The Reception

I thought we would have had more time, more of a break between the ceremony and the reception, but by the time we left and drove over to the hall there were already people mingling in the gardens with champagne, drinks, and finger foods. Holly didn't get a chance to nap on the way over, but she was excited to join the party once we arrived.The food was amazing. I can't believe that the food in the garden wasn't the main event. There were carving stations, fruit, cheese, bread, and cheese platters, hors d'oeuvres, and even hot finger foods.Holly enjoyed all of the food. She had strawberries, watermelon, bread, and lots of cheese. We even got her some orange juice to drink. But she didn't really want to be contained at the table for very long, so soon she was off and exploring.The grounds are beautiful and Holly was eager to toddler around through the tables, and over the bridge and through the river. It wouldn't be an event with Holly if she didn't want to go go go!This of course for Holly was the pinnacle of the event. She was simply obsessed with this fountain. Water, at any cost was all she could think about. She started to stalk the fountain trying to find a way in through the flowers. She really wanted to play with the water, it was sort of amusing to a point, when she would get upset every time we left the fountain, or when she would run across the entire garden weaving in and out of the guests and tables back to the fountain.Eventually I had to take Holly inside and distract her. The bridal party was inside making sure everything was set up and taking pictures. In the main hall the three little flower girls were dancing. It was so adorable.They were playing ring around the rosie and Holly would run up to them and try to chase them and then when they fell she would squat down and sit with them. She loved playing with the older kids.Here is my Dad comforting Holly who is upset to be taken away from the fountain yet again, this time on our way to join everyone in the hall and begin the dinner.

The first course was an Anti Pasta with some yummy Mozzarella cheese. Holly snacked a little bit but then got cranky. A bottle and song later she was fast asleep in the stroller next to my table.I was sitting with Dara and Pam and there Husbands. Pam is not in her residency to become a Doctor and Dara is working on finishing her licences to become a teacher. It was sort of surreal seeing and talking with everyone. Although I had seen Dara somewhat recently and met Jon before, I hadn't seen Pam since she was about seven.Which is kind of amazing, as now she is all grown up and married to a lawyer, Mike. Her husband was very friendly and I had a great time talking to all four of them. I knew Jon liked trains, but i found out that he also likes models and once he finishes restoring the basement in there new house he will set up a train room down there. I had to introduce him and my dad so they could talk trains the next day at the brunch.Unfortunately Pam had to be on Call at the hospital at 6:00 the next morning so they had to head out just after dinner, and would not be attending the brunch. We did get a lot of time to talk though which was nice.Here are Alice and Ed, Dara and Pam's parents. We all got to spend some time talking with them also. they were sitting at my mom and dad's table. Ed made quick friends with Holly, you can tell he really likes kids, Holly had a lot of fun laughing at his silly faces.Here is the Beautiful wedding cake. It was delicious. All of the food was. After our anti-pasta we had a really good pasta dish with a yummy tomato and cheese sauce, I loved it. We also had a salad and then the entree. My entree was a Chicken and Cranberry sauce dish. The tables had yummy bread, and all of the food was scrumptious. The service was amazing, everyone so polite, everyone getting there food at once, and no one taking any plates you weren't finished with yet.Here is my mom and Sabina. I am so glad they had a chance to talk at the wedding. Family is so important, and its just so silly to not talk to your loved ones, I think ti was wonderful to see them, and they looked so beautiful.Here is Holly napping in her stroller, against a wall out of the way. I was able to have conversations with people, and even get up and move around a little, but most of the time I stayed at my table near her so i could hear a cry or see a wiggle.That didn't prevent me from having a great view of the dance floor. here are Lorraine and her mum dancing. It is amazing that Holly was asleep through a live band and a DJ. The party was wonderful. Open bar was nice, I had a few rum and cokes, was enjoying the music and people watching.

Here are the bubbles that my dad set up for the party. originally they were int he front of the room, but due to the video Screens and the band it had to be moved, I think this is a great place and he could run them by remote at various times during the dancing.There were actually three deserts. This one may have been my favorite. It was an ice cream in a chocolate, mascarpone type crust. It was really good. Then after that was an Italian pastries plate that included canolies.Then after a long while we got to eat yummy wedding cake. Here is a picture of my mom's table, the flowers and place setting's were beautiful, and I loved how the tables were at a tilt so everyone could really see everything.Here the bride and the groom are helping with the garter. I don;t think lee and Stephanie had 5 minutes to sit down and eat all of the amazing food. they were little butterflies flitting from table to table talking to all of the guests, taking pictures, and participating in the various activities.Here is Scott and his wife. Such a beautiful couple. It was so weird seeing Scott all grown up. He was amazing, he lent us the crib and the highchair and stroller and car seat. He was such a good dad and so responsible, and his son is already four. Here is Jim, the father of the bride. I am glad he got a little chance to enjoy the party, it was amazing. I hope he did sit down and enjoy the food, but I saw him and Elise make the rounds talking with everyone also. The father daughter song was amazing. The night before I heard the lyrics and I just cried and cried, I guess having a baby of your own makes you all sentimental like that, thinking of they growing up one day. I think it hit my dad too, as when they were dancing he came over to me and asked me to dance, he was so sad that he had missed our father daughter dance. I had thought about how I would feel at this moment, when i was flying to NY hoping it wouldn't upset me, and getting a dance made it perfect.Here is the beautiful Mrs. Hicks. it is so weird that Stephanie is married. I guess even though I grew up, in my mind all of my friends from New York sort of staged the age they were when I last lived there. Scott the little brother who always followed us around. Dara and Steph just getting out of grade school, going to girl scouts, all of us the best of friends.Around 11:45 Little miss Holly woke up. She missed most of the party, or at least let Mommy enjoy most of the party which was really nice. By that time it was starting to die down, but since we were helping out the family we were at the hall until at least 12:30 making arrangements, collecting items, packing the car, getting the bubble machine, ect.This gave Holly a lot of time to still run around and play on the dance floor without having to worry too much about getting trampled. She enjoyed it quite a bit, and liked being "back stage" as the band tore down.I had hoped she would have had more of a chance to play with Jason, Scot's son, but Jason was rather shy and i am sure overwhelmed in such a stimulating environment, so he liked to stay by mommy at all times.Here is a beautiful pictures of our lovely bride at the end of the night, looking as beautiful as ever. Since she wasn't leaving for the Honeymoon until Sunday, she got to wear the dress for the whole party, and she looked like a princess.Here Holly discovered a rose, given to her by one of the groomsmen. It was so sweet. She saw the flower girls with them and she wanted a flower too. It was so cute.Here Steph and my parents are watching Holly play with the flowers. I think Holly thought Stephanie was a princess she was so intrigued by her and the beautiful dress, she wanted to follow her around.I was expecting a rough night, but by the time we got home, Holly ate a snack, played for a few minutes while cars were being unloaded and people were unwinding, she was ready for a bottle and was back to sleep by 2:30. This was wonderful.On this particular night we got an amazing night sleep, staying in bed until almost 10:00 the next morning. i thought I would end the post with a picture of Elise and Stephanie. Elise sang the most beautiful song to Stephanie during the reception, I love this picture of the mother and the bride.