The Wedding

It's done, and it was truly lovely.  Before the ceremony, I took a few photos to show you a little bit of the layout and table settings.  The bride and the wedding attendants entered from a side yard cement staircase and then along the upper edge of this first photo, so those tables have been set but not yet placed into position--that was done following the ceremony and just before the reception began.

The smaller table at the bottom of the photo above, the wedding table, was made by Soccer Son for his bride and himself--there's another photo at the end.  The other tables were rented for the occasion--aren't they cool?!

The parents (us) and the grandparents sat at this table on the patio.

Here another view--in this photo, you can see some of the chairs lined up for viewing the ceremony.

The Wild Child was one of the bridesmaids.  Here she is with Manager Man.  (She ended the evening singing a cappella at the microphone for her brother and new sister.  I'll have to find out from her what the song was, but it was really a great performance--the crowd was on their feet cheering by the time she finished.)

Here's Soccer Son, awaiting his first glimpse of his bride; behind him is the bride's stepdad, who officiated at the ceremony; the bride walked in, flanked by her mom and dad.  (Soccer Son also built the arch and the wood bridge/deck.  He, his bride, and her parents worked for weeks getting everything ready.)

His Lovely Bride in a pensive moment, listening to Soccer Son's wedding vows.  (This probably wasn't the part where he promised to stay by her side even when he really wanted to play soccer instead.)

The happy couple.

The even happier couple--Mr. and Mrs. Soccer Son.

While the wedding party was off having their photos taken, the sun went down and the candles were lit--here their table awaits their arrival.

There were a lot of areas I didn't photograph.  The house sits at the end of a court, on a slope, with three floors; the middle floor houses the living areas and is level with the front of the house; the property slopes down so the backyard is level with the bottom floor, where there is a bedroom/bath suite.  The bottom level of the garage is also on that bottom level; the garage has an upper level, accessible from a deck off the living area of the house, and that's where the bride's stepdad has a music studio.  Finally, the house has an upper level which houses the master bedroom/bath suite and a home office.

The garage is built on the right side of the house; to the right of THAT is a graveled area, and that's where the food tables were set up; Mexican food was served to the guests and it was delicious!  From that area, at the back there is a double gate that leads to a yard behind the garage; there were random tables and chairs set up in that area, where guests could get away from the noise of the party if they wished.  There's also another gate from the area in front of the garage that led to a covered patio area under one of the decks, and that's where a full bar was set up.  (The bartender was a soccer friend of Soccer Son who was also a fantastic break dancer--as he demonstrated a couple times later in the evening.)  My friend Lisa's husband Terry and Soccer Son brewed "wedding beer" a few months ago, and although I didn't have any, I understand it was very good!

The bride and groom chose to forego the traditional wedding cake in favor of gourmet ice cream sandwiched between cookies.  The flavor choices SOUNDED odd--for instance, I had one that was brown sugar cookie with vanilla and goat cheese ice cream and Hubby had one with coconut, lime, and avocado--but they TASTED really yummy.  (Hearing the choices kind of reminded me of the dessert round on Chopped because they all had one weird ingredient!)

In fact, the bride and groom made several unconventional choices for their wedding, music selections being one of them.  The wedding party walked in to a Ziggy Marley song, and once the couple were pronounced man and wife, Wouldn't it be Nice by the Beach Boys began playing.  A DJ was set up on a deck between the middle and lower levels of the house, and that deck was also the dance floor later during the reception.

Everyone we've talked to said they had a great time.  There were a total of just about 70 guests and it seemed like a perfect number for the space available.  The newly weds are off now to spend a couple days at Lake Tahoe in a small house they rented for the occasion.  We'll see them for dinner later this week when they return.  Tomorrow I'll tell you a little about something I was asked to do for the occasion.  "See" you then!