All In

167 pieces

After the fun I had cutting a surprise puzzle as a wedding gift for Tom and Yara, I wanted to something similar for Kim and Jim, who met through me. But I didn’t to do the same type of “heart” outline as Tom and Yara’s puzzle. Plus, I liked the background of this photo of Kim and Jim taken at the altar right after the “You may now kiss the bride” announcement.

I brought in the top edge so that some flowers and hearts could bump out from the edge. The rose and the stargazer lily on the left side are individual figure pieces that interlock with the edge just because of their shape. I also cut a nearly-identical rose and lily in the interior, just to confuse the assemblers as they look for pieces to surround the flower pieces. I used sliver dropouts to accentuate the bottom of the four hearts that bump out from the edge. Jim expressed considerable frustration (which I take as a compliment) when he realized I had left out those small parts of the puzzle.

All the figure pieces can be seen below; most of them are personalized for them. E.g., he likes dragons and has a daughter, and they have two cats and two dogs. One of the dogs had to wear a cone for months before the wedding for medical reasons, so I decided to cut a cone over the dog’s head in the figure piece :-).

The title "All In" is a reference to the poker phrase that they both often use to declare their strong commitment to an activity; they even both used it in place of the traditional "I do" during their wedding ceremony.