While we were out gallivanting around the farm, our guests were enjoying “refreshment hour” on the flagstone patio behind the barn. Niki took these shots of the set-up later in the evening, since she wasn’t able to be there during cocktail hour, of course. Yes, we called it refreshment hour because there were no cocktails. Just some yummy, refreshing drinks. :)
Here’s our little “welcome” table, complete with a giant chalkboard seating chart.
I swear this hors d’oeuvres sign took me two or three hours to draw out. Haha. It was worth it. Let me just take a moment to talk about how awesome the hors d’oeuvres by Seth Mias Catering were. My personal favorite was the roasted vegetable risotto cake, and I heard many other say it was delish as well. Thank you to Shanni for feeding me by hand while I stood in the ladies room for 35 minutes getting my dress bustled. Lol. A surprise to us–we also had bomb macaroni and cheese bites available as appetizers–we hadn’t even requested those, but I heard they were a big hit as well!
Since we didn’t want guests getting bunched up and crowded in the small foyer of the church, we decided to have our “guestbook” here at the farm–a Jenga set! I admittedly stole this idea from Pinterest, but since it’s one of our favorite games, I just couldn’t pass it up. We’ve played with the game several times since the wedding, and it’s always so fun reading everyone’s notes to us as we pull out each block. Also, now is a good time to call attention to those lovely hydrangea arrangements scattered around the display, again, thanks to my mom. I remember her calling me excitedly one day last fall asking, “Did you realize the color hydrangeas turn in fall is almost the exact color of the girls’ dresses? Do you want me to get some from the neighbors?” She ended up clipping tons of blooms from their bushes and drying and hanging them on twine through the basement all winter. They held up amazingly well, and I was so happy to have them on display here.
Bar height tables were placed around the patio for guests to set their food and drinks down, and we decorated these with fresh herbs to tie in with the whole Italian/Mediterranean vibe we were going for. The terracotta pots were painted with chalkboard paint to match the other decor, and Shanni labeled each herb–we had rosemary, oregano, basil, etc. (not pictured!). Then, inside each pot we also had a little stake (read: bamboo skewer ^_^) with a list of “activities” guests could partake in during their time outside.
We had a couple of games for the guests to play–one was pretty simple, just an iSpy checklist to encourage them to take photos of various things and Instagram them using our hashtag #erickloveslindsey. We got TONS of photos through our hashtag, and we were really excited to look through all of these not only during the reception (more on that later), but also on our honeymoon.
The other game we had was called “He Says, She Says,” and that was a series of quotes that the guests had to identify as being said by either Erick or Lindsey. Oh yeah–and the way they marked their choice was by circling a silhouette… of us! I was pretty proud of how those silhouettes turned out (especially since they came from terrible cell phone pics!).
I had intended to make the reception just one post, but this is already getting too long so I will end here and start the next post with the bridal party entrance into the reception!
All the Wedding Recaps!
- Getting Ready
- Details
- First Look
- Wedding Party Photos
- Family Portraits
- The Ceremony
- Reception Details
- Bridal Party Portraits at the Farm
- Just the Two of Us
- Refreshment Hour
