The Party's Over; Real Life Begins Again

Yes, our daughter's wedding is now memories and pictures.

 Bedraggled centerpieces from the reception.   They were gorgeous on Saturday, by this morning -- having been "rearranged" by curious small children at the After Party -- they aren't at their best.

But oh, what lovely pink and cream roses!

*************************************************************

You have to love life,

which in the course of 25 years can transform this:

into this:

The wedding, which occupied so many of our thoughts

and so much of our time for the past six months, is over.

Now, the marriage begins.

And that's the important part.

The ceremony was beautiful.

If you are on Facebook, you can go to our dog Dion's Facebook page (link on right of blog)

and see a short video shot by my dear friend Mardi, as Alida and her Daddy walked down the aisle.

The reception was pretty much exactly as we had hoped.

Fabulous food, great guests, loads of dancing and laughing and clinking of glasses.

And the bride danced with her father to that sweet old standard, Daddy's Little Girl.

Yeah, I cried.  But not as much as I thought!

Who wants to smear professionally applied makeup?

Oh my gosh, there are so many things I want to share, but the "kids" are here for breakfast, and in a couple of hours we'll take them to the airport to fly back to California.  They leave Los Angeles next Saturday for a 3-week honeymoon in China.  Howard and I drove to Canada for our honeymoon.  Times change!

So I'm just going to add a picture of Josh and his two dads, sharing cigars in the garden at the Inn.

Howard looks pretty pleased with himself, doesn't he?

And he sure does clean up nice.

Josh's Dad is a doctor with the Navy -- the fellas had medical permission to smoke.  :-)

The two dads, who cannot claim "I didn't inhale."

Eventually most of the gentlemen from the wedding drifted outside to join the Bad Boys Club

in the garden for a smoke, provided by the groom and the best man.

After the reception, about 65 guests drifted to That Old House for an After Party.

These pictures are from After that Party!

 I didn't get any pictures during the wedding, or during the After Party, or the Brunch the next day.

I did take this shot, but I took it this morning, before the rental tent and equipment is taken down and hauled away.

 That Old House loves a good party, and she asked to keep the tent, but we had to say, No.

 Party Aftermath.  Boxes to recycle.  Lawn games my sister brought for the little kids to play with.

 Yesterday, it was Brunch at home, with fresh New Jersey bagels, some egg casseroles, muffins,pastries, fruit, coffee, and juices, and enhancements for those juices for those who wanted a bit of the hair of the dog that had bitten them the night before.

When all quieted down in the afternoon, with the family -- both families! -- and bridesmaids

and some friends here, Alida and Josh opened some wedding gifts in the Parlor.

That Old House loves to gather people under her roof, in numbers, or one at a time.

Saturday morning, in the quiet Parlor . . . 

And that's it for now.  Time for me to grab some breakfast.

I know that the next couple of days will seem awfully quiet.

My thanks to all of you for your good wishes for Josh and Alida!

And also for your prayers for good weather -- it worked!  The day was gorgeous. -- Cass

Links today:

Mary's Mosaic Monday at Little Red House... click here!

Susan's Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch ... click here!

Cielo's Show Off Your Cottage Monday at The House In The Roses ... click here!

 P.S.  Come eat leftovers!