Wedding reception details

The wedding reception that I posted about here was also photographed by my sister ... you know, my sister who is my assistant sometimes and my partner in the wedding business ... she is also a talented photographer and was hired to capture the evening and of course she took a few photos of the decor. The good ones are hers ... and there are a few of mine snuck in. 

The couple was married in London in June and this reception was for the family and friends who were not able to make it to the wedding. This was a much more casual affair but we wanted to reflect the London wedding as much as possible. As I wrote about here, I used the same color scheme and used the bride's bouquet as my centerpiece inspiration.

We had a simple check in-table and a casual seating assignment board. 

This little shelving unit that belongs to my sister worked out well to display some of the photos from the London wedding:

It was a last minute addition and I spray painted it in between picking up the flowers from the flower mart and making the centerpieces.

The bride brought over the fans from the wedding in June. I wasn't sure what we were going to do with them but I loved that they were a part of both events. I put them on the bottom shelf and it was perfect - all the kids took them and played with them throughout the evening.

My sister took the photos from the wedding and enlarged them and I framed some to put at the check-in and cake table.

And we hung some on painter's tarps with twine and clothespins.

The bride's mom picked up the cakes from a bakery in Long Beach called Scratch. They were as delicious as they look!

The dinner was served family style and the serving dishes were placed right on top of the table number coasters. We used this same idea to mark the table numbers in my daughter's wedding. For my daughter's wedding we hand stenciled each coaster with paint. It was not cost effective to spend that much time on this reception so I printed them on the computer and glued them to the coasters. To be honest ... I kind of like these better!

This was a great pre-curser to the wedding we will be styling in a few weeks; both venues allow only a very short set-up time and this was good practice for us. And even though it is on a much smaller scale than the wedding we will be styling, it gave us an idea of what we can accomplish in a a couple of hours rather than the all day set-ups we are used to. 

I loved being a part of putting on this reception ... it made the sting of not being able to attend the London wedding a little less painful ...

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Beckham!!!