A mind blowing wedding alter!
Well this certainly isn't something I normally share! This post serves two purposes...it lets me brag on one of my amazing children and there is a "moral" to this story.
So Matt sends me a text..."How hard would it be to build something like this."
His friend, Tanner and his bride-to-be, found this nifty little thing on Pinterest and decided it is exactly what they want for their wedding alter (again, I have no way to credit this picture!)
My first thought was...well that's no biggy! Until I realized it had SEVEN sides...this is a "heptagon." What the frick...I didn't even know such thing existed....how do you calculate the angles for something like this.
One time I asked my mega smart daughter (the one who got a 4.0 in engineering this semester!) how to calculate the circumference of a circle if I only knew the diameter. She then proceeded to give me a 2 hour geometry lesson....OH MY GOSH...all I want to do is make a stupid pillow not fry my brain!
I kinda felt that way with this monster...I can cut the boards and screw them together.... but figure the proper angles to make 7 sticks of wood fit together? That wasn't happening.
So what did Matt do? He did what I have taught him to do...he figured it out.
No, he couldn't find any tutorials on how to build a seven sided wedding arbor, but he calculated the lengths and angles of each board.
He even built a little "model" out of scrap wood to test his calculations....
They bought the wood and set up on the driveway to build it!
They used wood glue and the Kregjig to join the corners!
They built a base so it could stand upright and HOPEFULLY not blow over during the ceremony. The heptagon slips into it and can be secured with a couple of screws during setup! Cover them with a pretty rug and floral arrangements and you will never know they are there!!
Goofballs...this one's going in the family Christmas letter...lol!
(I love Tanner's shirt..."It takes a village!")
There are so many things I wish my dad would have had time to teach me...but one of the most valuable life-lessons he taught me was that if I want something...figure it out. It may take some research or brain storming or sleepless nights...but figure out how to do it, roll up your sleeves and just do it!
And he gave me the confidence to do just that!
Sitting in the garage (on my hands because it is real hard for me to sit and watch while others use my chop saw and kregjig!) watching my son calculate, cut and construct was one of those "proud parent" moments...my son was using a life-lesson my dad taught me and I passed on to him! If you want something built, figure it out and just do it!
Last week was Father's Day and marked the 23rd anniversary of his death.
He would be proud!
I know I am!
