A Wedding in the Family!

Congratulations are in order for the Sweetwater Son and our lovely new Daughter-in-Law!

Are they not just the most gorgeous looking couple?

The wedding was on Saturday at Willow Ridge Gardens.
It is pretty nice to have a brother and sister-in-law who have a wedding venue!

The weather was absolutely perfect for a morning wedding and brunch!

I can't wait to see the pictures from Matt Hodgman at Edge Gallery .  He took formal as well as candid photos of the lovely people and place.

Of course....I was too busy to take photos during the wedding or at the party...

But I do have pictures from Friday: preparations, the Groom's dinner as well as early on Saturday morning before anyone was up! I can share some of those with you.

Sweetwater Style is dedicated to sharing ways to save money and still be stylish and elegant!
This wedding had lots of touches that were very special and thrifty!


What fun to create the flower arrangements for the reception tables and help the bride make her own bouquet.

 Here are the arrangements on their way to the barn.....we used my collection of off white Haeger vases with fall bright blooms from the Farmer's Market and the gardens at Willow Ridge. The total cost for 16 arrangements was less than $100.

The Bridal Bouquet was pretty stunning!  The blooms are from Bachman's Floral.  The pale pink roses are an amazing color.  They are mixed with white Hydrangea and white Spider Mums with accents of seeded Eucalyptus.  The bride put the flowers together herself!  With a little help from me.....they were wrapped with floral tape and finished off with white silk ribbon.  This bouquet is every bit as nice as one made at the florists.....for a fraction of the cost!  The "special order" flowers cost $60.  There were enough to make the bouquet and all of the boutonnieres and corsages.  There were even flowers left to decorate the cake.  The average cost for a bridal bouquet from a florist is $250 .....and this bouquet certainly doesn't seem "average"!

The Groom's dinner was so much fun.  All of the close family from both sides as well as some close friends from out of town were invited to come and celebrate on Friday night.

We were able to hold the dinner in the barn at Willow Ridge Gardens.  The entrance to the barn was decorated for us with this lovely Fall display!









It was a great place to gather for Happy Hour and conversation before dinner.


We set up a large Harvest Table in the barn for people to sit at when they filled their plates from the catered

The flower arrangements on the Harvest Table were the ones that were used on Saturday on the high tops at the reception.

















It was also a fun spot for candid fall photos!

Sorry.....but you just can't blame this Grandma for showing off these cute photos....

The Sweetwater Grandbaby really loves his second cousin!

Now...after that brief commercial...back to the thrifty ideas!









We put a 8 tables together for this giant table so that all 35 guests would be seated together.
That makes for a wonderful feeling of togetherness and a great flow of conversation.
Such a large table presents some problems when it comes to a table covering!
I don't know about you....but I really really hate plastic party table cloths!
This solution was the genius idea of the Sweetwater Daughter!
All we did was gather all sorts of cloth tablecloths that all had the same color wave and feeling.  In this case....it was sort of "luncheon on the farm"  vintage with some denim thrown it.  Then those were just laid on the table in a sort of random but artistic fashion.  I love the casual elegance.....but mostly the avoidance of plastic or rented linens!

After the wonderful dinner....it was easy to do a bit of last minute set up for the big day!
HMMMM.....a glass of wine while you work does make the job seem more fun!

Then....off to bed in the darling little "Granary".  Saturday dawned with this perfect sunrise!  I was up before almost anyone else...except the Sweetwater Brother who was out and about tending the gorgeous grounds.

I wandered around enjoying the peace, calm and serenity!

 This is the "aisle" for the wedding ceremony!  

 How cute is this rustic sign post?  With a venue this spread out....people needed some direction!  Kudos to the Sweetwater Brother and Sister-in-law for providing the perfect backdrop for this.

The sunrise streaming in to the barn shows off the great looking flowers on the bartops.

The Mason jars and feathery grasses are a nice rustic touch.

The containers for all the fixings for the Bloody Mary Bar and Mimosa's were all set and ready to be filled.....

 

It was sure to be a perfect day.....



And it WAS...filled with so many memorable moments!



For now....I am enjoying the memories as we  celebrate the happy marriage of this lovely couple.


I promise more to come when I have more photos!




You have a Wonderful Day!