ANATOMY OF A WEDDING - Part 11 of 12

The Reception

LET THE PARTY BEGIN: As mentioned before, the reception was in Courtney’s backyard, so we all just moseyed on back there after the ceremony. It would have been slightly more convenient if Brent and Kim (parents of the bride) had installed RV hookups in that pasture west of their house...and then we all could have brought our pop-ups and trailers and suchlike and we wouldn’t have had to leave the grounds the entire wedding weekend. But no one can be expected to think of everything. Anyway, the point is that no one got lost getting to the reception. And that’s always a positive.

THE SIMPLE LIFE: I don’t think I told you this before, but Courtney spent 7 months of her engagement to Ben in Zambia, Africa, working with Ben’s sister (and my niece) Meagan at an orphanage. She came back determined to have a "simple" wedding, without a lot of fuss or money thrown into it. I think she accomplished her goal, but without it being obvious to the casual observer. Because again, everything looked elegant and beautiful.

THE ELEMENTS: Of course, it helped that we were still outside. Because shortly after the reception began, the sun set and soon thereafter strings of twinkle lights along the fences lit up the night. Lavender candles and framed pictures of the HC (happy couple) adorned the tables, and clusters of purple and white balloons here and there added a festive touch as well. In the midst of the tables was a portable dance floor, gleaming and ready for action. And the music filling the air was a mix of favorite songs of the HC which had been uploaded to an ipod and plugged into a rather decent sound system.

THE SUGAR FEST: And now we get to the food, glorious food. As alluded to earlier, yes, they served donuts at the wedding reception...along with snow cones. And as if that weren’t enough to send my twin cousins that "have the diabetes" into glucose overload, they also served the more conventional wedding cake. Oh, and then there was the chocolate fountain...with a nice assortment of foodstuffs to dip in said fountain. Like marshmallows and strawberries and other things I can’t remember. Oh I popped over to Facebook to see if my pictures could refresh my memory on this point, but unfortunately I don’t recognize what’s on the plates I photographed. Worrisome, I know, but who really cares at this point anyway? Most of us are now thinking only about what they might be serving Friday night at Thomas and Betsy’s reception.

Oops. I guess I will have to squeeze The Dance into the FINAL INSTALLMENT along with the wrap-up and concluding remarks. It won't be pretty. But it will be finished.

For lunch, I went to the Chinese restaurant with my co-workers. And I didn't overeat which might be a first for me at an all-you-can-eat buffet. My personal trainer will be so proud.