Monday, July 22, 2013

An Aqua French-Inspired Wedding Reception



Amanda's wedding reception was a beautiful
event.  

Sorry it has taken so long to get this done, but you
will see that there was a lot to cover.


The reception was held at Sleepy Ridge in Orem
and I had fun snapping some shots as her bridesmaids 
helped her get dressed.




You can imagine how long those shoes lasted!


So I had to get this shot of the bridesmaids' shoes as
they lasted just about as long!


Everything was aqua and white with a touch of silver.
My daughter in law made their gorgeous headbands.


Amanda and Casey were so happy and relaxed.  She
wanted another bouquet for the reception
a cascading bouquet with brooches and feathers.


It turned out exquisitely.  Nannette at Sleepy Ridge 
did all of the flowers and decor.
I can't say enough good about
Sleepy Ridge.  They were marvelous
to work with.




I love the touch of bling that Nannette added even to
Casey's boutonniere.  He looked so good in his tails.



She and her lovely bridesmaids had fun posing for tons of pictures.





The groomsmen got in on the fun too.




Couldn't be cuter - all in aqua and brooches!
(Nothing harder than keeping this many little
ones in the camera!)


Of course we had to get her with her older sister and her
oldest niece.


Here is a huge shot of all of us.


And a shot of the Moms and Dads and Newlyweds kissing!
Amanda wanted the moms in long aqua dresses.



We were inspired by Amanda's armful
of bracelets so we put together
our own collection in aqua and white.
Casey's mother made a bead bracelet
for each of us.



This is an exterior shot of Sleepy Ridge.  Amanda
chose this beautiful place for her reception.  She
was upstairs in the Sunset room.

We gathered for pictures at 5:30 and the 
reception began that evening at 7:00.



The service at
Sleepy Ridge
was so incredible.

They had me deliver all of my decor
items the day before with notes on 
where I wanted things and that evening
when I arrived, all was set up and perfect!
I have never had service like that.  I thought I
would be working all afternoon on set up!


When I walked in the room, it just took my breath away!


The aqua and white were just spectacular -
such a beautiful color combiation.










Brooches were featured everywhere from
the flowers to the tables and even to the cake.
Two were pinned on each table runner.


They were in all of the floral arrangements too.
I found all of these on Fabulousbrooch.com.
(Most for $3 each!)


This massive fireplace anchors one end of the
room.  


Everything was just magnificent.  I love
the draped ceiling in the Sunset Room with lights
in the draping.





We had beautiful candles everywhere.  I love
that Sleepy Ridge lets you have real candlelight.



Some of the tables featured Eiffel Tower 
floral arrangements, others featured
silver mercury glass containers.  All
had crystal and aqua brooches and
the tables had aqua jewels sprinkled
on them.




The 6 foot
Eiffel Tower Ice Sculpture anchored
the other end of the hall where all of the food
was served.


Fresh flower poms hung from the chandelier in the center
of the room.


I had painted this large birdcage in
an aqua spray paint for wedding gift cards.


The sign in table featured two books you could 
sign in and


 Amanda's jeweled bridal bouquet from 
the temple and bridals 
was placed under the metal cloche
by the sign in book
(from Costco Photo) 




 the other sign in book
was hand made by his mother -
you could sign in either or both!


It was set up on this lovely shabby aqua dresser.
We had attached ostrich feathers to pens to sign in.


The little girls loved those pens.


Casey's mom had done the vinyl words for their
Love Story
which we placed on this mirror.



The halls were lined with enlargements from 
her bridals.




And more photos from her engagement photo shoot
topped this shabby buffet.



Yards and yards of aqua tulle create
an elegant skirting for the dessert table.


 The dessert table featured the Groom's
Cake on an aqua and jeweled cake stand
and a five foot high Eiffel Tower that held
French Almond Macarons.





Amanda chose a classic white wedding cake 
from Cakes By Dawna (who happens to be
related to Casey) with a touch of aqua with
the brooch.


She wanted to incorporate a little silver, so Dawna
fringed the edges of the petals with metallic silver.
The cakes were red velvet, chocolate and vanilla.
All were delicious.





The focal point of the room was this six foot
ice sculpture of the Eiffel Tower that has
a drink luge in the center so that punch can
be poured through the sculpture.


Amanda chose a
 Tiffany Blue Punch
 to match the reception
colors.


The sweet server in the background had to
climb up and pour the punch for all of the
guests - all night long.  And he did it 
all with a huge smile.


 (Someone's enjoying the punch!)


We found this fun cake topper for the grooms
cake as Amanda and Casey were to leave the
reception in my white convertible.


It sat atop a traditional tall Maglby's chocolate cake.


As reception lines for an LDS wedding
can be long, we decided to have waiters passing
trays of food as people waited in line.


Everything was mini appetizers and mini desserts
with a French flair.

The event was catered by Magleby's and
the food was simply amazing both in presentation
and flavor.  




These were Magleby's spinach dips.  I just adore the 
presentation on everything.



Red pepper soup spoons.  I wanted to save all of their
fabulous serving pieces!


This was one of our savory stations where the food
was behind prepared right there in front of the
guests.  The chef at this station was so adorable
he kept saying, "Welcome to Paris!"



They were then served hot in a red pepper dipping sauce.


Of course we had to have crepes with a
lemon mousse or a cream cheese mousse filling
and assorted toppings.


The chef was there flaming the crepes.


The stuffed mushrooms were incredible.



I have to say the biggest hit of the party were the
mini milkshakes.  They were served at their own
"Milkshake Bar".


They served Raspberry, Oreo and Toasted Marshmallow
Mini Shakes.  I know my grandkids drank way more
than their share!

People just raved about all of the food and said it was
the best reception they had ever been too, but their
favorite things were the mini shakes.


French macarons were served out of the Aqua Eiffel Tower
which I got from Tai Pan (I painted it).

The beautiful cake stand with jewels I found at
Home Goods - and no, I didn't have to paint that one -
what a find!


Guests also adored the 
Cookies and Milk.  
What a clever idea.  



Ok, everything was delicious! People loved
these Mini Layered Magleby's Cakes too!  They 
were one of my favorites!
Magleby's was so creative and wonderful
to work with.


The event included dancing at the end where even
the grandkids were having a wonderful time.



And of course a dance with Dad.


After all of the food and fun and congratulations
we went out on the patios and had a
fabulous fireworks show.  Amanda and Casey got to
push the plunger to start the show.


I am such a fireworks fan that when I
found out they could do real fireworks,
I knew we had to have those to
celebrate!  They went on and on and on.
We were given a spectacular show!


Everyone lined up to wish them a sparkling farewell
using 3 foot sparklers and heart shaped sparklers.
The heart shaped sparklers just last one minute
so they were just for looks, but the 3 foot ones
last 4 minutes - perfect for pictures.


Her wonderful bridesmaids, Hannah, Natalie, Natalie and
Aubrie had decorated the car with style.  Hannah
blinged up the cans with scrapbook
paper and aqua jewels and Natalie made the
banner. 
It was finished off with four clusters of aqua
and pearl balloons.
 It was the classiest decorated car
 I have ever seen!



They drove off in the car but needed to return 
to change out of their wedding clothes. 
My favorite part was when Casey turned up the
music to "I Think I Want To Marry You"
and then got Amanda out of the car and danced
with her!


Here is to a wonderful life together!


It's been so fun sharing our wedding with you, I decided
I should share all of my hours of work finding things,
so here are my sources!

Sources
White Pinch Pleat Linens - Your Chair Covers
Aqua Rosette Overlay and Runners - Wholesale Wedding Chair Covers
(I cut the overlays or toppers into runners and serged the
edges to get the color and size I wanted.)
Aqua Tulle Table Skirt - Etsy - Bailey Had A Party
Flower Girls Dresses - Candy Girl Dress
Reception Center - Sleepy Ridge
Catering - Magleby's Catering
Bird Cage - Tai Pan (spray painted aqua)
Eiffel Tower - Tai Pan (spray painted aqua)
Table Eiffel Towers - Home Goods and Tai Pan
Easels - Tai Pan
White Buffet and Aqua Chest - Sleepy Ridge Rentals
Brooches - Fabulous Brooch
Table Votive Candle Holders - Hobby Lobby
Aqua Tall Mercury Candle Holders - Z Gallerie
Cake Topper - Wedding Star
Parasols - Wedding Star
Wedding Sign In Book - Costco Photo
Aqua and Cream Picture Frames - Home Goods (I
added the ribbon and brooches)
Enlarged Photos - Costco (I ordered 20x30s and
mounted them with spray glue on foam board and
put them in frames from Michaels)
Cream and Brown Floor Mirror - Home Goods
Eiffel Tower Canvases - Home Goods
Fireworks and Ice Sculpture - Sourced through Sleepy Ridge






Jacqueline
Jacqueline

Chocolat - French for Chocolate. I adored chocolate from a young age when I had to sneak in the cupboard to find where my mother had hidden the Nestle's Chocolate Chips. Having read about the famous chocolat shoppes in Paris, when I finally got there I was determined to try a chocolate from every Paris shoppe. I invite you to share my adventures in creating, in travel, and in life.

24 comments:

  1. What a wonderful day, full of memories, that you gave to the young couple. I enjoyed all the photos and was in awe of the attention to detail. Just beautiful!

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  2. This wedding will be talked about for a long time! Thanks for sharing the photos and yummy, creative sweets.
    You look beautiful in your dress Jacqueline.
    Judith

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  3. Jacqueline, I've never seen a wedding reception with so many details. You are amazing! I can't begin to imagine how much time went into planning this wedding. Kudos to the Mother of the Bride! Love the sparklers as they left! Congratulations to this happy couple!

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  4. Oh Jacqueline, what a fabulous celebration of their new life together! EVERYTHING looked perfct! I know you did ALOT of work for this. You also looked beautiful in your aqua dress. The little ones are so adorable all dressed up. Thanks for sharing all of this and BEST wishes to Amanda and Casey!!! XO, Pinky

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  5. PS, meant to ask: how did you have wedding pictures framed so quickly to have at the reception???? I see in the sources list that you had them blown up and you mounted and framed them but they looked like they were from the ceremony????

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  6. I have never seen anything like this..Your kids will remember it forever.
    You put your heart and soul into it all.
    Happy life to all~

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  7. Jackie!
    I am just crying here! What a beautiful reception for your sweet daughter! I am reminded of our daughters weddings and receptions. I am so glad you were so well taken care of by the staff at Sleepy Ridge. My niece was going to have her reception there in 2009, but they weren't sure if the construction would be complete when Marilyn was making arrangements. It is such a gorgeous venue!
    I love all your details, you are a detail freak like I am! Everything is so beautiful and I knew it would be!
    Okay....just need to hire you to help me when our other daughters get married....with the first two weddings I realized that I just needed another ME to help me....You would be even BETTER than another ME! LOL love it all...so happy for you and her...just gorgeous! Can't say enough, fun, fun, fun....
    Hearts to you!
    Betsy

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  8. Gorgeous wedding! Wishing them the very best! xo
    ~Wendy

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  9. Loved her cake! Dawna is the best to work with and does an amazing job!

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  10. Dreams do come true.. Beautiful wedding! May they enjoy life together always.. Such a lovely couple.
    blessings,
    Penny

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  11. Absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing. What a special day with lot's of wonderful memories for all of you!
    Beverly

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  12. I love how all of you joined the fun and added details and work to make their day, which instantly became yours.
    It was all a dream. A very elegant and fun filled event. Like I wish their life together will be.
    Blessings to the new couple and their families; as their happy will be your happy.
    Thank you so much for sharing what was, for me and hands down, the Best Wedding I've seen so far.
    Congratulations!
    Teresa

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  13. Congratulations for pulling off a fabulous wedding. Wishing all the best to the Happy Couple.

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  14. Ah...to be young again and be able to wear heels that high if only for a moment! :-) LOVE the color!

    The parasols are just TOO cute!!!!! What a neat idea!

    I cannot tell you just how much I love that photo of the 2 generations kissing. That has got to be one of the cutest things I have ever seen!

    I was glad to read your description of having your breath taken away when you walked into the reception room. That's the reaction decorators strive to achieve, even if we ourselves are the decorators. For an occasion such as this, that SHOULD be the reaction that is elicited from each and every person. I love the Eiffel Towers with the bouquets tucked in!!! And there are those gorgeous linens! So, so pretty! I love all the brooches, too! Great price on those! You KNOW I'm going to swing by and check that site out!!! :-)

    The draping from the ceiling is really pretty, especially with the white floral balls. And that neat mirror with the writing...what a neat touch! I also really like the tulle skirt for the dessert table. VERY pretty!

    The ice sculpture/luge was exquisite!!! I love it!!! Really well done! (And kudos to the server who made those repeated trips up the ladder!)

    The food presentation was exceptional! I wish I had more thumbs, because just giving 2 thumbs up doesn't seem like nearly enough! ;-) (It would have taken every bit of social savvy and fortitude in me to keep me from scrounging through the rubbish bins after those cute soup spoons!!!) I can see why the mini milkshakes would be such a hit!! They look great, and I'm sure they tasted fab!

    Congratulations to both families!!! This was quite the celebration! (P.S. - We were both on that aqua kick this week!)

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  15. I have chill bumps hearing about them getting out of the car and dancing. The reception was very beautiful. No detail was left out. Just gorgeous. I love how the MOB and MOG wore the same color dresses as the bridesmaids. Are you starting a trend or am I behind? Great idea.

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  16. Beautifully 'girlie' and colorful, Jacqueline! You can tell everyone had a wonderful time. Wen I saw the shoes my mind said 'OUCH'! :) Beautiful setting!

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  17. This is one of the most gorgeous weddings I have seen. The food and presentation-wonderful; all the brooches, love them; the flowers are outstanding; fireworks-wow and of course the beautiful bride. I am so glad you shared so many pictures with us. Congratulations to all!

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  18. Jacqueline,

    OMGosh...I am speechless. Wow!!! What an amazing reception. So much attention to detail. So beautiful, so elegant. The colors were amazing. Though the shoes would have killed me I totally loved them. I could almost taste the food and smell the happiness and excitement in the air. I know you give 100% and always go above and beyond for your family and friends when you host a small dinner party or something as big as a reception. You really should be an event planner. You are AMAZING!

    Cricket

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  19. WOW! You sure know how to put on a wedding reception! All of the aqua is so gorgeous! The shakes and the milk and cookies are such a cute idea:) I love all the photos with the whole family. I also love to see the photos of your grandchildren having so much fun at the festivities. We have three weddings this summer (one niece, two nephews)and children are not invited to any of them:( What a shame...I am so used to all the LDS receptions with children present as part of the celebration.

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  20. HI Jacqueline, What a wonderful reception!! Everyone looks beautiful and soooo happy! All those little details
    made it so personal and I'm sure your daughter appreciated all your hard work. Best wishes to the newly married couple! Linda

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  21. Truly the most beautiful and fun wedding reception I have ever attended. The girls feel the same way! The room was decorated so beautifully! The food so elegant, yet fun, and the dancing was awesome! Loved the fireworks too. Amanda and Casey were the perfect bride and groom so happy and in love, and so fun together! I will always remember them dancing with sparklers to Marry You! You did an awesome job. Love all the photos in this. So fun!

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  22. Hi, Jacquline! To say I'm a bit late is an understatement, but I so enjoyed the pictures of Amanda's wedding that I just had to comment. Every.single.detail is just perfect! It's so nice to see a wedding that's well planned and executed!! Everything from the bride to the food, the location, the groom, on and on was perfect! Much happiness to them and to your entire family.

    Thanks so much for visiting my Purple Passion post and taking the time to comment! It's been a while since we've visited! ~Zuni

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  23. Love the rosette overlay and runners!

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