Well, it's Thursday and the wedding is over and the newlyweds are safely (except for a sprained wrist) on their honeymoon. There was a point last week when I wondered if we would all survive the big event, but we did!
As much as I'd love to jump right back into to thrift-treasure posts, the good-mom in me just has to share a little about THE WEDDING.
From Wednesday afternoon on, this yard was just a beehive of activity! The tent (complete with side-walls, tables, chairs, dance floor, and linens) was supposed to be here on Wednesday at noon. Without going into too much detail, I'll just tell you that it all arrived in 3 stages over 3 days, with the LINENS arriving on Friday afternoon. Needless to say, the bride was not happy (and was really just a step or two above frantic)!
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| The tent on Thursday morning |
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| The tent on Friday morning |
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| The new dock (complete with the groom and best man fishing on Thursday afternoon) |
There were so many people in our house on Friday and Saturday, getting things ready, running errands, getting showers, getting 'beautified' and changing clothes (I estimate 15-18), that you could barely move. At one point about an hour before the wedding, I walked past a young man who'd obviously just showered in our basement bathroom and I had absolutely NO idea who he was! I just smiled and said hi!
Here's the funny part -- I grew up in a household where my mom would freak out if she even had 4 people over for dinner, unless they were very close friends. Every entertainment was a major event, causing so much tension and upset that it just wasn't worth doing it. My husband (and his family) couldn't be more opposite -- they love nothing more than opening up their home to people. Thankfully, I've learned a lot from him in 35 years and have gotten much more relaxed about it all. Still, my sister said no less than 6 times on Saturday night, "I can't believe you did this! Our mother would be amazed!" Well, I'm amazed, too!
The weather was absolutely picture-perfect... 75 and sunny, with a light breeze, a brilliant blue sky and big fluffy movie-clouds.
At about 11:00, the 'venue' was ready and that's when I shot these pictures:
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| Even the scarecrow dressed up for the wedding |
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| The gate & flowerbed leading to the garden |
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| This picture and the one above are the bed where we had 3 dead pines removed. The flowers were hanging baskets I bought on Wednesday! As a thrifter/hoarder, I had plenty of containers for them...
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| This bed was completely dug up, 'repaired' and the plants replanted. They didn't come back very well, so they were helped along with some annuals. |
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| The inside of the tent on Saturday |
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| No venue is complete without the 'necessaries' |
50 to100 guests sat (and stood) by a 275+ year-old oak tree as my son & his bride were married. It was his special request to be married there because of the age and strength of the oak (pretty neat imagery, I think).
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| The wedding site & the old oak tree |
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I got as far back as I could
and you still don't get a feel for how big the tree is |
The reception was in the tent between our barn and garden and about 125 people were there for that. We celebrated the bride & groom, at cookout food, wedding cake and danced the night away.
I had cleaned out the chicken coop on Tuesday and it's a good thing I did -- lots of people wanted to see the girls and get their picture taken with them. It was sort of a poor man's photo booth! Between the loud music, extra light, 'tourists' in the hen house and people walking back and forth, the girls were NOT amused!
I can still hardly believe that we actually hosted a wedding here! I was busy Saturday night being 'mother of the groom' and didn't take a single picture -- fortunately, we have the wonder of Facebook! Within an hour there were pictures online that I could grab for this post.
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| The happy newlyweds |
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| First dance as man & wife |
As a parting shot, I'll share THIS parting shot -- it's one of my favorites and the one I thought they should use for an engagement picture. That's Sylvia, the world's sweetest dog, in the foreground!
