Wedding Reception Advice (Since Now Of Course I Am An Expert:-)

While still waiting for pictures from the photographer, I wanted to post some things I learned about wedding receptions this past month. Here is some of my best advice after two weddings.

1. Have a Theme

Of course this isn't necessary, but it does make decorating easier--or at least gives it direction. Since it was July in Arizona, being outside was not a possibility, so Kristen wanted to bring the outdoors inside with a garden theme. We collected a lot of plants and flowers from friends and neighbors to use and for the centerpieces we painted ceramic flower pots blue and filled them with fresh daisies. (This was just a picture where I was testing out the colors.)

We also incorporated the theme into the dessert bar. She wanted to have an ice cream sundae bar, so I covered a renovated cupcake stand in moss, and used plant pots to put the ice cream toppings. Her infamous cake sat on top. (Which we do not have a picture of right now.)

2. Make it Personal

I wanted there to be something about the reception that really made it personal to Kristen and Peter. True there were many things that reflected their personalities--we served Pizza and salad, (Kristen's favorite food) along with Peter's favorite punch and had a live string quartet instead of CD's and a disc jockey--but I wanted something more.

So incorporating the garden theme with Kristen's school teaching, we asked her third grade class for marriage advice (that you can read here). My friend Jenny then wrote the advice on canvas boards and another friend, Sonia, turned them into cute garden signs that we placed around the cultural hall. This turned out to be really fun as many guests walked around the room reading them all.

3. Have a Fun Exit Plan

I think it is nice to have a fun way to send off the newlyweds, plus give closure to the reception. My friend, Susan, removed the petals from fresh flowers and all the guests showered her daughter and husband with them as they left the wedding venue. I have also known people to light sparklers, and of course there is the throwing of rice or bird seed.

Being inside a church building, our options were limited. I also didn't want anything I would have to spend a lot of time cleaning up. In the end we chose to make luminaries for the guests.

We used small white paper bags that were trimmed down to about only four inches tall. We punched holes in each side and tied a ribbon through the holes to make a handle, decorated one side with paper daisies that we cut from yellow card stock and then taped a lit battery-powered tea candle to the bottom. (The batteries last for hours so you can turn them all on far in advance.)

At the end of the reception, we turned off the main lights and had all the guests line up in two columns, forming a path from the front of the cultural hall to the lobby. Each guest held up his or her luminary to make a lighted path for the bride and groom to pass as they began their life together. And then everyone cheered for them as they walked through the path.

I loved the symbolism of this. And clean up was easy.

4. Have a Wedding Coordinator for the Reception.

I asked a wedding coordinator what her best advice was and she told me to have a coordinator for at least the reception. I know that sounds exactly what you would expect a coordinator to say, but it turned out to truly be the best advice I received.

My friend Sonia accepted that responsibility. She is very detail oriented and a stickler for schedules so I was confident she would do a great job. And she did. In addition to handling any questions that came up from the many other wonderful friends helping out that night, and any problems that arose, Sonia got the musicians playing when it was time, made sure the young girls who were clearing tables stayed on top of their job, added more chairs when we ran out of tables, coordinated with the Emcee when it was time to cut the cake, etc., made sure Kristen had her tossing bouquet at the right time and handed out the luminaries at the end of the reception.

I didn't have to worry about anything. I just got to sit back and enjoy the reception. It was great!!

5. Looking for Material? There are many websites that sell ready made table cloths for a great price, but Kristen had her heart set on polka dots so I went on a search for fabric.(And then my good friend Lisa turned it into darling table cloths!) While searching, I found two wonderful websites for fabric. One is called www.fabric.com . Another is www.warehousefabricsinc.com . It really has just about anything you might want and you can search by color or pattern.

What I would Do Differently

1. We used the church cultural hall,which I am never excited about, but still it turned out beautifully. However, while at the reception I just saw the decorations, when I look at pictures afterward I just see the walls and that has been very disappointing to me. I think if I have to use the cultural hall again I will definitely tent it. Another option, that might be less expensive is to use all the partitions available and just drape gathered material over them and use them as backdrops all over the room. We did this in a couple places, but I wish I did more.

And since I still have two more weddings to go . . . I am interested in any advice anyone else out there might have to offer. Please, share!!

Georgia On My Mind . . .

We just got back late last night from a quick trip to Georgia where we attended an open house in honor of Kristen and Peter's wedding.

Lucky for us, Wes has both a brother and a sister who live there, so we received the royal treatment during our stay and had a great time visiting family.

His sister lives in a wonderful neighborhood. Many of the houses look like they came straight from the story books of my childhood. And the thick woods surrounding the houses seem so magical during the day, and almost eerie when you drive through them at night.

(The loud sounds from the tree frogs don't help that eeriness, I must say)

Being from the Arizona desert, looking out her back window to this beautiful, lush view was quite a treat.
While in town, we wanted to soak up some of the local culture, so we made a quick stop at The Varsity, a very popular restaurant in downtown Atlanta, adjacent to Georgia Tech, that specializes in healthy foods like chili cheese dogs, onion rings and orange freezes. This is a really bad picture (my husband took it very quickly) but I got such a kick out of the "tables" which were actually school desks!
We also had to make a quick run by "The Flying Biscuit" for a snack. We got a buttermilk biscuit and apple butter that was delicious!! (The picture is of Wes and his sister, who served as our Tour Guide Extraordinaire)
And in case you were wondering . . . we also ate some southern fried chicken! (Of course)

But our trip wasn't all about the food. We also had a little adventure. We decided to take a tour around downtown Atlanta on segways!!

Here Wes is practicing before we headed out across town.

And here is the three of us near the end of our three hour tour. The segways were a lot of fun and much easier to ride than I had anticipated. You only use the handlebars for steering. To move forward you just gently move your weight to the balls of your feet, to move backward you put your weight on your heels and to stop, you center your weight. That is it!

But as we scurried up hills in the humidity and heat, we did have a lot of fellow tourists give us envious looks. Seriously--I would look for this kind of tour in any city from now on!

And then of course, we also attended the wedding celebration at Peter's parent's house. They have a beautiful home in northern Georgia and just getting there was an adventure--due to bad traffic and gorgeous scenery.

Here they are greeting some of their guests.
We had a good showing from our family as well. Below are two of my nieces who made the drive up. Brittany (r) also brought along her two little boys.
Wes' brother's family also came along with a surprise--Aunt Celeste and Uncle Vaughn. In this picture is Sunny, Lexie and their mother Dawn (who is Wes' brother's wife-and yes, I know she looks like one of the girls rather than their 40 plus mother!!) And also on the right is my husband's Aunt Celeste.
She and her husband Vaughn totally surprised us by driving over from Kentucky!! Following the open house we went to their hotel and visited for about another hour and half.

And then of course we also got to spend a little time (and I mean very little) with the bride and groom who still appear happily married--after one entire week!

I am hoping to soon get up pictures of the wedding and reception in Arizona but I am waiting on the photographer. As soon as I get some though, I will post them.

And now we are back to our heat. I will have a little time at home before I head off to Colorado for the birth of our third grandchild!!

Life is good. And definitely brings . . . joy to my journey.

Sweet Tales from the Wedding

After months of planning, and countless hours of work on the part of innumerable people, Kristen and Peter’s wedding went off beautifully. I didn’t take very many pictures as I was busy with so many other things, and we had a photographer, but I hope to post pictures when they become available.

In the meantime, here are a few random stories from our weekend that I wanted to be sure to share.

1. Miracles of Miracles!! There were two miracles I witnessed this past weekend. The first is that my back held up through all the work and stress. I have a bad back and usually when I am in a highly stressful situation, or having to do a lot of physical work, my back flares up and I end up flat down in bed. This time I didn't have any serious back problems until the very end of the reception. But even then I made it through all the clean up!! Truly a miracle.

The second miracle was the weather!! It has been very hot here in Phoenix--about 105-110 degrees and somewhat humid. However, on the day of the wedding, I walked outside early in the morning and felt COOL air!! We had some pictures taken around 7 and additional pictures afterward and we never felt terribly hot. It was such a blessing!!!

1. I #2. A League of Their Own. I had a vision for the reception and worked for several months to make it a reality. The day finally arrived for us to set up and while my husband and several others tackled the drop ceiling, I went to work with two friends to create a faux gazebo where the musicians would perform. Before going to the church, I put together a box with everything I could think of that might be needed. I had string, wire, wire cutters, scissors, duct tape etc. I was so pleased with myself for being so prepared and proudly displayed my box to my friends. Sonia Holmes looked in it and then asked, “Where's the chocolate?” A big oversight to be sure. But soon Sonia and Michelle Hill were pulling out screws, screwdrivers and ladders from their supplies, and I quickly realized I was out of my league on this one. I was so glad they were there, and even happier to leave the construction of the gazebo to their capable care. They both were awesome and stayed many hours making sure everything was perfect!!

And here is a little sneak preview of how it looked. This was taken before the centerpieces arrived but gives you a basic idea. The structure in the back is what Michelle and Sonia put together using Kristy's 8 foot posts and 5 gallon buckets.

#3. DIY to the Extreme! I really wish I had a picture of the wedding cake!! Kristen did not want to serve cake and she did not want to pay for an expensive cake that wasn’t going to be served. So, being the resourceful, thrifty person she is, she decided to make the cake herself—with fondant frosting. Now she had never used fondant before, but she had seen several you tube tutorials, so she felt perfectly qualified. Unfortunately the frosting was very hard, did not roll out well, and consequently was rather impossible to smooth over the cake. In some places there were folds, and in other places very noticeable gaps, leaving the chocolate cake exposed. No problem! Ribbon and silk flowers rushed to the rescue. Personally, I voted to throw it out and replace it with something from the store (especially when a pink substance started oozing from one of the gaps in the frosting), but Kristen insisted on putting it on display. (Much to my chagrin. :-)When it came time to cut the cake, they could barely get the knife through it, but in the end they did, each took a bite, and after the reception I happily threw the poor little cake into the garbage

#4. Secret Elves . . . I am so grateful to the many, many people who helped set up for the reception. They truly were a little army and did an amazing job. Wes and I worked from around noon to 4:30 but then had to leave to attend the wedding dinner—the night before the wedding. Our friends kept working, however, and when we returned around 9:30 there were only a few minor detail things that were left to do. Since we had an early day ahead of us, we went home around 10, leaving the mess from setting up in the cultural hall, with the plan to return after the wedding to clean it up. But when we returned the next day, we discovered that everything had been cleaned, the floor swept and the halls and lobby vacuumed!! I honestly started to cry. Thanks so much to the Carlini family and Doug Nelson for all their hard work!! It was very much appreciated. Thanks also to Doug for spending so many hours fixing the electrical problems so we could have all the lighting!!

4. And speaking of thanking people . . . thanks to Lisa Nelson for sewing the cute table cloths, Suzie Jones for the darling aprons, the entire Sheffield family who came to set up, Kristy Rose and family for the posts we used for the “gazebo”, as well as the lights for the ceiling, Jodi Poston for the plastic used for the ceiling, David and Vicky Goss for the backdrops, my daughter in law, Kali for the cute floral swag she made and the other decorations she borrowed from her cousin Becky Stone, Susan Hunter and Jenny Carlini for the food table display, Connie Purtymun for her table cloths, Bryan Purtymun for all of his help with the ceiling along with his son in law Andrew Darrow, Phyllis Leber for loaning me her chair covers, Matt Bullock for serving as Emcee, Jen Collins for the beautiful flowers used by the wedding party and Jackie McAfterty for the gorgeous centerpieces—as well as a thank you to all who helped set up, take down and donated greenery, cut up fruit in advance and served the food at the reception. Whew!!!! ( I have more thanking to do but will save it for other posts.)

It was a wonderful, beautiful day for our family, and there is no way we could have done it without all of your help!! How blessed we are to have you all in our lives!

We love you all!!

So What Is a Haboob Anyway?

This is what we watched spread across the Phoenix skyline on Tuesday night.

It is called a Haboob

Photo courtesy Arizona Republic

Or in other words . . .

A powerful sandstorm caused when a thunderstorm collapses.

The intense winds then stir up loose sand as it travels across the ground.

This particular storm has been described as the most powerful in Phoenix over the past 100 years.

It reportedly was two miles high and traveled at speeds up to 60 miles an hour.

Pretty impressive, I must say.

And I almost missed it.

My daughter called from Colorado to tell me our storm was on their news. I asked, "What storm?" Then I looked out the front window and gasped. The storm was far in our distance, but we watched it travel about 20 miles in 20 minutes--completely engulfing everything in its path.

We were glad to be north of it and inside.

But storms like this and the fact that you can touch an outside doorknob at 7 in the morning and burn your hand

are good reasons why most of Arizona leaves town in July.

Which also doesn't make it the best time for a wedding.

But, the few people who remain in town should have a fun time when they come to Kristen's reception.

Only one more week to go!

I'm Done!!

I am not done in the sense that I have completed anything, I am done in the sense that I quit.

Or at least I would like to. Just for a day or two. I actually love doing weddings, but I have to admit I am starting to get very stressed over this. And my house is a mess. The dining room table is so covered in flowers, ribbons, organza and satin, that it has spilled over on to the floor and it is now hard to tell where the one ends and the other begins.

And I am very tired. Bone tired. The kind of tired that makes your body ache, your eyes burn and your muscles rebel at every movement. But . . .

Only three and a half more weeks!!

And things are moving along well. Kristen got the invitations all out this past week and they are DARLING!! Here are a couple pictures from them.

Thanks so much to Christina at Hands Full Mom for taking the very cute pictures!! She did a great job and we love them all!! In fact, Kristen loved them so much she used several on her announcement. Thanks to Craig Steed for designing and printing the announcements. We appreciate you both!!

~~~~~~~

In news outside the wedding . . . (yes, there is life outside of it)

Last week was girl's camp and my husband and I went up for a day. That was so much fun. I loved seeing all my friends who were there as cabin moms and really enjoyed visiting with the girls. And we were particularly glad they caught the two bears who had been sneaking around and relocated them before our arrival!!

In the evening there was a program where all the bishops told how they met and proposed to their wife. It was so cute. One man met his wife when he attended a seminary graduation program for his friend's younger sister. His future wife was also graduating that night. Another met his wife at a 9th grade dance--and she was several inches taller than he was. One met his wife in Boston while they were both attending graduate school and another carried a ring around in his pocket for two months before he worked up the courage to propose.

One of my favorite stories is about my friend Jenny. She set up a lemonade stand outside the boys apartments on the day most of the boys were moving in at the beginning of the school year. Her future husband bought a lot of lemonade that day.

My other favorite story came from a man who is a dentist. After dating his wife seriously for about six months, she was sure he was going to give her a ring for Christmas, but instead his "special gift" for her, was to pay for her to get a tooth fixed!! It was another six months before he got around to actually proposing. Apparently he was waiting for "Memorial Day".

That kind of hesitancy on the part of men, is why I just told Wes I wanted to get married after dating for two weeks. He agreed and we moved forward from there. :-) Easy.

~~~~~~

So my daughter Michelle was up at camp as a second year youth camp leader (YCL). She LOVES camp and will make a great young women leader someday. She is totally cute with the girls, lots of fun, and totally crazy.

So crazy that apparently there were several people who were shocked to learn she was our daughter. I guess they didn't think Wes and I could possibly have a daughter who was so much fun. Presumably because they don't think we are fun.

Seriously?!! We are fun people! We really are. I promise!

Only Nine Weeks To Go!!

Kristen's wedding is just NINE weeks away!!

Which means . . .

I only have NINE weeks to turn

This. . .

And this . . .

And this . . .

And this . . .

And this . . .

Into something

FABULOUS!

This is going to be one very big

DIWF

(Do it with friends)

Project!

Prayers are appreciated. :-)

It's A Boy!!

This past weekend, our daughter Kristen not only graduated from BYU

(Congratulations Kristen!)

But she also got engaged!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

To: Peter

6 feet 4 inches

180 pounds

Cause for a little celebration!

Congratulations to you both!!

We know you will have a wonderful life together.

And we are looking forward to the wedding in twelve weeks!!

Random Ramblings

We are counting down the days until Kathryn goes back to school! She is counting them in eager anticipation, and I am counting them tearfully. I don’t know why none of my daughters have been interested in staying home and being my personal assistant the rest of their lives. For some reason they all think getting an education and having a social life sounds like a lot more fun. Seriously!! (I have even offered to pay them!:-)

In the meantime life is getting a little CRAZY on the home front. Take tomorrow. We have a breakfast meeting for the missionaries in our area at my house at 6:30, then I have a meeting to plan our ward social at 10. I am having company for dinner, followed by an open house for investigators at 7:00—also at our house, and I need to make refreshments for that—and we have a Relief Society activity. Somehow, someway, it is all going to come together. I am sure of it. (Call me frazzled)

Michelle’s car broke down. She was driving to school early one morning after seminary and the car started making all sorts of strange noises. So she abandoned it along the side of a road and hitched a ride with a fellow early morning seminary student. We had to have it towed and it is still in the shop. So, this was going to be my first year in 13 years not to drive a child to seminary, but, alas, I am back at it. Although, Michelle isn’t too thrilled about having to ride the bus home either. Hopefully the car will be fixed soon.

On a more positive . . . we are thrilled to finally have the Phoenix Temple moving forward. Over two years after it was announced, plans are being submitted today to the city for approval. The original plans required a height variance, which was approved by the city but protested by the neighbors, so new plans were drawn. The new plans not only address the neighbors’ concerns, but the members as well. It is now one level but also larger to accommodate more people. The new square footage will be about equal to the Draper, Utah temple.


I attended a neighborhood meeting for the temple last night. Many of the people were very nice, but others were not. Some are just anti-Mormon and don’t want a temple at all. Others have valid concerns about their quality of life being affected. And others were fearful of a large structure being built that they won’t be able to use, by a religion they know very little about. Hopefully over time many of their fears will be allayed. For those of us who live on the west side, however, having a temple this close makes us all very happy! It will only be a 12 minute drive from my house!!

And . . .

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings. . .
We have been attending a LOT of wedding receptions lately. At one time I had 9 announcements on my refrigerator door.

Last week we attending a reception Thursday night, a wedding Saturday morning and a reception for a different couple Saturday night.

I love weddings though, and always enjoy seeing the decorations—like this dessert table below. I thought this was so cute!! The yellow "suckers" in the back are actually brownie bites dipped in white chocolate! Yummy! And the pink cookies are oreos dipped in white chocolate as well.

Lastly—it is so HOT!!

I am getting very tired of the AZ heat. By August my nerves are fried. What makes it worse is it is not only hot in August but humid as well. My weekly wardrobe is down to two short cotton skirts and three light cotton blouses. I refuse to wear anything else until the temperatures drop!

I am really praying the weather will be nicer in Utah when I take Kathryn back next week.

And that brings me back to where I started--feeling blue about her leaving me.

So, I am off to wipe my tears . . .

Winter Gives Way to Spring--A Celebration

It has been an interesting week filled with tender emotions. On Tuesday we said farewell to a life well lived, and today we celebrated with my niece Riki and her husband John, as they began their lives together. ---- A testimony that winter gives way to spring, and that sorrow can be overcome by hope.

But most importantly, this week has strengthened my faith that families can be together forever. This life is not the end, but rather the family unit began today can exist beyond death, and someday we can be reunited with those who have passed on.

How grateful I am for the gospel of Jesus Christ and my knowledge of the Plan of Salvation!!

Riki and John as they exit the Mesa Temple

One more kiss before getting in their carriage

Four of the bridesmaids--and all cousins

The father of the bride visits with one of Riki's uncles, while two other uncles visit in the back.

The wedding celebration was held at the Wright House in Mesa.

The grounds were gorgeous and the weather was perfect!

Everyone had a great time.


Especially the little flower girls who spent much of the time playing in the fountain.

Although it was a long day for Carly. She just couldn't stay awake. Luckily she has a wonderful grandpa who takes good care of her.

The cake was not only beautiful, but also delicious. Each layer was a different flavor.

Our favorite was the lemon cranberry.

Thankfully there was no smashing of the cake in the face!

After all the fun, the bride and groom headed off for their honeymoon. Everyone else in the family went to the BYU-H vs Grand Canyon basketball game.

We invited them, but John very politely turned us down.

We wish them the very best as they begin their journey together.

May it bring them great joy!

Time Passages

I have not been very good about writing lately and I feel bad about that. I thought with seminary over my life would be simpler, but at least so far, it has not. We have been busy with some very good things though. On Friday afternoon my husband and I traveled with my son and his wife to the little town of Snowflake, Arizona to attend the wedding of my son's best friend. It was fun to get away for the night and to visit with Ryan and Kali. And of course, it was great to be at Aaron's wedding. We have watched Aaron grow up, go on his mission and now be married in the temple to his sweet wife. It is fun to see those we have known so long move forward in their lives, marking off different passages of time--HS graduation, mission, marriage . . .

Snowflake Temple

I had never been to Snowflake before and I was a bit surprised at how small the town was. When you stand at the front door of the temple and look out, all you see is desert. Still, it was a nice, quiet little town and the temple was gorgeous. Inside, behind the front desk were some of the most beautiful stained glass windows I have ever seen.

Following the wedding and a luncheon in Pinetop, we drove [quickly] back to Phoenix to attend the baptism of a lady my husband works with and her two children. About two years ago Wes and his business partner gave the woman a Book of Mormon. Over the course of time she and her family have come to know for themselves that the Book of Mormon is true and were eager to enter into the covenant of baptism. It was such a wonderful experience to be there and witness the event. Attending both a sealing in the temple for all eternity and a baptism made for a very memorable day.

On Sunday we had seminary graduation. My daughter, Kathryn was one of the speakers and spoke on teacher appreciation. I guess they felt she was qualified to speak on the topic since she not only attended seminary, but also has lived most of her life with a seminary teacher. She did a great job and I was very proud of her.

Another great moment of the evening for me was when I was visiting with a friend afterwards and noticed five of my seminary boys gathered together and standing a few feet away, waiting to tell me goodbye. My heart just swelled with love for them and their goodness.

Since then life has been a series of hectic errands trying to get ready for upcoming events. And of course I am still on my diet. So far I have eaten a lot of this:

And this:


But what I would like to eat is this:

But I am holding strong! And I only have three more pounds to go to weigh what I weighed before teaching seminary this year. (That will be a good starting place for additional weight loss during the summer)

Thanks mostly to my good friend Susan who is my walking partner and a great motivator,

My daughter Kristen who has taken over cooking dinner so I don't have to make my family one meal and eat another,

And all my kids who, when I say, "That looks good" to a food item they are eating that is not on my diet, respond with , "It isn't. It is really terrible. You would hate it."

It is always nice to have support in hard things! That helps so much to bring . . . joy to my journey!