That’s right, it said our names on the sign…
The ceremony complete, it was time for cocktail hour! In keeping with our country kitsch theme, we served local apple cider (non-alcoholic) and a signature Love Fest cocktail of lemonade and Sweet Tea vodka. Yum!
The best part about our signature cocktail was that we’d figured it out at the last minute. I mean, we always knew we wanted to have signature cocktails at wedding(s)– we even came up with three of them in the first week of our engagement!–but we hadn’t settled on just one in the whole 1.5 years of our wedding planning–until the introduction of Sweet Tea vodka to a birthday party we attended two weeks before the wedding. We are iced tea/Arnold Palmer lovers anyway, and making it alcoholic was even better!
For about a hour in between the ceremony and the reception, we mingled in the open courtyard between the Floral Building and the Art Building (reception was held in the ‘Art Building’–you gotta love how fairgrounds are laid out…). Now we really had a chance to relax and hug people, chat, briefly catch up, and generally enjoy the gorgeous early evening weather Siskiyou County was providing…
Bridesmaid Nina
My grandpa and me
Some of Alex’s college crew
While those old enough to enjoy the alcohol were chatting, my brother started up a game. Now you may not remember, but, in the UK, my brother got all the guests engaged in a game of Hi-Ya! This time, I’m not sure what the name of it was but there was still a ninja-esque element to it! Something about calculating kick or hit on somebody and freezing…
The game in action…
With the sun quickly setting, we rounded up the immediate family for a few family shots on the lawn. It did occur to me to do family photos beyond my immediate family but when those numbers get above 70 it just seemed like a better idea to leave it. While the shots were quick, they are some of our favorite of our families, from the day and in general. I am still so grateful that Alex’s parents were able to fly over and be part of the California wedding. And with Alex’s brother and sister missing, we had to ham it up a bit with my brother to make up for it as well.
And then I had to take just a few, me and my bro. He’s my forever-been best friend.
Finally, before heading in door for our awesome tri-tip barbecue buffet, we gathered EVERYONE together for a few shots. That’s about 130 people right there! I still can hardly believe how much support and love we had surrounding us that day. And laughter and silliness for that matter. We’re nothing if not a little bit silly…
The rest of the evening flowed on from there–yummy buffet, cake smashing, hilarious speeches, photo booth pictures, dancing, dancing, and more dancing!–so still more to share… But, in the meantime, has anyone else done signature cocktails for their wedding, or planning to? Do games ever spontaneously occur elsewhere?! Are you planning to do lots of family photos or just intimate ones?
All photos by Wyatt Olson Photography
Didn’t catch the previous recaps of the California Country Kitsch Love Fest? Get ‘em here:
Country Kitsch Wedding Preview!
Great pics! Awesome spiked Arnold Palmer…love that!!!
I love these pictures. Especially the ones with your bro- too cute!