A Simple Wedding Reception in Our Backyard
I so love planning events here at the house. This last Saturday we were able to host a wedding reception/shower for a couple that married in the Congo. Fun!
Oliver is originally from the Congo but is now a citizen of the United States. He met his bride Lydia on a visit to the Congo (a very interesting story) and in December they married and in March she was able to come over to join Oliver. We wanted to celebrate with them their marriage and give her a warm welcome to Arizona, so we gave them a wedding reception/wedding shower here at the ranch.
I put out a call to my Castle Keeper girls and asked if any wanted to come help with things like cooking, cleaning and decorations. I had a wonderful response and lots of help!
I wanted to use our tent because the winds this time of year can be pretty gusty. And we had plenty of wind that day!
It also gives you a place to hang decorations on.
And the final result of all our hard work.
It looked so pretty.
I had 2 pictures blown up at Costco. One was of their civil ceremony and the other their religious ceremony.
We played the He Said/She Said game which brought a lot of laughs. I made up some questions and asked Oliver & Lydia what their answers were ahead of time. I made up the game cards and had them sprawled in the middle of the table for everyone to answer while they ate dinner. After dinner & dessert, I gave the answers.
Mason jars filled with Sweet Williams from Trader Joe’s. We wrapped the jars with matching fabric from the table runner added a few strings of raffia tied around it and attached a dangling paper heart with the bride and groom’s initials printed on it.
There were some beautiful desserts.
Serenity’s wonderful fruit tarts.
The cake was made by a couple in our church.
For our program we had a few songs, a skit of their courtship and some who offered words of advice to the newlyweds.
The food tasted so good, if I say so myself. 🙂 I wanted to try a new menu then I have before and I got the idea for what I wanted to serve from a wedding I went to this past March. It’s something I would do again although it is not really cost efficient with all that meat!
We had:
Applewood Smoked Ham (Costco)
Seasoned Green Beans
Sweet Corn
Olive Garden Salad
Dinner Rolls
A delightful day and really fun for me to see it all come together so nicely. I thank all my Castle Keepers for their help. You were amazing!
11 Comments
Donna Phillips
I’ll have to say you have did it again. Everything looks nice!
Elisabeth
Well thank you, mi ma!
Kaitlyn
That is so neat how your Castle Keepers girls helped out! A great experience for all of them!! The menu sounded delicious!
Elisabeth
I think that is one of the benefits of the girls helping. They will learn little tips and tricks for serving crowds or just entertaining in general. Things that will help them feel at ease when it’s their time to be the hostess. The girls were a great help!
Sally
This looks like it was a beautiful reception. I’m going to send a link to my niece. She is getting married in Cancun and, after some consideration, has decided to have a reception back here in the states for the friends and family who can’t afford the trip. I’m sure she’ll get some inspiration from this post. Thanks!
Elisabeth
Having a reception will be so nice for those that can’t make it to your niece’s wedding. Good luck.
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Tina Steinke
What a beautiful job you did. Those young girls must have felt rewarded for all their hard work. Liz you are tops!! I’ll have to get those game ideas sometime from you.
Elisabeth
Thanks my dear!
Earl Lee
I’m going to use this to try to help people save many money on their wedding reception
Danielle
This looks like it was such a beautiful way for this couple to feel loved and celebrated by a community of friends. I like that so many people seem to have chipped in their talents to make it all come together…especially those yummy looking tarts.