Tag Archives: Rachel's wedding

Garden, Saving Money, wedding

Thriving In My Thrifty Week–Sept. 27, 2022

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Our fall crop of veggies is producing. We’ve been eating the new crop of broccoli, cabbage, the new cucumbers, the mixed summer squash (all sorts in the same packet from Pinetree), along with the tail end of cucumbers, tomatoes, green and purple beans, peppers, etc. Our squash and cucumbers from spring planting is succumbing to powdery mildew, as normal, so I usually plant a small bit of those for fall eating.

I was able to freeze a few more packets of broccoli, which was one of my goals for this fall crop. Now I have enough for the winter.

I pulled all of the beets that were still in the garden. Both Mom and I kept what we wanted to eat and I pickled 9 more pints.

I have started to pull onions, and clear away other plants in the garden that are finished. I’m hoping to get that done so it can be tilled before the fall rains begin. It’s a big job, so I will try to work at it a little most days.

On the same day Rob picked up my Azure Standard order and did a very small Costco run, the girls decided to buy a LOT of groceries. I believe it was around 10 bags full or more. Then, a few days later, Lovana shopped for her party food, which was many more bags full. I picked up the specials at Safeway last Friday, as there were a few things I needed. Then you add in the wedding food as Rob is doing all the meat for 175 people. It’s not a small amount. Our fridges are bursting. We’ve used coolers with lots and lots of ice for overflow. We have the kitchen one, one small one in the camper and one ancient, rickety college dorm-sized one on the porch. That’s it. I have declared this to be NO MORE SHOPPING FOR FOOD week. But, then I ran out of something. And we need 20 bunches of green onions and 12 cucumbers for the wedding that we can get at our local Safeway for a great price. What can I say? I’m sending Rob and Michaela out on Thursday. Everybody better eat fast between now and Thursday.

We were invited to Allison’s birthday at the group home she and Anthony live in. It’s the first time we’ve visited their new home and it is super nice! I’m happy for them.

We took Malcolm. Boy did he have fun. We had not realized we WERE the party, other then the residents, so we were super glad we took him along. Everyone enjoyed him so much and he was the center of attention as he pushed and rolled his cars along the floor and enjoyed his cake!

Lovana cooked and baked for a costume party for her friend’s birthday. It was a Marie Antionette-themed party and she made 2 cakes, decorated beautifully, brownies, cookies (more than one kind), and cupcakes. There may have been more items, but I can’t quite keep track of that girl when she bakes. She really has a knack for it.

She also arranged many, many flower bouquets for the decor. She said the party turned out really nice, but she couldn’t get any pictures in time:(. Now I’m enjoying this gorgeous bouquet every day.

This upcoming weekend is the big wedding for my niece. We are going to be working very hard to prepare all the food. Much has been done ahead of time, but there are many things that have to be done the day before or even the day of the wedding, such as cutting fruit for salad. There are several people coming to help. My sister and I will spend quite a bit of time Friday evening putting together “kits” with instructions so people can be handed a box with apples, for example, with instructions to cut them into bite-sized pieces and add to the fruit salad. Hopefully, that will get all the jobs done and leave no one standing around wanting to know what to do.

I picked up this picnic basket at a yard sale. Rob oiled it with a little wood oil after this picture was taken, so it looks even prettier now. The bride has asked for some of the wedding food to take with them on their honeymoon, as she feels she won’t get to eat much. We will pack the food in here with ice packs. She also wants an assortment of cookies from her cookie bar, so we will add those, too.

I’m bringing containers, plastic wrap, dishcloths, soap, knives, cutting boards, scissors, etc., etc., etc., as the venue provides nothing but appliances. I’ve got a huge pile already and it’s only Tuesday!!! You should see my sister’s living room. She has decor for the food tables and will have all the food. Yikes! Rob has the van completely full of his projects shown in the last post. Let’s hope that set up crew is on time and very, very strong.

wedding

Wedding Decor Projects

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My niece will be married in a couple of weeks. My sister and I (and husbands) are in charge of the reception. We’ve been planning for months.

Rob has been working hard on building decorative items. I’ve been working hard helping him set his projects up, wrestle them around our yard, and adding ideas and finishing touches to them. (Meaning he is the master builder and I am his assistant!). This fence will be behind the sweetheart table where the bride and groom will sit during the reception. He built it in 2 sections, because we have to man-handle it up an elevator in the venue to the second floor. It won’t fit in its entirety, and is also too heavy in one piece. There is a crew coming to do this lifting, as we are really not able to do it ourselves. We have a LOT of heavy stuff!

The flowers on top are made from the bases of pinecones and will match the wooden flowers she is choosing to use in some of her decor/bouquets. The dahlias will be chosen from our garden in white, yellow, bronze, apricot, and other fall colors and picked the day ahead.

Our extremely talented friend cut this metal sign for Rob. Then, Rob finished the metal, and built a frame box for it with the lights inside. It will be hung on a fence that is much smaller than the previous one with chrysanthemums along the bottom and will be placed in an area where people will see it when they first come in. Then the newlyweds will get this sign for their new home. Her new hubby is a young man we have known and loved for years, so this wedding is doubly exciting for us and Uncle wanted to make something super special for them.

These rickety old ladders were scrounged from basements and garages from friends. He did have to do a little fixing, but they were left rustic on purpose, as the bride wanted. Rob cut old boards he also scrounged to put across them for a cookie bar. They will be decorated up the day of the wedding with various items. I’m hoping to get pictures of the final results. It will be a busy day.

The third rickety ladder was transformed into a holder for the paperware for the buffet. The very top holds 3 bottles for flowers, which will be in wedding and fall colors, not purple. The napkins are next, then the square paper plates she has purchased and silverware at the bottom. We may set more flowers at the base, or just leave alone as this needs to be functional and not trip people up.

These barrels (shown here at a party in July) will have the board across them and have a kids’ buffet area with goldfish crackers, licorice, gummy bears, and other items they will like. The bread will also go on there so the buffet stays gluten free. Our niece asked that allergies be respected and food labeled and that there were options for many of her friends and family who have the need for that.

The actual buffet tables have a base of normal tables the venue provides. Rob has cut a thin laminate to lay across them and scads of crates and baskets have been gathered for the base of the food. Dishes, plates, wood rounds and more have been sourced, along with all the drink items, which will be in a different area.

The table will have bouquets of dahlias and the white zinnias we planted in the spring.

Rob will prepare the meat in his barbeque. We hope to have turkey, roast beef and ham. It will be served sliced thin and cold. We have borrowed a meat slicer for that. There will be bread and condiments for those who want to make sandwiches and lots of veggies cascading out of baskets. We will have dips and salad dressing and salad toppings in little jars so hopefully people will pour some out, and not dip in and contaminate things. There will be a cheese board, salad bar, fruit salad, and a watermelon wedding cake. That cake is all my sister–I can’t wait to see how she makes that!

The venue provides nothing in the kitchen except appliances, counters, and a sink. I’m putting together a kit of things like towels, soap, scissors, tools, Saran Wrap, etc. I am started, but will work hard on that in the next few days.

Then, of course, there’s the actual cooking…….We’ve tried to make it as easy as possible and have pulled in some friends and family to help on the day of.

There has been a lot of planning and work done already, and much more to do next weekend. I’m excited to see how it looks when we get it all done and even more excited to see two special people we love so much start their new life together!