Oklahoma Wedding Reception | Value This Life

Boy meets girl when they both work at a summer camp in Colorado. Girl is in college in Idaho and lives in Seattle. Boy attends college and lives in Oklahoma. Following a long-distance romance and engagement, boy marries his faraway bride…at last! This was pretty much the storyline for our son Ben and his new wife Melinda. 🙂

A few family members made the trip to the beautiful wedding which took place on the bride’s grandparents’ farm outside of Seattle. A week later, we hosted a reception for Oklahoma family and friends so that everyone could feel a part of the festivities.

A weathered fence panel served as a backdrop for the food table:

Tables were adorned with zinnias from our yard, small wood rounds, pine cones from the Colorado camp where the couple met, and a wedding photo:

A traditional family favorite, Scotcheroos, were served along with fruit, cheese and crackers, Hot Pretzels, pretzel crisps, and blueberries (a nod to Seattle, along with the Starbuck’s fresh-ground coffee!). We also had lemon water, tea and Coffee Slush.

We found ruffled cupcake liners at the local dollar store. Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting and lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting topped by a blueberry were popular with everyone:

And of course we had cake! My niece Mary has a little business in her spare time outside of medical school called “The Charming Cupcakery,” and she made this gorgeous cake. Seriously, it was one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted. It had an almond, almost-angel-food taste:

The newlyweds cut the cake:

Our teen daughters sang a duet from the couple’s engagement video, accompanied by ukelele. Another daughter and her husband sang The Prayer. The family gathered in to pray for the couple, and a few words were said.

Our five little grandchildren enjoyed the adjoining playground: