June 1 wedding

It's time to catch up on the June weddings. This year I coordinated three weddings in June with a garage sale one Saturday in-between. I'm looking forward to having this weekend off. June started with a wedding at Denton Bible Church. It was a simple but nice wedding. Jason, a pastor from Denton Bible did a great job on the ceremony. It was thoughtful and meaningful. The bride and groom worked with the youth at the church so they included them in ushering and helping with the wedding. The reception was fun and had quite a bit of fun energy as there were so many teens who just had fun dancing at the wedding. There was no alcohol and everyone had a great time. The mother of the groom was the photographer. Although I did not get a picture of the photo booth, they did have one at the reception. It was fun and interactive! Everyone got three photos to take home and duplicates to go to the bride and groom. Loved that! The chocolate fountain was fun too!

Denton Bible Church has such a pretty chapel, it's just great for a wedding!

The inside is simple but beautiful! It has great lighting...photographers love it!

First Look

My camara phone does not take great pictures from far away. This is the wedding party.

This was the flower arrangement on the columns on the stage.

A fun picture filled guest book

The chocolate fountain by Chocolate Finale. Who doesn't love that?!

The dance floor up on the stage in the Mill at Denton Bible

Boquet toss from the stage at the Mill

The happy couple, Hilary and Andy!

Memorial Day 2013

Sorry this is a bit late, but I wanted to post about this year's Memorial Day event. Frisco, TX has wonderful Memorial Day service every year. We barely missed last years and I didn't want to miss it this year. My mother-in-law was visiting and went with us as well. We started the day off with a great patriotic breakfast of glutten-free blueberry pancakes with whipped cream and berries. Yum!!

Then we drove over to Commons Park in Frisco, a five minute drive, to a beautiful park with nice walking trails, a very large playground and a veterans memorial.

This event featured a traditional flag and wreath-laying ceremony, patriotic music from the Frisco Chorale and the Frisco Community Band, and participation from local scouts and Civil Air Patrol Cadets. There were also army trucks, a helicopter and other service vehicles present.

The speaker this year was Lt. Col. (Ret.) Barry Bridger, a highly decorated United States Air Force veteran and survivor of six years in Vietnam’s infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison camp. His speach was wonderful as he talked about love of country, having good character and faith in God. We thought he should run for president. :-)  

There were about 500 people in attendance this year and I'm sure as word gets out, it will increase in number every year (at least I hope). It's well worth the hour of the program.

We were quite far in the back but could hear and see fine, even though it doesn't look like it.

My husband, mother-in-law and I thought of my father-in-law as we watched this helicopter take off. My father-in-law served with the Army in Vietnam during the Vietnam War and currently still struggles with PTSD.

This army truck reminds me of my dad as he served with the army in Korea during the Korean War/Conflict. My dad has earned two purple hearts during conflict in war and survived.

I wanted to take the time to thank all those who served in our armed forces and lost their lives so that we can have the freedom that we still enjoy today. Thank you all!!!!!

A little Definition and History of Memorial Day

Memoiral Day - an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many Americans observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials, holding family gatherings and participating in parades. Memorial Day is not to be confused with Veterans Day; Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving, while Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, living or dead.

Decoration Day: What people used to call Memorial Day. The name refers to the way women and children would decorate the graves of soldiers with flowers and wreaths. Annual Decoration Days for particular cemeteries are held on a Sunday in late spring or early summer in some rural areas of the American South, notably in the mountains. In cases involving a family graveyard where remote ancestors as well as those who were deceased more recently are buried, this may take on the character of an extended family reunion to which some people travel hundreds of miles. People gather on the designated day and put flowers on graves and renew contacts with kinfolk and others. There often is a religious service and a "dinner on the ground," the traditional term for a potluck meal in which people used to spread the dishes out on sheets or tablecloths on the grass. It is believed that this practice began before the American Civil War and thus may reflect the real origin of the "memorial day" idea. 

May 1, 1865: The first mass observance of Memorial Day. Nearly 10,000 freed slaves, missionaries, and teachers gathered in Charleston, SC to honor the Union dead.

May 30: The day people traditionally celebrated Memorial Day.  By 1890, each northern state was marking Decoration Day as an official state holiday; celebrations took place on different days in the southern states.

June 28, 1968: The day Congress moved Memorial Day to the last Monday in May to create a three-day weekend (thanks Congress!). A few veterans groups disapprove and want the date changed back.

3 p.m. (local time): The national moment of remembrance.

From dawn until noon (local time): When the American flag is flown at half staff to honor the dead.

The Princess Brides

I am so behind in posting. June is quite a busy month for me with three weddings and a garage sale. That leaves me one free weekend the end of June and I'm looking forward to it!! Maybe my husband and I can celebrate our anniversary that weekend. Our anniversary was in May, but it was too busy that week. This posting is about two wedding from May 18 at the Lone Oak Ranch. Both brides wore princess type dresses, extra puffy. :-) They were beautiful! I didn't get a good picture of Brooke's dress, but it was very big and pretty. The weddings were 1 1/2 hours apart. It was a nice sunny day to have two outdoor weddings. The decor for both weddings was very different. One went with a light fresh look of blues yellows and silver and the other wedding was hot pink and zebra print. You couldn't get any more different. Below are pictures from both weddings.

Sarah's Wedding

Sarah's wedding was a 3:30pm at the Wagon Wheel. Before the ceremony, I snapped this picture of Sarah. Now doesn't she look like a princess?? :-)

This was a picture of us as we drove over to the wagon wheel for the first look. We were in a golf cart.

I loved this shot I got of the first look.

I just loved the color combinations they used at the wagon wheel. That little bit of red accent was nice.

I loved all of the flower pedals at the ceremony site at the Wagon Wheel.

Cowboy boots on the bridemaids is very popular at the ranch. It was nice that the wedding party was shaded and most of the guests were as well. It was quite warm this day.

Arriving at the reception by carriage from Rustic Rides www.rusticrides.net

The reception at the Rodeo Cafe.

The table setting. Believe it or not, this may look like china, but it is all plastic ware. Except for the wine glasses and cups, which were also a souvenir to take home.

The sweetheart table. Just big enough for the two of them.

The cake...gluten free I might add. It was very delicous! The middle layer was three layers and the cake is a little more dense than regular gluten cake so it was quite tough to cut. My knive broke while cutting this middle layer and I made due. Sarah and her new husband both have Celiac disease so mostly all of the food was gluten free. We are seeing more of that these days.

First Dance. The DJ was from Doubletake and he was great! It think a professional DJ can make such a difference. In fact, their original DJ was unable to make it and this guy filled right in. He was such a pro and it always makes a wedding coordinators job so much easier.

Leaving with sparklers. Even though it wasn't dark, it still makes for great pictures. What a fun way to leave.

Sarah and Will - May 18, 2013!

Brooke's Wedding

I didn't get as many picture of Brooke's wedding since I was mainly with Sarah this day. Brooke is the sweetest person, but she must have a wild side seeing her decorations. :-) She hired a professional decorator, Brenda with Cherished Memories, to do her decorating of the outside at the grove and the ballroom for the reception. At first when I heard hot pink and zebra print, I was wondering what that could  possibly look like, but Brenda did a great job with it.

The ballroom for the reception. A little zebra print goes a long way!

Reserved for Family table decor

This was the guest book table and the "M" was to be signed as well.

The Bride and Groom's cake

The outdoor ceremony set up at the Grove. It was nice and shaded in the trees.

This is one of the only pictures I got of Brooke. It's not a very good picture either.

It was a long day, but I think they both loved their day. It's great when the bride and groom are happy after all of that planning!