Easy, Adorable Centerpieces and a Wedding Story

A few weeks ago, we traveled to Branson, MO for a sweet wedding.  My dear (and VERY creative friend), Jane, made these awesome centerpieces for the wedding!!

How cute are those??? Mason jars of various sizes, wrapped in burlap, lace, and twine.  With tea lights in the bottom.  And on a few tables, we placed our bridesmaid bouquets in one of the jars. Simple.  Gorgeous.  Oh and the tree "disk" that they were on was pretty cute too.

 So I've been saving EVERY glass jar we empty in the kitchen with the full intention of recreating these this summer.  Now I don't have a dead tree to cut up, so I'm thinking I'm going to use a variety of old (and hopefully tarnished) silver trays to hold the jars.  I have some burlap already, looking at garage sales for some old lace curtains to cut up (thought that would be cheaper than buying at Joann's), and I need to get some twine.  But I think I can make LOTS of these centerpieces for less than $10.  Sweet!

Here is a close up of the beautiful bridesmaid bouquets... all green. Love it.  I probably won't use flowers in mine... all candles. And actually, for our outdoor party, I"ll probably get some citronella candles, double duty!   But I think simple white daisies would look super cute as well.

While we're looking at the wedding centerpieces... thought I'd share a few more of the wedding pics.

This is why I miss living in Branson.  Look at that view.  Takes my breath away these days.  I took it for granted for so long.

 Me and the Mr.  Man he looks good.

 The wedding party... isn't the chapel adorable!!  The girls got ready in the small building on the left... it was a GORGEOUS day, until we were supposed to head to the chapel for the wedding.   Then for about 30 minutes, it POURED down rain! We rain to the chapel under umbrellas.  There was awesome thunder echoing off of the lake throughout the ceremony.  VERY dramatic. VERY movie-esque.

 The sweet couple!!  LOVE THEM!!  Such a testimony of  FAITH, God's TIMING, God's PROMISES and God's GOODNESS!  Oh man oh man, does it make me excited to see what He is going to do next with them!

 They probably don't love this photo, but I wanted you to see the front of the chapel. Gorgeous!  Great view of the lake from the front windows.  AND when it was raining, it was super cool looking!  Maybe not what the original plans were, but I liked it. 

And that was my fun wedding trip to Branson.  Hubby and I met in Branson working at a summer camp.  I lived there when we started dating, actually I was roommates with the bride in this wedding.  So we have a TON of memories in Branson. BUT we haven't been back since we've been married.  It was a great trip! We spent the car ride home considering how we can move back.  Don't think it's going to happen, but Branson sure has a soft spot in our hearts.

What's Wrong with this Picture?

If you said, "The lady in the bright reddish-orange dress." You are correct!

When she walked through the doors at the chapel, all of us passing out programs just stood still. Our mouths fell to the ground. I mean, seriously? IT's an ALL WHITE wedding. The "attire card" clearly stated - wear white or NEUTRAL colors. Please tell me how this dress made it in her suitcase...

Poor thing. Poor out of place dress. She stood out everywhere she went.

And I took a picture to remember it by.

Finally, the Reception...

I know I know... I'm a slacker... let's just move on and enjoy this lovely reception in Santa Fe, shall we?

The reception was at Roy's place and this was the lovely view we walked up to...

The Garden Cocktail Hour I just love the simplicity of the all white decorations against the gorgeous natural backdrop!

Do you see the hanging ribbons on the right? Big chunks of ribbons were just casually hanging all over the place, and flowing and blowing in the breeze. It was amazing. So simple. yet so elegant.

More beautiful ribbons surrounding Megan's mom, Sally. I love dear Sally. I have many of her recipes that I make often! Growing up I always loved her cooking! In fact, she is the master mind behind the morning cookies!

Here we are anxiously awaiting dinner! I mean the arrival of the bride and groom! (doesn't Ty look handsome in his seersucker jacket? remember it was his anniversary gift from me!)

Here's the garden, all full of guests in white. Lovely.

Mr. and Mrs. Bride and Groom

I know, she really should be a model somewhere. But then I might be intimidated of her. So maybe I'll just call her my "model friend" but I won't let her actually be a model.

A mariachi band played throughout the cocktail hour and then led the parade of guests over to the tent!

The wreath welcomed us into the reception.

Wow.

And from another angle. It was a LARGE tent. Full of White EVERYTHING!

These displays greeted us at the entrance.

Each table had 3 vases on it. Each vase was full of 1 type of white flower. But every vase was different from the one sitting next to it. I loved it! Simplicity is so underestimated! But it is just gorgeous! Here's another table with a different combo of flowers. Megan and Roy walked in and immediately had their first dance. It was super cute, she was singing to him, he was singing to her. They were seriously "alone, in their own world" on that dance floor.

Here's the crowd of onlookers. Now honestly, I know you first read the words "all white wedding" and thought to yourself, "I'm not too sure about this." But you see a picture like this and think, "when can I throw an all white party?"

Am I right?

Megan's dad welcomed the guests and gave a quick speech. Mr. McMonagle was my first soccer coach. Over the wedding weekend, he told me how thankful he was for my long friendship with Megan and what a great influence I'd been on her. I just said "WHAT? I mean, thank you." So if you know some bad influence things I did, please don't tell Mr. McMonagle. Thank you.

The Cakes.

Yes- that is a cake. It is a spice cake made to look exactly like Roy's adobe house. Remember the wheelbarrow full of birds seed in his garden? Well there it is in the bottom right corner.

Here's the delicious and beautiful white cake.

The couple cutting the cake.

Did I mention the adobe house cake also lights up on top, just like Roy's house?

The white cake was lemon with raspberry filling.

Spice cake with chocolate icing. I think this was my favorite. but it was really hard to decide.

I didn't take a picture of dinner. But we had buffet style delicious food.

Buffalo Tenderloin

Chicken stuffed with Cactus (yes seriously. and it was good and soft)

Potatoes

Grilled Veggies

Rice

Salad

I can't really remember.

This is why I should have taken a picture, even if people thought it was weird.

The band was incredible!

I am a terrible dancer, and Ty gives me funny looks. So normally we don't dance much. But a storm came through after dinner started and the temperature dropped about 40 degrees. Okay maybe only 30. So we did dance some to keep warm. But I am soooo self conscious that dancing is painful.

We had fun.

Then it was time to go.

They gave out delicious trail mix from Santa Fe - kinda spicy really.

And we all grabbed handfuls of rose petals.

And they ran down the stairs through the sprinkling rain and the showers of petals.
And they drove away in this. I mean seriously, so much class all night long- and then just keeping it real. I love it.

They hosted a departure brunch the next morning. And then took off for 2 weeks in the South of France. Well Roy had a business meeting in France on the 1st day of their honeymoon, so they just HAD to stay there for the remainder of it. Tough life.

It was so fun. unreal. and delicious.

Update... they decided to extend their stay in Europe and are in Florence until November 3rd. I am officially moving into their house here and taking all of the clothes that Megan left behind. Please don't tell anyone.

The Ceremony

I know what you're thinking... could she draw this out any longer? Can't she just get to the wedding already?? well... I could. But remember, this was a wedding WEEKEND! and the details were fabulous! And I want to share it all with you. And just be thankful I"m not posting all 400 pictures that I took. (I really don't know how many pictures I took, that's just a safe estimate.)

Megan sweetly paid for all the bridesmaids to get their hair or make up done. I had my hair did. (I know that's bad grammar, it's a joke). So here we are getting ready in the bridal suite. She had the hotel cater a lunch for us girls. So we enjoyed lunch on the patio and then put our dresses on. (this picture is pre-dresses.)

Megan and her Mom!! Love it!Her fabulous shoes!! She decided to go with something she would wear again. Smart move.

Megan with her nieces... the flower girls. They are all sisters- and gorgeous!! I loved the little one - as soon as we would say, "Smile!" she would slouch her shoulders down and make the weirdest face. It was hysterical.

Me and the Bride. Friends for 21 years.

Did I mention it was an "all white wedding?" It was. it was so cool Don't worry- when I show you reception pictures, you will agree. Megan said she received so many calls from girls saying, "Do you really want me to wear white?" "YES!" was the answer. And it was worth it!

The amazing back of her dress.

The famous Loretto Chapel - the ceremony site

The bridesmaids and the flower girls waiting for the Bride. (I was an honorary bridesmaid, so I passed out programs, walked down the aisle, and sat in the 2nd row. I liked my job very much.)

Megan with her Dad... being passed off to Roy her new husband!
The Bride and Groom on the miraculous stair case.

Next stop... the reception!

In the Spirit of Santa Fe

Megan is such an "event planner." Her wedding did not even have a real rehearsal dinner. In fact there was no rehearsal at all. The night before the wedding they had a dinner called

In the Spirit of Santa Fe

She instructed everyone (via the "attire card") to dress in bright colors. And when we arrived at the home of the party it all made since.

Here is the dinner setting...

Isn't that awesome?? All of the different colored tables! Now imagine all the brightly dressed people sitting there! Megan doesn't think of dinner and just see food! (like me) She sees a vision!! And it was fun to be a part of!

I love the simplicity of the centerpieces on the boldly colored tablecothes.

This cute wreath was hung somewhere at every event.In a very "Non-Kelley" moment, I did NOT take pictures of the food. Probably because we were sitting with 8 strangers. But we ate food "in the spirit of Santa Fe"- chicken and veggie enchiladas, rice, beans, salad, veggies. It was yummy. dessert was passed around on a platter at each table- some sort of cookie ball. not sure what it was called. i ate two. Ty ate one.

There were some speeches. That's Megan and Roy and Roy's brother. But the lighting was bad, so I didn't take other pictures.

This dinner was at a home that Roy recently built with the intentions of selling. But it was perfect timing. The beautiful home was complete, and the wedding was about to take place. So they let some family members stay at the house throughout the week and then hosted the party here. Now I believe this gorgeous adobe home is on the market.

Here's the outdoor kitchen.

the outdoor fireplace (kinda looks like the alamo!)
an awesome gate. not a great picture.

The view of Santa Fe from the balcony.

Ty and I - in our bright colors!! red and hot pink!!

Tomorrow... wedding details!! (finally)