.
He lived in the house a few years, eventually turning the house into rental property.
Financial issues caused the one and only family to rent the property to vacate without notice (the owner learned of their departure when Dave called to inquire about the property).
Being in the right place at the right time opened the door for us to put in an offer to purchase the property.
Style at Home
Be careful what you ask for, because you might just get it.
Don’t get me wrong, we were thrilled with the house however, disrepair is the best way to describe the interior of the house when we purchased it.
A state of disrepair proves a powerful bargaining chip in real estate negotiations, and being seasoned flippers we were unfazed.
The ink wasn’t dry on the closing papers when Dave and the crew got down and dirty with the demo.
Once the nasty carpet, outdated parquet floors, tacky paneling and biting fleas went bye bye, it was time to make things pretty again.
Working, measuring and consulting demands concentration, and I concentrate so much better when music is playing.
Standing deep in color fan deck thought, the sound of music pulled my attention toward the Nutone intercom upon the wall.
As if on cue from an afternoon in 1967, “Love is Blue” began to play on the radio.
Fate?
Happenstance?
Elle Decor ~ Amanda MacDonald Photography
Whatever it was, the impact of this love is blue very special moment stopped me in my tracks of joyous tears.
Special milestones such as realizing your dream of home ownership, celebrating the weddings of a son and a nephew, and the arrival of a new baby have a way of doing that.
