Time to put this baby to rest for awhile! We're married already. I'm sure that as photos continue to trickle in there are elements that I'd like to post. I don't have any photos of how beautiful the lodge looked except glimpses here and there.
While I was drinking champagne and having my make-up done, there was an army of family and friends transforming the lodge and the cafe into wedding wonderland. And just my style with plenty of pine boughs, little white lights, handmade goodness. Hopefully some lodge photos will find their way to me and I will post them.
The lighting wasn't the best for photos in the lodge - it was mainly lit with our branch light arrangements and candles, so most of the photos were taken over at the reception. We didn't have a traditional wedding photographer but a friend generously stepped in and took some posed photos of us so that we would have something to grace the cover of a photo album should I ever have time to do one.
Over in the cafe Michelle and her staff had already transformed the look of the place from everyday eaterie to winter lodge and then the army began the finishing touches.
The table arrangments,
the snow globes,
and the finishing touches (thought of last minute) of mason jars with artificial snow and the flameless candles on each table. Adding just that little bit of glow.
I hope someone got a photo of the cupcakes. We had them on silver trays, we had them on the tiered servers I made from vintage plates, we had black pin-striped boxes for take-home cupcakes. We had carrot cake, chocolate with salted caramel frosting, and red velvet.
The DJ was a hit and he got us on the dance floor early and often.
There was a lady's dance, a men's dance and the chicken dance. There was the obligatory "YMCA" dance. There was the first dance, the father-daughter dance, the money dance. And so many people got up and danced!
The photo booth was a huge hit. I wished I'd gone in there with each and every person but kept getting pulled away back to the dance floor. And I'm loving looking through the files on our computer. We're going to market and rent our booth locally, and we are going to sell kits for other DIYers. We learned a lot from building this booth and want to make it easier on other DIY brides and grooms.
At the last minute I decided I didn't want a guest book and went looking online for alternatives. We decided on cutting quilt squares and asking our guests to sign them.
There was a table set up in the store adjoining the cafe, where the photo booth resided, and enough light and space there to sit down and focus on a square. We'll send those off to a quilter friend and ask her to do her magic.
I wish I could hit the rerun button and do it all again. So much of the day and the evening are a blur. I suppose that is what the photos are for, and the few videos that were shot.
All the work was worth it. The flowers turned out wonderfully, the details were pretty much as I'd hoped, and everyone seemed to have a good time - which really was the goal. All through the planning we'd kept our eye on that one objective. We wanted our friends to come to celebrate with us and leave with wonderful memories of a fun, happy evening.
We're getting back to normal life and these posts will return to horses, dogs and making things. What shall I focus on next?
