Wedding Day!

Last night when we went to bed, the weather forecast was calling for a good chance of rain for today.  Luckily, we did have a back-up for the wedding ceremony (an older church that is on the Historical Society's land), but when we woke up this morning...the rain had been taken out of the forecast!  It was to be mid-70's and partly sunny.  In other words: PERFECT for an outdoor wedding.  All of the girls headed uptown to Katie's hair stylist, but before we left, Ma-maw had to steal a kiss!

Our cousin, Kathleen, also met us at the beauty shop to do everyone's make up.  I ended up leaving early to take the girls back to the house, in hopes that they would get a bit of a nap before the party started!  Julianne did fall asleep, but Reba was too excited.  Doug, Dallas and Pa-paw made it back in time (they were setting up chairs at the wedding site) to stay with Julianne while Reba and I went to the church to get dressed.

Reba loved being able to do all the girl things!

The garden was ready...

Instead of lighting a unity candle, Katie and Brian had loose wax to pour and make their unity candle during the ceremony.

I thought this was a great picture of GG and Aunt Katie before the wedding

We did all the pictures before the ceremony, and then made our way back to the basement of the church for a late lunch (sandwiches).  Poor Julianne kept walking out her shoes.  This particular time she didn't see where I was, so Rob (the groomsman) simply put her on his knee and put her shoe back on.  It was quite an accomplishment as Julianne doesn't let very many people pick her up!

All the family had arrived...it must be time to get the show on the road!

Thankfully, GG sent a few of the pictures she took during the ceremony and I grabbed some from the wedpics app they used, so I able to share actual wedding photos!!

The newest Mr. and Mrs.!

Katie and Brian are snow people - hence the snowflakes on the cakes and the snowmobile photo booth, so they decided to use the snowmobiles as a get-away for the wedding party!  It was an awesome idea

Doug was pretty excited that Katie and Brian asked him to drive the tractor and wagon!

It is common in Iowa for the wedding party to go to a local bar (or two) after the ceremony and before arriving at the reception.  Unfortunately, Humboldt only had one bar open that time of the day, but we still had a fun time driving down the main street and enjoying a few drinks!

Once we arrived at the party, they cut the cake before serving the meal - that way people could grab a piece at their convenience.

Brian was nice to Katie, but Katie maybe wasn't so nice to Brian...

Julianne was very much attached to me from the moment we (the wedding party) arrived at the reception, so she got to sit at the head table with the wedding party through the meal and toasts.

After everyone was finished eating, it was time to start dancing!

Little Miss was pretty excited that she caught the bouquet!

Let me just say, my kiddos tore up the dance floor!  Julianne quit about midnight when I took her and Ma-maw back to the house.  Reba fell asleep in my arms about 12:30, and Dallas crashed about 1 a.m. as I was driving back to the house...

Until next time...

Vacation Day 2

This morning everyone got up and ready (minus our kiddos) and made their way to the fairgrounds to start setting up for the party.  My little ones must have been worn out from the previous night because it was close to 9 before they got out of bed!  While they were sleeping, Ma-maw and I finished ironing everyone's wedding clothes.  Once the kiddos were up and dressed, we made our way out to help with the decorating!

Julianne needed a higher seat in order to supervise appropriately.

The florist arrived with fresh flowers and small vases to be used on the tables

Little Miss was more than willing to jump in and help with the decorating.  Although, she was disappointed there were no streamers and balloons...

The head table - the bride's and bridesmaids bouquets will be added after the wedding.

Aunt Katie wanted to keep the decorating simple, and it turned out beautifully!

The finished cake - the topper was custom-done: it says Mr. {&} Mrs. Ricklefs with a snowflake.  The mugs were a gift the couple received early - one has Mrs. and the other has Mr.  I then added the ribbon for a little something extra.

Back in January when Ma-maw and I went to Iowa to help dress shop, Ma-maw had the idea to make a photo prop of a couple and a snowmobile.  We mentioned the idea to Aunt Katie, and she thought it would be fun as well, but was unsure what Brian would think.  Turns out, he thought it would be a fun idea too!  So, that became my big project.  I searched online for various pictures of couples on snowmobiles, and I sent them to Katie and Brian to decide what they wanted.  I was lucky enough to be able to use a projector at school to blow the image up and trace it on butcher block paper.  I brought it home and over the course of a week created the following master piece...

I think the groom and bride were happy with the way it turned out...

I even got Dallas to get his picture in it with me

We finished the decorating party with pizza and drinks, and then everyone went on their merry way to get cleaned up for the rehearsal.

Katie and Brian chose to do an outside wedding at the Historical Society on the edge of town.  There is a lovely flower garden there, and it made the perfect setting for the intimate wedding they wanted.

After rehearsal, Brian's parents treated us to dinner.  Pa-paw managed to get a hold of Julianne before the meal.

I then convinced the other kiddos to join them for a picture...

Dallas and Daddy waiting on the food to arrive

Little Miss doing her thang...

We ended the meal with cherry pie and ice cream for dessert...Sugar thought it was the best part!

One more picture of the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs.!!!

Until next time...