Monday, Survived....

Just had to start out with one of the cutest parts of the ceremony.  My Schmills (William).  I am behind him in the pink dress and shoes. I am wearing my mothers pearls I inherited. My head is cut off so only the best part of me is showing.

    The wedding was wonderful.  I am not sure if my sisters are still speaking to me.  Lil sis keeps saying I am dead to her.

     It was so much work and all three of us about killed ourselves. I can never do this again.  If it hadn't been for good family and friends we never would have pulled it off.

     The brisket was divine and the 5 kinds of homemade ice cream were a hit.  We had huckleberry which of course went first, strawberry, vanilla, lemon velvet and chocolate chip grape nut which is a family favorite.

     The flowers were beautiful and my sisters did a superb job on the pew flowers and the wedding arch.  They had a few melt downs but once we got our act together they performed as I knew they would. My 84 year old aunt helped me pit together the 5 bridesmaid bouquets, and all the corsages and boutonnieres.  We saved the bridal bouquet for last and it was gorgeous.  While we were doing this I was running back and forth supervising the kitchen and the ice cream making.  No wonder my feet were blistered.  The wedding was at 5 p.m.

     I can't wait to share photos as they come in.  I was going to snap cell phone pictures throughout but I was too busy and could never find my cell phone.  We had many, many almost disasters, but God was with us and we were able to circumvent anything too awful.

     I think the hardest part was timing all the food.  The ceremony took place down at a pond on the property so 100 chairs had to be set up in church rows.  After the ceremony the officiant asked the men to carry chairs up to the wedding venue where the tables were set and the wedding party including me had to go do photos.  My sisters and sister in laws and friends had to run up the hill to beat the crowd and set out all the food.

So first course was:
drinks from bar (Sister in law was bartender)
deviled eggs (Sis)
smoked salmon  (hubs)
crackers
cheeses
spinach dip with bread (Lil sis)
veggie trays
fruit trays
crack corn dip/chips (Lil sis)
tomato mozzarella/basil (Sissie)
cold shrimp/cocktail sauce (Lil sis)

After the bridal party actually the bride and groom came we had to move out the snacks and set out the main course.

Grilled whole Salmon (son in law and officiants husband) served off the bone
Smoked beef brisket  ( our best friends Jim/Sue) sliced to order
Potato salad(Friend Debbie)
Broccoli slaw (Lil sis)
Acini d pepe salad( Me with help of grooms mom and friend)
Shrimp pasta salad ( me with help of grooms mom and friend)
rolls/butter

After main course we had to clear and set people up for dessert:

cake (daughter)
chocolate Fountain  ( friends Jim/Sue) with strawberries,large  pretzel sticks, graham crackers,and rice krispie pops (Sissie)
Chocolate cake pops (daughter made 100 of these)
5 kinds of home made ice cream which let me tell you was so delicious.( Sue/Jim)

Our friends Jim/Sue worked so hard all week to have the meat and everything ready for this wedding.  My sisters about killed themselves.  All of us had blistered feet by the end of the night, but it was beautiful and went off with many hitches.  It is done.  I am happy.

     It is hard to do a wedding with everything done by yourself and certainly would have been easier to cater everything and have the flowers done by a professional.  But we ended up with a beautiful wedding just a bit over budget. So I am grateful.

     We gave the bride a $5000.00 budget and said when the money was gone she had to do the rest.  Her sisters were very generous and kicked in for some things.  My flower cost was just under $200.00 and food ran about $850.00. We have lots of left overs so we will eat well for a week or so and have some to freeze. I had budgeted $1400.00 for flowers and food and we came under so that was good.

     Now I have to deal with wedding fall out.  Sissie just came over the gathered all the linens to take over to Lil sis's to soak and she will wash.  I think I am still dead to Lil sis right now.

     I really need to deal with left over food and the garden produce which will go bad if I don't hurry and pay attention.  So I am going to go check out the laundry situation and get that started.  I haven't done laundry in a week, and then get out to the garden and water the flowers, and pick all the overgrown produce.

     I am going to make large pots of spag sauce and beef stew this week and can them outside to use up all the left overs as we can't eat all of it now.

Well I am off, there is so much to do, but I am so relieved that it is over.  All three are educated and all three are married, my work now is to spoil the grand kids.

Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.

Kim