Sharp/Smothers Wedding Part 3

LET'S PARTY!!!!!!! 

Onto happy hour and the reception!!!!

Shawn and I wanted to ensure that our guests really enjoyed themselves at our reception, we also wanted the reception to be reminiscent of Christmas at Grandma's house.  Who doesn't love going to Grandma's house for Christmas?  Her house smells so yummy and delicious, your cousins, aunts and uncles are all there teasing each other.  I can still hear my dad and my uncle Don and my cousin Gary ribbing each other about whatever the hot topic was that day, meanwhile my uncle Richard just sat back and chuckled at their silliness.  I always loved getting out my Grandma's good dishes to set the table with, she had the cutest spoons, they were Shirley Temple spoons, I looked forward to getting the good china out of the hutch and the silverware out of the buffett and setting the table. 
I digress....

Happy Hour ran rampant during the wedding party's icy limo ride around Centerville Iowa. 

Our guests were able to sip on speciality coffee's and hot chocolate from a local barista while being entertained by the Centerville Swing Choir, who enthusiastically sang Christmas Carols for over an hour for our guests. 

We wanted to keep the happy hour theme and so we served Mashed Potato Martini's and Shrimp Shooter Cocktails!
The Mashed Potatoes were garlic mashed and the guests were able to put whatever toppings they would prefer, onions, bacon, cheese, sour cream - make it the works folks, everyone loves loaded mashed potatoes!  These were served in a martini glass.
Shrimp shooters were served in shot glasses full of cocktail sauce and shrimp. 

For our meal we served the works, something you would get at Grandma's house.  We wanted our guests to be nice and full!!!!

Menu consisted of:
Salad - Caesar or mixed greens
Main Entree - Chicken breast on rice pilaf bed or a roasted pork loin
Side Choices - Green beans with almonds and ham, and buttered corn
Starch: either a baked potatoe with the fixings and party potatoes

Our menus were printed on 11x17 white paper and folded in front of each guests place setting. 

Each guests place setting included the following:
Party Favor/Christmas Gift wrapped in a clear box - Applesauce and Cinnamon ornament for their tree
A Christmas Tree
A fleece mitten which was sewn by my mother in law, to hold the silverware.  I glued on the mongolian sheeps wool cuff (this was the same wool used on our invitations).  A sprig of Evergreenery was placed under the mitten just for fun!

Before each table was served they had to "compete" to be served food first....

our reception emcee (my uncle Don Davis) refrereed this chaos.... guests had books on the tables of things that they could do as a table.

Examples: Stand up, and sing Jingle Bells, give the bride and groom a smooch on the cheek, do the Chinese Fire Drill around your table etc.  It was CRAZY fun and everyone laughed and were entertained while waiting for their food.

Our wedding cake was actually made by a local gal in Centerville, Laura Brown.  It is actually fake!  Shawn and I are neither ones huge fans of cake so we went with a fake cake (saved us money in the long run!) 

The cake table showcased our mothers wedding dresses as well as our parents wedding photos.  My mom's dress is on the left and Shawn's mothers dress is on the right. 

Our cake was frosted in creamy white frosting and sprinkled heavly with coconut to resemble snow.  Laura also sprayed opalescent glitter all over the cake since it wasnt being eaten by guests.  The cake was topped off with HUGE "diamonds" to bring in the bling bling!

After the meal our guests were treated to frozen grapes to cleanse their pallates, Moscato di'Asti or Sparkling Grape Juice, and then the dessert!  Triple Marscaponne Cheese Cake from Sweet Binneys in West Des Moines.  Folks this cake is from heaven... the Lord himself may make this cake in his free time.  There is a dark fudge crust, layers of dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate....  *sigh* HEAVENLY!!!!  Also on the plate was a delicious sugar cookie from Mrs. Beerends from Sully, IA. She makes the BEST sugar cookies ever!!!  Her husband made the cookie cutter just for our wedding!  These cookies were glazed in chocolate and vanilla frosting.

Our reception decorations consisted of 5 different table scapes.  Remember I dont like things to be matchy matchy LOL!

1.) Silver trees adorned with mirrored garland - quick drying cement mix inside a terra cotta pot, a tree branch - let it dry, spray paint the "tree" and tie mirrored garland to the branches.  The garland was made by glueing 2 pieces of mirrors to fishing line.

2.) Low centerpieces of evergreenry, ostrich feathers and gold ball ornaments, spider mums, curly willow and the herbs of sage, rosemary and lemongrass.

3.) Clear vases filled with frozen peas and cream roses and hydrangeas placed inside the vase.  As the peas melt, they water the flowers! 

4.) Full length mirrors bought at Walmart, painted frames with oversized pinecones, and various heights of candles, some even held in candelabras found at thrift stores.

5.) 3 different sized clear vases with Cream colored hydrangeas, roses and carnations.

To mix up the seating and to maximize the space we did have to use different table types.  We used both circular and rectangular. 

We used wrapping paper as table runners on each table.  At the end of the night you just grab it, bunch it up, and throw it away!  We had 5 different prints of paper, all in the green family.  This also saves on renting more linens....

We rented our linens from a company in New Sharon - I would highly recommend them.  We used both cream colored and olive green tie back sashes to again, keep things different. 


Our head table was kept simple with our last name as the showcase feature.  The letters were bought online from Oriental Trading and spray painted gold.  Fresh evergreen garland and green glittered ornaments were on display as well.

I actually brought our personal china from home for the head table, along with the gold chargers.  I made the champagne flutes - well I bought the plastic champange flutes, and then glued on swaroski crystals all over the flute for the bling. 

The tie backs on the head table were spiced up a bit with evergreenry and pinecones to bring in the earthly feel.

Each person in the wedding party were given 5 free drink tickets along with a diamond ring paper weight that we actually re-purposed into napking rings LOL!  The diamond rings were purchased online.

Shawn and I danced to "This Years Love" by David Gray, absolutely the sweetest song...

My brother and I danced to "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King. One of the greatest songs to represent our relationship.... no matter how crappy kid.... just stand by me... we shall make it thru...

Shawn and his mother dance to "Simple Man" by Shinedown.  Shawn liked this version better than the Lynard Skynard version.  I think its a great song!!!!

To Be Continued....

Sharp/Smothers Wedding Part 2

Onto the sanctuary and the wedding party today!

Photos by: Stone Photography, Oskaloosa IA
Flowers by: Shelly Sarver, Pella IA
Hair by: Sonja Morris
Make-up by: Susie Rouse

As guests entered the sanctuary they were greeted by ushers dressed in black on black pin stripped suits, with fantastic boutonnieres designed by Shelly Sarver in Pella, IA.  They included: Cinnomon sticks, evergreenry, lemongrass, sage along with saworski green crystals. Very masculine while still having a little bit of "bling" and glitz!  They smelled heavenly!!!  A close up picture of my handsome groom and his suit, and boutonniere -

Heres a picture of all the guys together, enjoying themselves!


Each row of pews was lit by 3 tiered candles, 2 vanilla cream candles and one cider mill scent from Pilgrim's Primatives (best scent ever!!!!) 
The runner was already pre-laid and pinned to the floor, so guests were seated from the outside rather than seated from the aisle. 

The stage was lined with full length mirrors that were purchased at Walmart and the frames were painted metallic gold.  Various candles filled the mirrors. 

The front of the stage was our unity candle table which held two arrangements of evergreenry, ostrich feathers, cream hydrangeas, spider mums, and cream roses.  (funny tidbit- these got burned by our candles, thankfully they didnt catch on fire!!!)

The 3 tiered candles were on stands that Shawn and his dad welded together.  They were covered with various cream colored draped fabric (I got on clearance at Walmart, and raided my mothers fabric stash!)


In the last blog posting I shared my love of my grandmas church lighting candles together and singing Silent Night...  So... we asked our guests to join in lighting candles around the church while Shawn and I lit our unity candle to signify everyone uniting us in marriage.  It was beautiful to look out into the church and see all the candles lit by our friends and family members!

 Our flower girl and ring bearer were dressed in semi casual clothes, we wanted them to be comfortable, as well as have outfits that could be worn later on as well.  Practical?  YES!!!!! 

Flower girl wore an outfit from the Gap, a red silk plaid skirt, a jean jacket with a cream fur vest.

She pulled a sled that was my fathers down the aisle, adorned with evergreenry and candles that were battery operated, safety first!

 Our ring bearer wore black cords, denium button shirt with a cream colored cable knit sweater.  He carried a red lantern with a candle (battery operated) inside.

 

Our bridesmaids wore sage green charmuse satin dresses that were just downright SEXY!!!!  Along with gold peep toe shoes, with a HOT 4" heel.  Oh my stars... the ladies looked HOT that night!  My mother in law sewed a fur wrap for them for when they went outside.  They wore a necklace made of 8 strands of creamy fresh water pearls, pearl earrings, a pearl neckalce with swaroski crystals. 

 They carried a pomander ball made of ostrich feathers, evergreenry, cream roses and hydrangeas, cinnomon sticks, rosemeary and sage. 
Their arrangements were embellished with their initial made from Swaroski Crystal. 

 My brother flew in from Seattle WA from his military post to walk me down the aisle.  He said it was a very difficult thing for him to do, but he was honored to have the priveledge. 

He carried a candle down the aisle in memory of my father, which was handed over to my mom when we got to the end of the aisle.  It was a very symbolic way to have my father with me on our special day.

My something borrowed: a brooch from my grandma, it was attached in my flowers.

My something New: My dress

My Something Blue: My initials were on the bottom of my shoes in blue glitter

My bridesmaids, mothers, and others participating in our wedding wrote letters of best wishes and pinned them to the underside of my dress... sending me down the aisle with their love and optimism for a long lasting partnership with Shawn!

My flowers were cream hydrangeas and roses, evergreenry, ostrich feathers and had large rhinestone inserts for the bling.  a picture of my father was also included with my flowers.  See he did walk with me down the aisle!

My hairstyle was inspired by the 1940 finger waves and pin up curls.  I wore crystal inserts in lieu of a veil.  I could never find a veil that complimented my dress, so I skipped the traditional route and showed off my girlfriends amazing talent!  Sonja Morris, you did an outstanding job!!!! 

After the ceremony our guests were given sparklers and matches that read "Come on Baby, Light my Fire!" I am big fan of The Doors, so it was a great way to add a little bit of them to the ceremony. 

  

 

Here we are in the limo after the ceremony!  It was my first limo ride, and I was super excited!!!! 

To be continued.......

Sharp/Smothers Wedding Part 1

In honor of my husband and I's 4th year anniversary I thought I would blog a series on our wedding and  share photos from our wedding held on December 15th, 2007.  As a little girl I always dreamed of having a Christmas wedding, the church was always decorated so nicely, and the holiday carols were sung, I loved the romance of the candles in the church windows that were lit during Christmas Eve service, and the cherry on top of it all was Christmas Eve service at my grandma's church, all those attending the service formed a circle around the sancturary and lit candles and sang Silent Night to close out the service.  It is a memory that is forever a tear - jerker for me, so beautiful and so striking, the candles, the unity of the guests, and the wonderous carol.  OHHHH... beautiful goose bumps!
We decided on the date of December 15th, as it was the Saturday closest to my fathers birthday who had recently passed away the year before, his birthday was December 17th. 
The Theme - HOLIDAY GLAMOUR....  1940's hairstyles and make-up, big bling, mixed with the earthly elements that make Christmas special, the spices, the evergreenry and the beautiful striking individuality of the curly willow that sticks out on the winter landscape.
Now the year before some good friends of ours had gotten married on the same weekend (December 16th) and the weather was in the 60's!  Our wedding the weather was the exact opposite!  It not only rained the morning of our wedding, and froze, it then snowed 5 1/2 inches of snow on top.  It made for some gorgeous photos outside, however fairly dangerous for our guests who were traveling. 

We were married at the United Methodist Church in Centerville

In the entry the guest book table took command, the table was decorated with Christmas trees adorned with cream hydrangeas gold ornaments, clear lights and curly willow branches.  The table itself held many various candles, cider mill from prilgrim primitives (the best smell EVER!) mixed with vanilla and cinnamon.  The church smelled like Christmas for sure!  Candles were displayed on full length mirrors with gold and silver metallic ornaments intermixed for filler.  A couple of our engagment photos were on display as well, along with the words "I DO" in the middle to symbolize the awesome adventure we were about in embark on!

Our guests were encouraged to write warm wishes and their names on quilt squares instead of in a traditional guestbook.  Shawn's grandma pieced the squares together, and we now hold this quilt on display in our bedroom, its very special to us!  Guests used fabric pens (green ink of course) which were enhanced from the basic marker look to have glitter and beads and crystals on them.  Its all in the details folks!

Guests were able to place wedding cards in an antique mailbox that I found at a flea market, it was originally adorned with salmon pink flowers which I painted creamy white to match our wedding decor I also added some glitter elements as well....  One can never have enough glitter! 

As the guests traveled thru the foyer and towards the santuary they were greeted by a very close friend of ours at the program table.  Our programs were handmade from cream colored cardstock with rounded edges.  The outside was stamped with the same snowflakes that were on our invites in the colors of olive and sage green.  The inside of the program was adorned with engement photos printed on vellum, the order of the wedding, and crossword puzzles as well as a word search for the guests while they were waiting for the wedding to start.

The programs were held together with little rings that were adorned with miscellaneous ribbons that matched our wedding decor. 

In case you havent noticed, I dont like to have everything matchy matchy.... I think that with the different textures, colors, prints etc that the effect is one of a kind, electic if you will, but cohesive at the same time.
As you make plans for your special day, make sure that you are true to you and your partners style, make your event one that showcases both of you!  Make it unique, remember you are like a snowflake, there is no one else out there like you!!!!!

To be continued....