Wedding: More photos of the Wedding Day

My mom read my post from yesterday and promptly informed me she had photos for most of things I was missing.  After spending 6 hours helping her email them to me (explaining and re-explaining), I now have them in my hot little hands.  So without further ado.....(oh, and it really didn't take 6 hours...more like 1 hour and 45 text messages).

This was such a fun and whimsical space.  Behind all the curtains and doors (and windows) is the space the catering staff was using.  This corner has a great mix of texture and color; vintage with new.

A quick shot of the hidden space.  I was so impressed with how efficient the catering staff was in a space that was not meant for food prep.  They had to bring water- both to serve and as a hand-washing and dish-washing stations.  They kept everything well organized and frankly you could have picked them up and put them in a posh hotel space and other than their attire being a tad informal they would have fit right in.  Definitely a top notch job-both food and service- by Salt Of The Earth.

This is the charcuterie that Salt Of The Earth served right after the ceremony.  It was both visually STUNNING and mouth-wateringly delicious.  This table- which belongs to the barn- couldn't have been a more perfect setting for the charcuterie.  Curious about what foods were included in this charcuterie?  It's all on the chalkboard below.

All the components were amazing, but the bread...oh the bread...my husband and I are complete bread snobs.  Sadly, we live in an area with crappy bread so it was such a treat to eat bread as it should be- crunchy crust with meaty inside...hmmmmmmm.... It is probably worth a trip over to Fennville just to stock up on bread. 

I didn't have a photo of the tables AFTER the place settings were completed...now I do.  Isn't it all so pretty? I LOVE the teal napkins against the burlap runners and white tablecloths and the blue bell jars and the pastel flowers.  It just all fits the vintage theme Brandin wanted.

This is right after the wedding as the catering staff was bringing in the chairs (we used the same chairs for the ceremony and reception) and my daughter and I, as well as the staff, ran around and dried them off.  The rain had really picked up right as the ceremony ended.

All week we had beautiful weather but it's Michigan and one takes a risk with an outdoor wedding. Someone told me that it is good luck to have rain on one's wedding day....of course I was told this when it started raining on MY wedding day (thankfully, it was at the very end of the day).  I'd like to believe the sentiment is true and I'm still happily married 19 years later.  Saturday, it started to drizzle around 10am but then it stopped.  Our rain plan wasn't a great one- it involved everyone sitting at the tables in the barn and the bride and groom standing at one end.  There would be.no aisle to walk down and the space wasn't decorated appropriately for the ceremoney.  The ceremony was scheduled for 12:30 so we kept praying to Mother Nature (sorta of like "Please Mother....Please hold off the rain....") Hmmmm maybe I should have had the kids to an "anti-rain dance"?  Anyway, she didn't listen and it started raining again about 12:15 with radar showing more rain coming.  I asked Brandin what she wanted to do and she calmly asked me if everyone was sitting in the seats (the seats outside) .  I told her "yes" to which she said "well I will go out there in the rain" ok, let's go".  What a trooper...no Bridzilla's at this wedding!  Someone gave her dad an umbrella to hold while she walked down the aisle but then she just stood in the rain with the rest of us.  It was drizzling through most of the ceremony and didn't  really start raining hard until right at the end of the ceremony.  Everyone headed into the barn and it was all good.   I will post ceremony photos tomorrow.

Right after the ceremony Bill and Brandin signed their marriage license while the maid of honor sits in the background.  You can see from these photos that nobody looks like they stood in the rain for 20 minutes.  ***During the reception I learned that the maid of honor and I share a birthday...that means I expect at least a card, Brandin.  

This photo is blurry, but you can see that Brandin looked divine.  Her hair and makeup were gorgeous, her dress is beautiful, and the attendants looked amazing.  Brandin works at a salon and her fellow stylists did all the hair and makeup. Her friend made the headpiece and I embellished the sash (I will have tutorial for that later).  Brandin was a very pretty, very relaxed, and very HAPPY bride.  She sat back and enjoyed the day with her man- letting me and Casey (and his catering staff) handle all the little problems that are inevitable at such an event.  Weddings are about celebrating the love between two people; a love that will create a new family.  Weddings aren't about checking off squares on a preprinted listed one found in Bride's magazine.... 

• reception line (check)  
• toast (check)
• first dance (check)
• father-daugther dance (check)
• walk around and speak to everyone- while they try to eat (and you end up not eating anything).  In order to reach everyone you can spend 1.3 seconds per person...go (check)
• garter (check)
• throw bouquet (check)

You get the idea.  The wedding industry is a ridiculous juggernaut of do's and don'ts that are ridiculous.  Couples need to tailor the wedding to their style.  Brandin and Bill had pie and ice cream sundaes- not cake, they skipped the reception line altogether, and nobody tossed a bouquet or a garter belt.  They did do the first dance and father/daughter dance but then they sat down- they aren't big dancers.  There was a small dance floor for the guests who wanted to dance but there were no chickens dancing, no Macarenas shaking or gundam styling.  I wish all brides and grooms would realize that it is their day to celebrate their love and therefore it should be all about them.  I've been to enough weddings to observe that if the couple is happy and relaxed then every one of their guests will be as well.