Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Get This Party Started

My Dears!

Let me tell you about the wedding reception that my sister and brother-in-laws had up in Anchorage. [On a side note: What is the proper term for talking jointly about about one’s sister-in-law and brother-in-law? Siblings-in-law? Sister/brother-in-law? How about SIL and BIL? That’s easier to type.]

Anyway, Chris’ brother and his wife Katherine had a beautiful wedding reception at a lodge up in Anchorage. I’m going to have to tell you about since I didn’t take any photos. Bad, I know. Actually, I have a few good excuses: namely, that I was on baby tending duty and when I could pawn the child off on some poor soul, I was chowing down on scrumptious food, cake, and more cake. Definitely good excuses.

Katherine and Greg picked a local lodge as their wedding venue. Besides coming equipped with a giant deck and gorgeous views, it was also highly customizable: tables were festooned with homemade runners and flowers from the farmer’s market, a slideshow of their wedding pictures was playing on a wall, and a delectable bbq was laid out for dinner.

There were two DIY aspects that I particularly loved:

-Homemade jam and relish party favors, and
-A picture timeline of the bride/groom

Katherine and my mother-in-law spent a few months last summer canning jams and relishes with produce picked from their gardens. Anchorage does cool-weather fruits and veggies really, really well, thanks to their round-the-clock summer sun: rhubarb, raspberry, and highbush cranberry. Also, they grow zucchini and pumpkins the size of small cars.

The highbush cranberry is my very favorite and an Alaskan speciality. Tart and tasty, with a beautiful ruby color, it makes for a fantastic spread on crepes or, as a syrup, poured over french toast.

I *might* have taken two. :)




The other project that Katherine did, and which I don’t have any pictures of, was a pictoral [is that even a word?] timeline of the two of them, hung by clothespins along a suspended string. From birth until adulthood, the pictures depicted Greg and Katherine individually and then together after they became a couple. It was simple yet very sweet.

It was a bit like this:

Photo credit here
I liked it so much that I might steal the idea for Ben’s birthday party as a way to display his
weekly photos.

Huh. Which I see has already been done.

All in all, the event was a perfect reflection of the couple,  a beautiful reception, and best of all, a fabulous celebratory party.

xxoo,

Sonja