The BIG Day!

Sorry for the delay in posting this message, but it's been a crazy month since Jennifer and Dave's wedding. There are so many things I could talk about that happened throughout the LONG day, but I'll try to keep this short and sweet.

I can't believe it didn't rain and Jennifer and Dave were able to have their beautiful garden wedding. I was making calls throughout the day to my local meteorologist (aka my mother) who was glued to weather.com. It was not looking good. 80% chance of heavy rain, hail, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes. SERIOUSLY? How in the world were we going to pull this off with no true "indoor" facilities? I never let others know I was worried and I assured them we would make it work. Somehow it worked...there was not one drop of rain. It was as humid as South Carolina in August, but I'll take that any day over rain on someones outdoor wedding.

I completely underestimated the need for assistance from my husband to help with decorating. He turned out to be my right hand man along with his best friend and the matron of honor's husband. I don't know how many lanterns they hung (and re-hung) when I decided I didn't like them in certain places, but I seriously could not have done it without them. I don't' think they knew what they were getting themselves into and certainly didn't expect to be saying things like "there is too much yellow in that corner" or "that lantern clashes with those flowers" but they did and they were great sports about it. However, by the end of our decorating session, they were in serious need of some "man" time.

I also underestimated the need for help from friends of the mother of the bride. There were so many people that wanted to help and I welcomed all of them with open arms. However, I didn't know what I was going to have them do and was worried about people standing around with nothing to do. I let them get to work on the centerpieces and it couldn't have worked out better. They did a beautiful job on what turned out to be very time consuming project and everyone stayed busy. I don't know how I would have done it without them. I certainly learned if there is someone who wants to help...let them! I am self-admitted OCD when it comes to things I am working on and although it's hard to let go and let others help, I realize delegating is one of the best things I can do!

Everyone I worked with was absolutely FABULOUS....especially the photographers, Andy and Lynnell Hayes of Hayes Photography. All of the wonderful photos come from them and I can't say enough great things about them. They were so easy to work with and so responsive. The captured the day beautifully. The following shots show some of the details that we added to the venue to reflect Jennifer and Dave's personality. They lived in Korea for a year and that time was very special to them, so they wanted to incorporate an Asian "flair" while using colors and details that complemented the venue. We used paper lanterns, Chinese take-out boxes, and paper umbrellas to achieve this effect and everyone was very pleased with the outcome.

The other incredible vendors that Jennifer and Dave chose included:

Ceremony and Reception Venue: Alpine Park and Gardens
Barry and Sherry Homan know what they are doing at Alpine. It is a beautiful setting for a ceremony they certainly know how to throw a party. Barry is a master on the grill and everyone is still raving about the food!

Ceremony Musicians: Astraios String Quartet
Carolina Neves Merritt is the contact for this group that produced beautiful music for the ceremony.

DJ: Shawn Crowe
Shawn kept the music flowing and the dance floor full all night! He offers a variety of music and was very accommodating with the bride and groom's requests.

Cake and Flowers: Hy-Vee
Delicious cake and beautiful flowers.