…a wonderful meal!
After the wedding ceremony rehearsal we were treated to a wonderful evening of good food and fellowship. Our nephew Levi married Kristin this past weekend in Nuevo, California. Nuevo is a rural community located east of Los Angeles and Lake Perris in Riverside County. It’s a rocky, hilly area with low lying valleys. But enough geography lets get back to the main event…
My sister in law Kelly is such a creative patient soul. She put together great decor and food presentation to honor the personalities of her son and new daughter in law. Steve worked hard leading up to the event with outdoor improvements on the yard. There were many trips to Home Depot this past month or so…
The main event happened in their backyard but the inside was beautifully coordinated with the theme of country casual.
It can be a little windy in the valley so Kelly anchored down the bandana hanky table cloths with books. The bride is a published poet so a lot of the books were poetry collections. Kelly and Steve have both fostered the love of books, reading, and learning with their 4 boys and so this was another great creative touch to the decor. Kelly sewed the tablecloths.
Country touches with galvanized buckets to hold the drinks. Kelly used mason jars for a lot of the decor and food presentation. She filled mason jars with ice and lemonade and put the lids on them. They were put in the bucket filled with ice to keep them cold along with other drinks for the evening. Straws were available for all the drinks, too.
They lined the bucket with plastic…
The menu was Middle Eastern with Falafel, Humus, Tabuli, Pita, and Shepherds salad.
Part of the dessert was baked and served in mason jars, too. An assortment of mason jar pies and cheesecake and brownies.
The evening ended with Levi and Kristin acknowledging each of their wedding party and the impact they have had on their lives and also a thank you to each of their parents for all they have done for them.
We returned home from Southern California on Sunday night full of all the experiences we had over the weekend. I’ll share more as the week goes on. It was so good to see our daughter Katie. We had a special family time on Saturday morning before the wedding with Josh, Laura, Katie, Dear and I. I’ll be sharing that experience soon, too. We were sorry Dan and Andrew couldn’t attend the events of the weekend but duty calls!
My mother is doing so much better than she had been for months. She is so pleased with the results she has gotten from her cortisone shot in her hip. She has mobility that she hasn’t had for quite a while and the relaxed smile on her face says it all.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Wow I love all the details… absolutely stunning!
Thanks for taking all the pictures and sharing this Ellen! While we certainly missed Andrew and Dan, it was so good to get to see Katie.
Now that backyard.was built for entertaining. Lovely! Thanks for sahring all the happy photos Ellen. I’m glad too that your mom is doing so much better.
It was lovely on this Victoria Day to visit your blog and catch up on all your recent posts! Not often I have uninterrupted time to do just that! Great photos and I’m sure you will treasure all your family memories for years to come!
Ellen, your pictures, totally captured the early summer enchantment of the evening! And I loved all the candid shots, you can see all the joy and laughter of the evening.
Great pictures, as always. It’s good to see Katie in the pictures! Good to hear about your Mom’s feeling better.
What a nice dinner party. Love the country feel, the bandanna table cloths, the mason jar drinks in the galvanized buckets. Nice pics of the party!
Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful pictures. I am inspired by the country decor and the lovely food. Our daughter is planning to have the rehearsal dinner at our farm and I’m slowly getting things together and plans made. It’s going to be such fun!
Weddings and reunions are great but the best news of all was that your mom was there to help celebrate!
Thank you so much for all the photos! You did a beautiful job of capturing Kelly and Steve’s incredibly warm and loving home. It was a good weekend!
Love, Nana Lynn
You have one of the most photogenic families I know. Blessed you that they all live in photogenic places and that there are many creative types. So glad that your mom has this new lease on life. It’s no fun to be in pain all the time.
That is so great that your parents did not have to miss the wedding! Your mom is so cute with the little ones! The color of her dress takes me back to the colors of my wedding.
The rehearsal party looked so casual and fun. Kelly does have a wonderful gift of creative decorating and serving!