Their engagement was nine months—very short by today’s standards. There were many decisions to be made in preparation for the wedding and reception, but one decision was known right away: Libby and Greg’s reception would be at our home, as was mine and Frank’s (my husband) and my parents’ (Frank and I live in what used to be my grandparents’ home).

Libby was in her spring semester of her senior year at UGA when we were making plans.  Tuesday nights were reserved for our long phone calls. We brainstormed like no other creative think tank, laughed a lot, got off track, and sometimes worked through some tough compromises. I now look back at those hours of planning and cherish our undisturbed time together.

Here are some of my favorite photos from that special celebration:

                       
                      
Over 150 lanterns were hung from strings of lights inside the tent. Colors ranged from mango to tangerine to red and sizes from 18” to 36”.  Libby’s friends from UGA filled our screened porch with the lanterns and helped put them together.

Our florist, Barb Wehking, was wonderful and so creative (www.bloominbuckets.com/). On one of her visits to our home, she spotted these baskets and suggested using them to hold the flowers. They were perfect!  

                                

I saw the button on the escort cards at Tinsel Trading (www.tinseltrading.com/) and knew we needed to use them somewhere. Marcia Ceppos, owner of Tinsel Trading, dyed them herself, twice, to get the right shade of red. Now that’s a friend and an artist.

Instead of round tables, we opted for long tables that sat 48 people each. Tables were covered with burlap along the sides and rolls of vintage hemp were placed as runners.  Dinner was served family style, with a green salad placed at each place and platters of caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes, grilled vegetables, and breads. Meat and seafood were passed by servers. Place cards were 1” x 4” cards in varying shades of orange with one pinked edge. We needed to keep it simple—we ran out of room.

Years ago I bought 24 vintage beach chairs with wonderful stripes. We wanted to use them for the wedding, but the colors didn’t work. I didn’t want to cut off the existing fabric, so we opened up vintage grain sacks, pinned them over the fabric, and tacked them in place. In doing so, we saved the wonderful stripes and added more stability with the added layers of fabric. The pillow was dyed—my first attempt in dying fabric. After two weeks of procrastination I finally started, and now I’m a master at it.  As intimidating as it may have been for me, I now really enjoy it. Kantha throws from Jeanette Farrier (www.jeanettefarrier.com) were placed on chairs.

Libby was the happiest I have ever seen her, so calm and so ready to start her new life. Greg and Libby had a great time at the reception surrounded by friends and family.