A Wonderful Night to celebrate!

Tonite was fantastic for so many reasons.  The last 7 months have been greatly focused on creating the evening that we just had and the one to come on October 23rd as well!  My whole family and I have been engaged in helping create the Wedding Weekend that is now underway.  I have a lovely stepdaughter who has become a dear and sweet friend to me over the years, and she is getting married in exactly 12 hours.  As I write this it is 3am on the morning of her wedding.  As I lay restlessly shifting about, I realized my time was better spent in meditation and reflection and in creating this memory in writing. 

To start with, the location of this Event truly made the greatest difference in terms of it's overall success.  As you can see from the above photo, Crystal Lake Golf Club in Burriville RI was exquisite!

The Staff of Crystal Lake...Tracy Hill and our servers Hailey and Ryan...saw that our comfort was their desire.  They thought of every last detail and any questions or problems were addressed instantly!

Here I am enjoying the view from our private balcony.  Directly across from where I am standing-across Crystal Lake- is the very beautiful location of the Gazebo where Daly and Justin are to be married.  There is a brick patio at the bottom corner in view...this patio is outside of the ballroom where we will celebrate tomorrow's formal reception.

The theme of the Rehearsal Dinner tonite was Tuscan/Italy and I emphasized natural things such as the Sunflowers and herbs and vegetables from our garden.  Actually, our sunflowers did not grow very well.  Instead I ordered these from my favorite RI florist LiRog on Broadway in Providence!

My camera is limited but I did manage to snap these great shots of the table and other decor just minutes before our guests arrived.  The party favor, which can be seen in the first photo at the very top of my Blog, all shaped as a heart, is a little black bucket of chocolate-covered and Jordan almonds.  The sticker on it reads, "Daly and Justin...October 23rd 2011...Love"
I moved the favors from each place setting just minutes before the guests arrived because the table looked somewhat crowded.

The party guests are of course, very very important, however I did not have a proper camera with a flash to take pictures of them to include in this Blog.  Instead I have added the pictures I did take, which are of me and my children and also of the Bride-to-Be Daly.  The last picture is of Daly and Justin from last fall (2010).  Our guests totalled 26 people and represented most of the loved-ones and friends who are dearest to the B&G (Bride & Groom).

The food served was a pasta buffet...Salad and Italian Wedding Soup to start us off.  We finished off the evening with delicious cookies and coffee.  There was SO much food that we brought home nearly 5 containers and several small ones of just marinara.  Half of it went directly into my freezer...and this was all after our guests took some home! 

The festivities of the night were the food and the jukebox.  For a short time, some of the children sat at the bar and watched cartoons.  After the meal, our guests stepped out on the patio for some fresh air and some to smoke.  It was a beautiful but chilly evening.  We re-adjourned for toasts, headed off by my hubby David (the Father of the Bride and Host of the evening).

Toasting the couple proved an emotional task.  The B&G presented their honored guests with gifts of appreciation.  There were tears and laughs and lots of love to be felt.  I am pleased and satisfied to see that a person I love so much (Daly) has a strong center for her life.  She has a man who loves her...friends who will stand by her, both here and in NY...and a family who's love is undying.  It seems like this move is hard for her...it is hard for her to leave here and move to New York.  But after meeting some of the people that she will build stronger bonds with over there, I am confident that she will adjust.

So tomorrow they TIE the KNOT

I would like to end this by thanking David and Dama for bringing this lovely woman into the world...and for Justin's Mother to be remembered with respect and love.  Life is short...it is a blessing to live it with the ones you love.

~namaste~