Belated Reception

We recently had a belated reception to celebrate the marriage of Bride and Groom back in June. Since the wedding was small, we wanted to have a larger reception. We chose a holiday weekend, hoping it would be more convenient for guests to attend. Anticipating a good attendance, we knew it would have to be outdoors.

I was finally persuaded to try something new by sending out "evites" using a service called Paperless Post. Bride came up with the design and organized the mailing list. Between the two families, around 300 people were invited, both near and far. With online responses, it was easy to keep track of numbers. There was even an "app" for our iPhones.

Back in June, it seemed reasonable to think that by Labor Day the weather would be cooler. We grossly underestimated the length of a Texas summer. It seemed to me that as the attendance increased, the temperature rose. The forecast for that day was 100 degrees and sunny.

We reused most of the wedding decorations. We borrowed the same tables from Neighbor. We rented the same poles for the lights and a few tableclothes. We used the same Christmas lights. 

Honey put together more beautiful flowers. Men from church smoked the brisket. We borrowed rustic benches from a family at church. We iced soft drinks and water in old cattle troughs. We stocked a freezer full of individual ice creams. We filled buckets with popcorn. We decorated a "photo booth" area on the side of the garage - for silly or serious photos. We served the food as a buffet on the back deck. Ladies brought delicious pies and desserts.

Some of my family came to stay for the weekend and were a tremendous help. We only thought we could do it all by ourselves - until they arrived.

We think about 130 people came. It was wonderful to see so many friends and family. We dearly appreciated their efforts to get here and stand around in the blazing heat. We wished we could have had more time together.

Since I was too busy preparing food and overseeing the process, I forgot to take any photos. Thankfully, Daughter took some and has said I can use them.

We used all available shade. We set up the welcome area in the driveway.

We had a popcorn "bar" with lots of toppings.

We had outdoor games: horseshoes, bean bag toss, checkers and dominoes.

Bride and groom rented a bouncy castle for the children.

Guests gathered under the shade of the oak trees.

Groom made a giant jenga game to play.

The giant jenga was very popular. It was in the shade.

Silly cousins at the photo booth.

The tables were mostly in the shade behind the house. Cattle troughs had the icy drinks.

It was great to meet so many of Groom's family. Some came as far as Oklahoma, Tennessee and Florida.

Wilted tomato hydroponics in the foreground - Party going on in the background.

Most guests began to leave around dark and we started the clean up.