An Aqua French-Inspired Wedding Reception

Amanda's wedding reception was a beautiful

event.  

Sorry it has taken so long to get this done, but you

will see that there was a lot to cover.

The reception was held at Sleepy Ridge in Orem

and I had fun snapping some shots as her bridesmaids 

helped her get dressed.

You can imagine how long those shoes lasted!

So I had to get this shot of the bridesmaids' shoes as

they lasted just about as long!

Everything was aqua and white with a touch of silver.

My daughter in law made their gorgeous headbands.

Amanda and Casey were so happy and relaxed.  She

wanted another bouquet for the reception

a cascading bouquet with brooches and feathers.

It turned out exquisitely.  Nannette at Sleepy Ridge 

did all of the flowers and decor.

I can't say enough good about

Sleepy Ridge.  They were marvelous

to work with.

I love the touch of bling that Nannette added even to

Casey's boutonniere.  He looked so good in his tails.

She and her lovely bridesmaids had fun posing for tons of pictures.

The groomsmen got in on the fun too.

Couldn't be cuter - all in aqua and brooches!

(Nothing harder than keeping this many little

ones in the camera!)

Of course we had to get her with her older sister and her

oldest niece.

Here is a huge shot of all of us.

And a shot of the Moms and Dads and Newlyweds kissing!

Amanda wanted the moms in long aqua dresses.

We were inspired by Amanda's armful

of bracelets so we put together

our own collection in aqua and white.

Casey's mother made a bead bracelet

for each of us.

This is an exterior shot of Sleepy Ridge.  Amanda

chose this beautiful place for her reception.  She

was upstairs in the Sunset room.

We gathered for pictures at 5:30 and the 

reception began that evening at 7:00.

The service at

Sleepy Ridge

was so incredible.

They had me deliver all of my decor

items the day before with notes on 

where I wanted things and that evening

when I arrived, all was set up and perfect!

I have never had service like that.  I thought I

would be working all afternoon on set up!

When I walked in the room, it just took my breath away!

The aqua and white were just spectacular -

such a beautiful color combiation.

Brooches were featured everywhere from

the flowers to the tables and even to the cake.

Two were pinned on each table runner.

They were in all of the floral arrangements too.

I found all of these on Fabulousbrooch.com.

(Most for $3 each!)

This massive fireplace anchors one end of the

room.  

Everything was just magnificent.  I love

the draped ceiling in the Sunset Room with lights

in the draping.

We had beautiful candles everywhere.  I love

that Sleepy Ridge lets you have real candlelight.

Some of the tables featured Eiffel Tower 

floral arrangements, others featured

silver mercury glass containers.  All

had crystal and aqua brooches and

the tables had aqua jewels sprinkled

on them.

The 6 foot

Eiffel Tower Ice Sculpture anchored

the other end of the hall where all of the food

was served.

Fresh flower poms hung from the chandelier in the center

of the room.

I had painted this large birdcage in

an aqua spray paint for wedding gift cards.

The sign in table featured two books you could 

sign in and

 Amanda's jeweled bridal bouquet from 

the temple and bridals 

was placed under the metal cloche

by the sign in book

(from Costco Photo) 

 the other sign in book

was hand made by his mother -

you could sign in either or both!

It was set up on this lovely shabby aqua dresser.

We had attached ostrich feathers to pens to sign in.

The little girls loved those pens.

Casey's mom had done the vinyl words for their

Love Story

which we placed on this mirror.

The halls were lined with enlargements from 

her bridals.

And more photos from her engagement photo shoot

topped this shabby buffet.

Yards and yards of aqua tulle create

an elegant skirting for the dessert table.

 The dessert table featured the Groom's

Cake on an aqua and jeweled cake stand

and a five foot high Eiffel Tower that held

French Almond Macarons.

Amanda chose a classic white wedding cake 

from Cakes By Dawna (who happens to be

related to Casey) with a touch of aqua with

the brooch.

She wanted to incorporate a little silver, so Dawna

fringed the edges of the petals with metallic silver.

The cakes were red velvet, chocolate and vanilla.

All were delicious.

The focal point of the room was this six foot

ice sculpture of the Eiffel Tower that has

a drink luge in the center so that punch can

be poured through the sculpture.

Amanda chose a

 Tiffany Blue Punch

 to match the reception

colors.

The sweet server in the background had to

climb up and pour the punch for all of the

guests - all night long.  And he did it 

all with a huge smile.

 (Someone's enjoying the punch!)

We found this fun cake topper for the grooms

cake as Amanda and Casey were to leave the

reception in my white convertible.

It sat atop a traditional tall Maglby's chocolate cake.

As reception lines for an LDS wedding

can be long, we decided to have waiters passing

trays of food as people waited in line.

Everything was mini appetizers and mini desserts

with a French flair.

The event was catered by Magleby's and

the food was simply amazing both in presentation

and flavor.  

These were Magleby's spinach dips.  I just adore the 

presentation on everything.

Red pepper soup spoons.  I wanted to save all of their

fabulous serving pieces!

This was one of our savory stations where the food

was behind prepared right there in front of the

guests.  The chef at this station was so adorable

he kept saying, "Welcome to Paris!"

They were then served hot in a red pepper dipping sauce.

Of course we had to have crepes with a

lemon mousse or a cream cheese mousse filling

and assorted toppings.

The chef was there flaming the crepes.

The stuffed mushrooms were incredible.

I have to say the biggest hit of the party were the

mini milkshakes.  They were served at their own

"Milkshake Bar".

They served Raspberry, Oreo and Toasted Marshmallow

Mini Shakes.  I know my grandkids drank way more

than their share!

People just raved about all of the food and said it was

the best reception they had ever been too, but their

favorite things were the mini shakes.

French macarons were served out of the Aqua Eiffel Tower

which I got from Tai Pan (I painted it).

The beautiful cake stand with jewels I found at

Home Goods - and no, I didn't have to paint that one -

what a find!

Guests also adored the 

Cookies and Milk.  

What a clever idea.  

Ok, everything was delicious! People loved

these Mini Layered Magleby's Cakes too!  They 

were one of my favorites!

Magleby's was so creative and wonderful

to work with.

The event included dancing at the end where even

the grandkids were having a wonderful time.

And of course a dance with Dad.

After all of the food and fun and congratulations

we went out on the patios and had a

fabulous fireworks show.  Amanda and Casey got to

push the plunger to start the show.

I am such a fireworks fan that when I

found out they could do real fireworks,

I knew we had to have those to

celebrate!  They went on and on and on.

We were given a spectacular show!

Everyone lined up to wish them a sparkling farewell

using 3 foot sparklers and heart shaped sparklers.

The heart shaped sparklers just last one minute

so they were just for looks, but the 3 foot ones

last 4 minutes - perfect for pictures.

Her wonderful bridesmaids, Hannah, Natalie, Natalie and

Aubrie had decorated the car with style.  Hannah

blinged up the cans with scrapbook

paper and aqua jewels and Natalie made the

banner. 

It was finished off with four clusters of aqua

and pearl balloons.

 It was the classiest decorated car

 I have ever seen!

They drove off in the car but needed to return 

to change out of their wedding clothes. 

My favorite part was when Casey turned up the

music to "I Think I Want To Marry You"

and then got Amanda out of the car and danced

with her!

Here is to a wonderful life together!

It's been so fun sharing our wedding with you, I decided

I should share all of my hours of work finding things,

so here are my sources!

Sources

White Pinch Pleat Linens - Your Chair Covers

Aqua Rosette Overlay and Runners - Wholesale Wedding Chair Covers

(I cut the overlays or toppers into runners and serged the

edges to get the color and size I wanted.)

Aqua Tulle Table Skirt - Etsy - Bailey Had A Party

Flower Girls Dresses - Candy Girl Dress

Reception Center - Sleepy Ridge

Catering - Magleby's Catering

Bird Cage - Tai Pan (spray painted aqua)

Eiffel Tower - Tai Pan (spray painted aqua)

Table Eiffel Towers - Home Goods and Tai Pan

Easels - Tai Pan

Sparklers - The Wedding Sparklers

White Buffet and Aqua Chest - Sleepy Ridge Rentals

Brooches - Fabulous Brooch

Table Votive Candle Holders - Hobby Lobby

Aqua Tall Mercury Candle Holders - Z Gallerie

Cake Topper - Wedding Star

Parasols - Wedding Star

Wedding Sign In Book - Costco Photo

Aqua and Cream Picture Frames - Home Goods (I

added the ribbon and brooches)

Enlarged Photos - Costco (I ordered 20x30s and

mounted them with spray glue on foam board and

put them in frames from Michaels)

Cream and Brown Floor Mirror - Home Goods

Eiffel Tower Canvases - Home Goods

Fireworks and Ice Sculpture - Sourced through Sleepy Ridge