Ranch Hospitality…

When you have a wedding on a Ranch/Blueberry Farm you have to consider some extra comfort items you need to bring in…like generators to provide electricity, fancy honey buckets, and special lighting.

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The drive up the coast beyond Santa Barbara was lovely with lots of views of the Pacific Ocean. The wedding venue was 16 miles beyond our first beach camping experience with our family back in 1984, Refugio State Beach.

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IMGP0739Each table had a book by a favorite author of Caleb and Marie. Each guest found a library card on file at the guest book table to see what book and author they should look for to see where they were to be seated.

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I was happy to see that our table was Dostoyevsky, Crime and Punishment. There were a few more Russians at our table!

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Here’s the table where we found our library cards and were able to sign the guest book. They had photos of the parents and grandparents on their wedding days. Sweet!

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There were a few tables that I would have been very comfortable at.

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They had a special coloring book for the younger guests with crayons at the tables where they would be sitting.

IMGP0740Blueberry Jam for each family to take home to remember the special wedding at the Blueberry Farm.

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Just in case you doubted whether or not we were on a working ranch here come the cows and the horses!

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After the sun set and on our way out of the ranch we stopped on a section of the road to look up. The sky were amazing with a view of stars I haven’t been able to see in a very long time. Wish I could have gotten a photo of it.

I am happy to announce that we were able to get both our cars in the garage again. That means we have everything out of the garage and back in the house in it’s new or old spot. Such a good feeling. Dear still has touch up and baseboard work to do along with closet shelving and organizing.

What’s happening for you this weekend?

The Attendees…

I really didn’t get many photos of the attendants at the wedding. There were many cameras and I-pads in my field of vision and then the wedding party was swept away to the back 40 on the ranch for the professional photos. By the time they got back it was time for dinner and the darkness descended on the venue…

The definition of attendees: a person who is present on a given occasion or at a given place

So this post will be all about the attendees and I apologize ahead of time for my tunnel vision on people I’m related to…

Caleb & Marie8Our nephew Timothy with his wife Jessica and nephew Levi with his wife Kristin. Brothers and Sister in laws of the bridal couple. Looks like Levi spotted me taking his photo. Hi Levi!

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These are the bride’s sisters Katie and Annie. Our nephew Joe is walking Katie down the aisle.

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Our niece, grandniece and a Caleb and Marie’s friend’s little sweetie were the flower girls.

Caleb & Marie6The flower girls had a great time running around the ranch!IMGP0801

The Best Men and the Maids of Honor helped to shield Marie from Caleb’s view while they walked to the aisle.

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The wedding party getting back from their photo shoot.

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From dinner we headed to the dance barn and watched a wonderful “first dance” by Caleb and Marie and the Father/Daughter Dance and Mother/Son dance. Way too dark for my camera skills!

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My next post will be all about the family shots that I was able to get.

My mom continues to hang in there. Today I told her that my cousin/her niece had sent an email asking how she was. My mom then said to me “tell her to call, I can still talk!”

Happy Day to all of you!

The Bride & Groom…

I was considering calling this post the Long & Short of it or the Tall and Short of it…

IMGP0746I had more glimpses of Caleb before the wedding than Marie. She was being kept as hidden as possible so Caleb would see her for the first time as she walked down the aisle. This is Caleb with his brothers, Timothy, Levi, and Joseph.

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Caleb and Levi.

Caleb & Marie3Caleb is a bow tie kind of guy. My pop (Caleb’s grandfather) wore a bow tie in his wedding photos. I found this photo of my pop (Caleb’s dzeda) sporting his bow tie in a photo with his brother in law (my uncle Paul).

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IMGP0832I loved this tender moment when Caleb reached over to move away a wisp of hair from Marie’s eyes.

IMGP0838Caleb lifted Marie up to give her the “kiss”.

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IMGP0918Caleb and Marie stood at the beginning of the buffet line to hand out plates to their guests. What a great gesture of appreciation of their guests.

It was a fun time of celebrating Caleb and Marie and being able to see how much their family and friends appreciate them as a couple. There were 20 attendants in the ceremony. What’s the most attendants you’ve seen at a wedding?