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.
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....
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