Weddings don’t always have to be extravagant affairs. A wedding is really about celebrating a lifelong commitment to one another and the celebration is about people enjoying each others’ company.
A few weeks ago I went to San Diego County to attend the wedding of my nephew Ben Crilly, who is a marine currently stationed at Camp Pendleton. Accompanying me on the trip was husband Peter Crilly, son Christopher and his girlfriend Laura. Going out to California gave us the opportunity to see daughter Alex, who took the train down from San Luis Obispo to San Diego to meet us. We had a great time staying in La Jolla, revisiting some to the sights we had the pleasure of seeing San Diego during Thanksgiving plus making new memories.
I didn’t know what to expect, as far as the wedding we were attending but I did know I liked the handmade invitation and the fact that we didn’t need to be super dressed up. Shown in this photo of the invitation are the party favors given as we left– handmade pouches of wildflower seeds. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The wedding was held at the bride’s grandmother’s house, in the backyard. The sun was shining and there was a lovely spreading Ficus Tree on the hill. On the tree were hanging mason jars and white Christmas lights for when it got dark. To set the stage for the ceremony were a pair of French Doors and jars of baby breath and purple flowers. The colors of the wedding were white and purple. The brides maids word short purple satin dresses and the table covers for dinner were purple as well. I confess I didn’t take enough pictures to show everything, because I was having too much fun.
There was no alcohol served. Emma, the bride is under 21, so the couple toasted one another with pink lemonade. The bride and groom both looked radiant as they made their ways around to the tables set up after the ceremony to say hello to everyone. A dance floor was set up on the ground, like the floors you see at a hotel, and it was placed up on the hill under the tree. A deejay down below spun tunes after dinner, which was two choices of pasta served buffet style. The beautiful tiered cake was chocolate with vanilla frosting (my favorite!). Instead of a guest book, we were all asked to write something around the edges of a canvas which had the couple’s picture in the center and as the couple got ready to depart in their “just married car” we were given sparklers. Assembled in the driveway, we held up our lit sparklers and the bride and groom walked underneath as we said good luck and congratulations. It was a lovely event. Seen in the photos with the bride, groom, and Peter is his brother Paul, and nephew Nate (Ben’s younger brother who was one of the groomsmen). 
