Emilee's Reception

Emilee and Chip's reception was last Friday night. I had promised her months ago that I would help her decorate the gym so it didn't look so gym-ish. I came up with the idea for these arbor-things that could act as a false wall and hold pictures - pop art pictures that would mirror the bright peacock feather colors she wanted. Then I got pregnant, felt awful, and enlisted Rus to help me. He helped with the arbors but essentially made all six barnwood frames himself. He is amazing and saved my hide.
The pictures turned out awesome. Marquette, a second cousin (if you're keeping track) took the engagement pictures and used software to change them into pop art photos that looked like they were painted. There were six arbors and six pictures. The arbors were made of 2x3s and were basically big frames that were braced in the back so they didn't fall over. The awesome crew that came to set up for the reception helped to hang lights and toole and maneuver everything into place. This next picture is not great, but it at least shows one of the sets of arbors.
Here is an up-close picture. I mounted the pictures on sticky-backed foam core and then hung them with ribbon that matched the toole. I think the picture looks like it's floating - by far my favorite thing about the decorations.

And here is the cake I made, with a giant fondant peacock feather as per Emilee's request. (Well maybe not the "giant" part...it just seemed to grow as I made it)

Emilee and Chip with the cake...

...And actually trying to cut the cake..."Man this fondant is THICK! Chip! Where are your muscles?!"

Surprise!! The inside was made to look like a rainbow! It looked amazing...but admittedly lacked some flavor. But it looked amazing! :)

And here are some more of the arbors and pictures...







Fun, fun! It was a really fun reception - I brought my face-painting stuff and became a magnet for kids wanting flames and bracelets and pretty eyes - and then Marquette and her husband Cameron set up a photo booth complete with a trunk of wigs, hats and fake mustaches. They took a million pictures, I'm sure, and also took down email addresses so they could email the picture out later. I thought that was a brilliant (and really entertaining) idea.
So hooray! Another big accomplishment for this year! I am so happy for Emilee and Chip and I can't wait to see what the coming years will bring with them - school, school, and eventually chubby little mohawk-ed babies. YAY!