Wedding Day Scenes

Here's another batch of photos from Riley and Celesta's wedding. There are always interesting things going on behind the scenes that are fun to share.



23 Nov 2013

 

That's me, Mary, with a chalkboard I decorated to commemorate important dates for the happy couple. The bride's mom (my sister Karla) borrowed the idea from another wedding. She handed me the chalkboard and a chalk marker, as well as a photo of the original chalkboard as my example, and then she told me to get to work on it! 

Cute idea, huh? I think it turned out pretty well!

 

My daughter Sarah loves these family gatherings so she can get her baby fix! She's like the "Baby Whisperer." All fussy babies get handed to Sarah, and she has them sound asleep within 10 minutes. Here she is on the temple grounds with Bryce and Brianna's little guy, Carson.

 

After the wedding and the photo shoot on the temple grounds, we headed to the church for a family luncheon. I sat across from these guys, three of my favorite men: my nephews Josh and Julien (Karla's sons) and my son Dylan.

 

I asked Riley if he bribed or threatened Nabisco to get them to mass produce Oreo cookies in their wedding colors, pink and black. He said, "Neither. They just did it because I'm me!"

The kitchen help: my nieces Genevieve, Elyssa, and Brianna, with my nephew Jeremy (all of them are Karla's children).

Elyssa's husband Ross helps out, too. Ross, you make that apron look good!

 

My son-in-law Chris helped out all day by entertaining the many children running about, while the rest of us decorated and prepared food. He was like the pied piper, keeping them busy and happy. Here, he distracted a fussy Max (son of my niece Genevieve and her husband Scott) with a video game on his phone.

I caught my niece Mariah enoying a romantic dance with her boyfriend, Troy. That is, until I destroyed the moment by taking their picture!

This was a great moment. We thought the kids were just playing up on the stage while we worked. Then Scott and Genevieve's oldest, Brooke (top right), stepped out from behind the curtain and confidently announced that they would be presenting a performance of "Jingle Bells."

 

Suddenly the curtains opened and these seven cuties danced around the stage in cleverly choreographed action before arranging themselves on these steps and singing "Jingle Bells." As they finished the song, they shouted in unison, "Congratulations, Celesta and Riley!" It was both adorable and impressive!

 

I am a big fan of wedding cakes. When I was young, most wedding cakes looked very similar, but nowadays there are so many styles to choose from. I always look forward to seeing what type of cake each couple chooses. This one is gorgeous, and I especially loved their unusual cake top.

If you're not into wedding reception decor, you may as well stop here, because that's what the rest of these photos are all about. I enjoy the little details that make each reception uniquely individual to each couple. The picture above shows the table that greeted guests as they arrived to celebrate with Riley and Celesta.

Rather than a guest book, the bride and groom had a photo book for guests to sign. The first 3 pictures (on the left) were actually taken during a weekend visit they made to our home here in the White Mountains last winter. I love it!

The gifts were placed here in this little grouping of chairs. The large photo of the Mesa Temple was a gift from Celesta's brother Jeremy and his wife Cami. Cami told me Jeremy made the frame himself, and she found the photo on Pinterest and downloaded it for free, had it blown up, and then Mod Podged it. It turned out so great!

These final three pictures show the tables where a light dinner was served to the guests. It started with vegetable slices and dips, then cheese ball and crackers, and then two types of pasta salads...

...followed by chicken salad sandwiches on crescent rolls; next came apple slices and caramel dip...

...and finally mints and mixed nuts just before the punch and lemon water. It was a beautiful wedding and reception and a wonderful day. And it reminded me how happy I am that I only had one daughter to plan a wedding for! (Karla has seven daughters! Only three more to marry off now, though!)