A Summer Garden Wedding Reception ~ The Planning Continues . . .

Well, the planning for my goddaughter's wedding reception this summer continues. There was a bit of a hiatus since last I posted. Linsi is a baseball coach at a regional community college. She's been up to her nose in sports, recruiting for next year, working her second job and setting up her newly married life. Lots of things on that girl's plate.

Yesterday, we took a field trip to the meadow she has reserved for their reception. It's in a lovely older area of the north end of Seattle. The glen is surrounded on all sides by smaller bungalows. The residents were there for the yearly clean-up. Trees were being trimmed, brush was being cleared, the sun was doing its shiniest best and Linsi and I were going over the options.

The approach to the reception is lovely. The streets are narrow and deeply wooded with intersections that gently curve. No aggressive 90 degree angles here! No sidewalks either which may or may not be a good thing.

The path to the meadow is an unpaved, gentle slope shaded with old cedar, firs, rhododendron, Oregon grape, salal, Madrone trees. We may hang colourful banners along the path.

Serendipitously, the work party had cleared a path to the meadow, so the access will be easy and obvious. No need for the magic marker sign with arrow and balloon.

  

By the end of August, the grass will only be green along the edges where the trees shade the grass. So, we will be dealing with a nice toasty wheat coloured surface. 

We don't know what we will do with the very cool 50's backstop. Something fun, no doubt. I'll keep you posted.

Once everyone is here, Linsi and Brandon plan to have a small ceremony of sorts at the beginning of the reception in the mythical tent we are trying to obtain. That requires an entrance of sorts. We like the two old trees as the focal point of that entrance.

 

 

Now, that we have time, full attention and the lay of the land, it's going to be full-tilt, nonstop flurry of activity to get this ready for their big day the end of the summer. This reception will be just like Linsi and Brandon ~ friendly, casual, festive and fun. Not too much Martha but lovely none the less, I'm sure.

Day 35 Everyday Grateful ~
Slept in, read in bed, misty Seattle day. Lovely. 

Planning a Garden Wedding Reception

So, my darling goddaughter got married on the beach in Hawai'i on January 2, 2012. He's wonderful; she's wonderful. The perfect couple!

She asked me to help her with the planning of her reception this summer. I'm so excited!

I'll keep you posted on what we are considering, what we've chosen and all the ways we've saved money.

She came over on Sunday and the planning began. First the budget. As Linsi said, "We want to buy a house and have babies someday. We need to be frugal." She said they were planning to have an outdoor reception in August in a lovely field in Seattle. She wants it to be casual, romantic, friendly and colourful.

I showed her what I have here. 125 darling white cake plates with gold trim, a red band with gold fleur-de-lis, several dozen wine glasses, several dozen (maybe close to 100) champagne flutes, some market umbrellas (we designers are supply rich). All these I have, so we can just fill in what what needs to be rented.

Then I told her about the fantastic reception I attended several years ago that had as a centerpiece the most fantastic tent on earth. I sent an email to the rep and we are awaiting sizes, pricing and availability. I'll let you know.

 
 

    

Then we chatted about flowers. They really can cost the earth. And, since they don't last very long, this may be the place to spend less money by doing something different. One of the prettiest reception I ever attended (bar none) had a corridor of planted pots billowing to overflowing with perennials and annuals. Utterly heavenly. Maybe I'll take a page out of their book without taking a page out of their check book and I'll hie myself to Craigslist to see what they have:

Oooh, I found a pair of cool ones.  $40 for the pair (practically free.) 24" tall. Kindah great! Handsome. Wrought iron. Weathered. Traditional. Generously sized. Fill with moss and peat and start the plants in May. They would be enormous by August. Could be good. Yes, I like this idea. Mmmm, I'll send Linsi the link and see what she says.

And, I'll keep you posted.

http://www.rajtents.com/index.asp

Day 14 Everyday Grateful ~ another gorgeous bright
Seattle morning. Perfect for a visiting guest.
The mother of my foreign exchange
student from China is arriving for a visit.
How fun is that!