Friday, May 24, 2013

Sharing the Joy-A Shabby Chic Wedding

    
 
      How many of us get to watch someone come full circle in their lives? Well that is exactly how I felt as I watched my friend of 10 years get married this month. My friend Debbie was one of the first people I met when we moved here. Over the past 10 years I have watched her life seem very "together", watched it fall apart and been a witness to her finding joy and serenity once again. It has been a painful journey, but I have never seen her as happy or peaceful as she is right now and it is such a blessing to see her happy ending.
 
 
     In the midst of massive rain the week of May 10th, the skies cleared just long enough to have the ceremony. The attendants were the children of the bride and groom, the flower girls the daughter's of Debbie's cousin and best friend.

 Her son, looking so grown up, escorts her to her groom.
 
 
     The venue for the ceremony was the field in front of a historical barn. The chairs were arranged in a way that they were able to walk in front of all of their family and friends.

 
     This wedding was both elegant and casual. Debbie is a perfectionist and both the wedding and the reception were very different than what she might have planned in the past and yet everything was just perfect. Families were invited, there were kids everywhere. Her friends helped with everything from setting up the ceremony to decorating for the reception. I loved being a part of doing the bridal bouquets and floral arrangements. This was the perfect blending of two families, surrounded by family and friends that couldn't be happier for them. 2
 
The happy couple after the ceremony.
He makes her so very happy. It makes my heart smile!

 
     The reception was at a building at the lake. This is not a fancy building, but it took on an entirely different look with the twinkle lights, flowers and fun decorations. They did something I have never seen before with the food. They had all of their favorite things from favorite places. I took the pictures before everyone got to the reception, so the chairs and flowers aren't in place yet (or some of the food). The sweets table had pie made by the groom's mother, cake made by the bride's aunt, mini pies made by her very good friend and various other treats and sweets.
 
 
 
     Mason jars with name tags and matching straws were picked up to fill with drinks and taken home at the end of the evening.


Adult Kool-Aid and
Amaretto Stone Sours for the grown-ups.
 
Pink lemonade and McDonalds sweet tea.

Mashed potatoes from our local fancy place, and
fried chicken and noodles from our local family restaurant.

The local "best in town" Italian restaurant lasagna.

Chicago pizza shipped in as well
as salad from The Hill in St. Louis.

A Fluffy Burger station-burgers from
 her hometown (not local) meat market.
 
Make your own tacos in a bag station.
 
The room before the chairs and flowers arrive.

The beautiful daughters of the bride.
 
     Music was a playlist created by the teenage children of the couple and it was mostly kids dancing. As you can see, it truly was a family friendly, happy event that was filled with love. Who could ask for more?
 
 
Stop by and see Michael @ Rattlebridge Farm for
Foodie Friday!
 
 

14 comments:

Glenda/MidSouth said...

Congratulations/Best Wishes to the happy couple.
A great variety of food - looks and sounds yummy.
Have a wonderful weekend!

The Charm of Home said...

What a lovely wedding! I love the arrangement of the chairs,never a bad view of the wedding.
Sherry

xinex said...

How pretty. I love happy endings. The wedding looks so pretty and relaxed. I love the colors....Christine

Traci said...

How pretty!

Barbara F. said...

What a beautiful wedding, with such beautiful people. xo

mountain mama said...

very unique...love the chair formation!!

FABBY'S LIVING said...

What a lovely wedding and evryone looks so happy, like the pretty bride and children. Congrats and may the live happily ever after! Have a nice weekend.
FABBY

Cindy (Applestone Cottage) said...

Wow that was really fun to see Sue!
I love the idea, the bride is beautiful and I am happy your friend is happy!
Happy Memorial Day too!
Hugs,
Cindy

Ricki Treleaven said...

What a fun wedding! LOVE it. I like the idea for the chairs. Too neat! I love Shabby Chic anything, and the details for this wedding were spot-on!

xo,
RJ

Mosaic Magpie said...

I attended a wedding that same weekend...cloudy and rainy until about 30 minutes before the ceremony and the skies were clear until about 30 minutes before the young couple left. Similar also as it was in the middle of a field.
What a beautiful wedding you have shown us, the chairs in a circle!!! All the great ideas for the reception too!
Deb

Leigh Powell Hines said...

What a lovely wedding, Sue!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful wedding Sue. I love the circle of chairs. Wonderful!

Jacqueline said...

what a fun and creative wedding. I love that opening shot! She is gorgeous and that shot could be in a bridal magazine. Thanks for taking us along and so glad they have found happiness.

Jacqueline said...

Oops! I forgot to say I posted your prize winning cheesecake today! It was so great. Sorry my life has been so crazy that this took so long but we loved it and the photos turned out nicely too! Thanks again.