Rain and weddings don't mix..........March 2014

March and April were busy months, so blogging got behind....but it's time to catch up. My nephew Brad and his sweet fiance' married at Foxhall resort in March in the Atlanta area. It's a gorgeous place and in the middle of no-where. Lots of nature and beauty but you have to bring in EVERYTHING. There is not a hotel onsite yet, but it's coming...so they provide buildings, tables and chairs and you bring everything else....and I do mean everything.....good thing we have a large family, it took all of us....but it was lovely. The day of the rehearsal was rather windy but nice.....but the day of the wedding we got rain....they say it's lucky to get rain on your wedding day....so Brad and both his sisters should have plenty of that...it rained on all 3 wedding days, in fact for Brooke we set record amounts of rain, it was a mess......anyway....we headed to the rehearsal........

It was really happeing....The Buell/Stevens wedding.....let's go!!

The wedding coordinator was doing her best to keep some order......

Brad and Dave ....wondering how many more times do we have to practice this

Mom and Des bribing Quinton with cookies....it just might work

"ok folks...the sooner we get this right, the sooner we can have some beer!!!"


As you can see, Foxhall is gorgeous and this evening was lovely. As rehearsal was happening outside, many busy helping hands were inside setting up for the reception. Moving tables around, putting on cloths...and getting ready for the "place setting lady" to come tomorrow. The bar was being set-up and it was busy, but going well.

Uncle Denny found a new friend and enjoyed rocking and chatting

Cindy, our bride is from Michigan and several folks came to Atlanta for the wedding....it was nice to finally put faces with names.

The entire wedding party....lovely

Brad and his groomsmen....some friends that go back to grammer school, some more recent friends. Brother-in-laws, and one brother-in-law to be....a great group of guys.

After the rehearsal we all went to Debbie and Brandon's for a wonderful catered Mexican dinner. I was in charge of  Sangria and Margarittas so forgot to get any pictures, but it was really nice. The pool and pool house area were decorated with lights and really neat Mexican decor....Deb had 2 great friends helping serve and it went wonderfully.

Friday morning.....THE BIG DAY...............

Time for The Wedding Fairies to kick into action.....I have 3 sisters.....my oldest sister has 3 children(Brad/Britt/Brooke), when each of them married the other 3 of us became "Wedding Fairies"....we help do anything....artsy crafts things, pick-up delivery...and of course we handled Bridesmaids Luncheons and this time a Groomsman Luncheon.....never heard of that, neither had we....but this time we were on the grooms side, and Brad deserved a luncheon like the girls, only this was true...."guy style"

We didn't want to leave out Cindy, and because of folks traveling there had never been a really good time for a true Bridesmaids luncheon we made our first stop at the "girls house" They had 2 LARGE houses rented on the property and pre-wedding they were "guys" house, and "girls" house.....I think after the wedding they got mushed together!!!

Cindy had 13 Bridesmaids.....wow....lots of fun. We delivered chicken salad, crackers, fruit, cookies, deli meat tray and of course Champagne for a toast....hope you all enjoyed it.......

Now it was time to go check on the guys at the sket shooting range and set up for Brad's lunch....

We had a guy deliver and cook on site a low country boil, Brad was sampling some of his homemade sausage....YUM-O

We were able to use a pavillion by the lake and it was great. By this time we had rain and it was a bit cool, but we got some heaters brought in and once things were rolling we were fine.

We served appetizers first....Wildebeast, Bison and Venison and all the favorite beers were flowing 

Then....as the boil got ready, there was corn, potatos, sausage and shrimp it was wonderful and I think the guys really enjoyed it....

We played our version of trivia....all the questions were about Brad...some went waaaaay back. We gave points for correct answers and gave some cool mini bottle gifts....lots of laughs during this.

Then we served up Tequilla shots and ask his oldest friend, Justin to do a toast....thanks Justin you did a great job...

CHEERS!!!!

After Justin did his toast...brother-in-law Dave had some really nice words to say as well....thanks Dave.

No meal is complete without dessert and beleive it or not...one of Brad's favs is a chocolate chip cookie cake from the American Cookie Company....so you know the Fairies had to have that...

He's about to have the old "ball and chain" and when that happens maybe the Mr. takes on the Mrs. last name.....????

When we made our stop at the Bride's house, Cindy ask The Fairies to deliver her gifts to Brad (remember Fairies do anything)...so after lunch we gave Brad his sweet gifts....she'd made him a small photo album of their memories , he read every page and loved it

Then he opened the other gift...was an art piece with the words to a special song and their wedding vows on it....very cool...

Good job Cindy....he loved it, I think you got a few tears..........now it was time to go get ready for the big event.

As the music began, sweet Brad teared up.....first hug was from sister Brooke (pregnant with twins!!)

Good job Brookie...you and the girls did great.

A handshake and hug from Brother-in-law Des....I missed the one with brother-in-law Dave...sorry

Then sister Brittany.....so sweet........

And last....sister-in-law to be Jenny......very special

Then it was time to lighten the mood withBrad's 4 little nephews.....Quinton and twin brothers Jase and Witt and cousin Dylan

They all made it down the aisle....then out they went....good job little guys...you were adorable and that's all you needed to be.....cute!!!

Time for the Bride...........

Beautiful...............

One last hug for Dad before she belongs to Brad.......

"Yes Mr. Buell....I promise to take care of your daughter..........thank you for trusting me with her."

The minister did a wonderful job....it was a lovely ceremony

Sister Jenny is doing a reading as the couple watches on....

Sealed with a kiss.....Mr. and Mrs. Stevens............

The whole gang....looking good.......(the little boys were long in bed by this time, but they did make it down the aisle...whew)

Some fun pictures....now it's time to eat....drink...dance and enjoy.........

My phone battery died so I didn't get any pics at the reception...but it was wonderful. Cousin Turk catered the food, BBQ...YUM. An open bar, tea, lemonade....and cupcake dessert. There was a small cake for the couple to cut. There was a band and a cigar station and some cookies for each to have as a gift. It was a wonderful evening....well done.

The happy couple left in Brad's Grandfather's mule....it was perfect. They drove back to one of the houses on property and 2 days later enjoyed a week in the Dominican Republic......welcome to the family Cindy.

Denny and I flew back to Sarasota the next day....we had lots going on at home and needed to head back. April was busy with many things, house projects etc and at the end of the month we took a much needed get-away to Captiva Island.....it's heaven.