Possibly three.
Maybe I'll go for an even ten. Stay tuned.
For now I'm going to talk about some of the reception details, the nuts and bolts so to speak, as opposed to all the thoughts and feelings. I know some people don't care about details, but I think you know I'm not one of them, so here we go...
Our reception was held in The Certus Loft, which is part of The Peace Center in downtown Greenville. We absolutely could not have asked for a more perfect venue. The Loft sits along the banks of the Reedy River, conveniently just across the street from the hotel where our many out of town guests were staying.
The Loft is spacious with plenty of natural lighting, gorgeous wood floors, exposed brick, and vintage architectural detailing. In other words, exactly what we were hoping to find when we first began the hunt for a venue.
Essentially it's a blank canvas...you book the space, but hire your own catering, music, and decor. You are required to use their bar services, but they offer several packages of varying price, and they worked with us to determine the best fit for our event.
Daughter1 had a very clear vision of how she wanted her reception to look and feel. We wanted a venue that would allow for personalizing the space, menu, and set up to make that vision a reality.
I'd describe our theme as 'rustic elegance', and the bride and I were completely simpatico in regards to style, color, and design. She chose a muted natural palette...shades of green, lots of gold and ivory, some wood tones, and just a hint of blush sprinkled throughout.
We wanted a soft elegant feel to the space, so opted for a combination of long and round tables, candles in pretty mercury glass, Edison lighting strung across the dining room beams, and lots and lots of greenery mixed with flowers in shades of white.
The Loft features two long rooms that are basically in the shape of a backwards L. We set the long arm of the L for dinner, and the 'leg' of the L was what I'll call the party room.
We had passed hors d'oeurves and cocktails in the party room the first hour, the band and dance floor at an angle on one side of the far end, a four-sided bar set in a diamond shape in the room's center, and lounge furniture and wedding cake at the end closest to the entry, furthest from the band. I don't have great pictures of the party room, so will likely post more once we get the photographer's work.
Our floral designer was so very talented. We used Modfete, and I cannot say enough good things about Katelyn. I'd describe her style as vintage with a modern twist, which matched the bride's style to a tee. In fact my daughter had seen a piece created by Modfete on a website, which is how we found her.
The bride wanted to incorporate something similar in our space, so besides all the wedding flowers and decor, the table settings and other beautiful miscellany design, Katelyn created three hanging pieces, one for over the head table, and two for the party room to hang over the lounge furniture.
photo credit: Modfete
We rented the lounge furniture from A Darling Day who was so nice to deal with, pleasant and accommodating on the phone, promptly returned emails, delivery and pick up in a timely fashion, and they made payment easy. Hubs kept scratching his head saying, 'We're renting furniture???', but he was a trooper, and more or less managed to go with the flow.
Daughters getting married are a lot for dads to come to grips with.
Our favorite restaurant in Greenville is Larkins on the River, so one of the first, easiest, and best decisions we made was to have them do the catering. Their event coordinator Jessica was so great to work with, and their food was positively scrumptious. The chef worked with my daughter to customize some of the appetizers, and our guests could not say enough about how wonderful everything tasted.
Appetizers included chicken and waffles with a cranberry syrup, shrimp and grit cakes with a red pepper coulis, grilled pimento cheese with tomato soup shooters, deviled eggs, and crudities with dip. The chicken and waffles disappeared as fast as they could serve them. Seriously good!
We had a sit down plated dinner which included a salad as the first course, followed by a filet of beef and crab cake duo with mashed potatoes and vegetable. I was a little anxious about how they would manage to serve filet to 180 people (would it all be hot and cooked to everyone's liking???), but no worries, Larkins service and timing were perfection. I thoroughly enjoyed the sit down dinner, enough time to have a real conversation with the guests at our table, and a little breather mid-evening.
We served wedding cake prepared by Buttercream Bakehouse for dessert, and it was scrumptious. There were two strawberry layers with a vanilla bean filling, and two chocolate and vanilla layers, with a peanut butter filling that was uh-mayzing! A swiss vanilla icing in what's dubbed a smooth spackle design topped it off. There were fresh flowers too, with the sweetest, tiniest, little bride and groom tucked amongst the blooms.
That very bride and groom sat atop the bride's great-great-grandparent's wedding cake many moons ago. The gorgeous wooden cake stand was also very special, made by the groom's mama who has a real talent for creating with wood. It was the perfect display piece for their gorgeous cake.
I love how gently my son-in-law treats my daughter. I really dislike when a groom smashes the cake in his new bride's face. This sweet tender gesture is so much better.
Aren't they the absolute cutest?
And now cue awkward place to stop, but I'm stopping here anyway. I'm going to save the first dance, father-daughter dance, and all about that