However, I do want to share my brother's beautiful wedding. I asked my lovely new sister-in-law as I was taking a bajillion pictures and she gave her permission. They got married in Virginia on October 19.
I love how Benjamin and Ardilla kept the whole thing simple and real. There were no pretensions, no pretending. The "dress code" was basically your own interpretation of sharp. It was a 2 day party, and it was a PARTY!
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| This is what we started with...Well, this and a gorgeous setting. |
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| Friends from our childhood, and friends from Benjamin and Ardilla's present came together to help decorate the outdoor arena. This is the afternoon of "The Party ~ Day 1". |
Ardilla had a vision, and we did our best to give it life. Now, our best may not have been good enough, but thanks to the organization of Kadi Franson we came pretty close!
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| The vision required a lot of stretching and climbing ladders - I decided it was a good time to take pictures! :) |
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| "Now how do we make these look random?" |
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| My wonderful husband... |
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| ...and my hero from childhood. My friend, Jack Kouwe. |
So, while Benjamin and Ardilla were away, getting all the legal stuff done, we stretched, climbed, hung, strung and generally defined the party space for Night #1. Lanterns were hung over bigger bulbs and strings of fairy lights defined pathways. We also unstitched burlap sacks for table coverings. It was so much fun! Andy and I had the chance to work with Jack, and another couple from my childhood Bob & Sue.
I've known Bob and Sue my whole life - in fact, Bob sang the majority of the music at my wedding. My WHOLE life! When Andy and I pulled up to the cabin, I walked up to a woman directing the parking of another car and introduced myself...it was Sue. sigh. Obviously, it had been entirely too long (12 years) since I've seen her. So, having jobs to do while we got used to each others' company again was PERFECT (thank you, Kadi)!
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| Here is the space when I left. |
So, Andy and I went back to our "digs" to rest, shower and change and when I came back, this is what it looked like:
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| I LOVE that she went around and found beautiful fall leaves to decorate the vases. It was perfect! |
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| Every table had flowers and candle light. |
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| THIS was awesome! A "Grilled Cheese Bar", everyone made their own, they kept the grill on and you made a sandwich for yourself as you wanted to. This was on top of the burgers, brats and dogs. |
And let's not forget this was a party. There was a bluegrass band:
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| The Beer Ticks |
They were great, and there was a whole lot of square dancing - with a caller who taught us as we went. I'd love to show you pictures of how much fun we had...but I was too busy getting swung around and dosey-doing! :)
I'll share more about the beautiful DAY 2 next time. I hope you enjoyed visiting it (and allowing me to REvisit it), it was one of the happiest times of 2013 for me.
Karlie
