Reception Things

I hope you're not sick of these yet, because guess what? We still have three more! Sorry guys. It's gonna happen, so you might as well convince yourselves that you like it.

My brother Jordan and my unofficial brother Nate are currently in New York and Germany serving 2-year missions for our church. I put my dad in charge of making sure they were represented at the wedding, and this was the life-size portrayal I found at the sign-in table.

I'd always dreamed of a July wedding with a reception held in my grandmother's lush backyard (just like my parents had). I figured the chances of that working out were something like 11 to 1, but the stars aligned. Nice timing, hubs.

It rained on-and-off for the first hour which maybe repelled some potential guests, but it also created magical scenes like the one below (ah, young love) and cooled the July evening off nicely. Plus, the "line" ended under a beautifully lit tree that kept most of us dry.

Jared's lovely sister Marie made a detachable birdcage veil for the headpiece she made me (how is that even possible??). It took about half an hour for three bridesmaids working together to get it to lay nicely, but miracles happen!

Doing the flowers for my own reception  may have caused a lot of unnecessary pre-wedding-day stress, but I'm glad I did them. However, I might have some evil prideful feelings about the lovely huge buffet piece below. As delicious as the food, that beaut was. Each table was adorned with a lovely little flower arrangement (in cheap WalMart vases that we spray-painted gold), an authentic German hat, and a square vase with fish in it (inspired by my parents' wedding).

My basically-maid-of-honor, Julie, helped with these larkspur-and-willow arrangements and put together the bridesmaids bouquets and toss bouquets. She's a gem.

I can't even begin to fathom how much combined work goes into putting a wedding together! Even though I was in the middle of a lot of it, there was so much more going on. There were always bridesmaids working on outfits and setting up reception things, Jared's family sending out half the invitations and putting together an entire luncheon's worth of details (and lovely open house!), my own mother working on getting chairs and tablecloths and music and food, my grandmother and other family working on the yard all summer . . . and that's just the beginning. As much as I try to thank these people, I never feel like it's enough.

Receptions are crazy. So much work for one evening? And yet, people keep having them, because it's worth it. To introduce the love of your life to all the important people you've known, and to introduce them to him--that's something to party about.