It seems like only yesterday since we said, "I do" and began this crazy, wonderful life together! How has it possibly been 31 years?
Our lives have certainly changed since that warm August night, but God has blessed us more than we could have hoped or imagined! Our life with our two extraordinary daughters, their incredible husbands, our precious and adorable granddaughters, the cutest little granddogs, a loving and supportive family who continuously display what faith, traditions, and strength are all about, brilliantly talented students, and phenomenal friends, is wonderfully crazy and magnificent and is worthy of celebration each and every day! Yet we did want to look back and remember how it all began.
In reading through some of the old cards and letters we wrote to each other, we found one that talked of what our lives would be like together. Never would we have imagined a life so full and glorious. Our plans have not always turned out as we thought they would - even our Charleston Honeymoon was impacted by a few mishaps (yes, we're referring to Hurricane Hugo as a "mishap")... But we've always shared our love of God, our family, and all of the EXTRA! And because of that, it's been a pretty spectacular 31 years!
Designed to reflect our wedding ceremony colors and theme, the tablescape included our Mikasa wedding china, gold flatware (similar set here), and crystal drink ware. The table was decorated with mementos such as the cards and letters we wrote to each other, Baylor football and theatre ticket stubs, white roses like the ones from our wedding, and our wedding photographs. We used a pink tablecloth with a gold sequined table runner and pillar candles trimmed in gold wash tape from Kaylee's wedding reception. We created a balloon arch of white, gold, and pink balloons to provide a backdrop for the evening.
Our signature handprinted watercolor place cards were a precious reminder of the beauty, art and color that has filled our life together!
We love including these homemade elements to our party décor as a touch of uniqueness to the motif.
FestiveFetti designed the beautiful custom confetti of pinks, white, and gold, with gold glittered "31" cutouts as the perfect finishing touch. We adore the fact that FestiveFetti has become a part of all of our family traditions and celebrations! She creates one-of-a-kind custom confetti that adds the perfect amount of whimsy and EXTRA to all of our events! Be sure and check out her Etsy Shop for your next event!
"Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate."
- Alan D. Wolfelt
As (self-proclaimed) Celebration Specialists, we can tell you that every great meal should begin with a cheese board. Our anniversary meal began with a white cheese and chocolate board (You gotta love a good color scheme!).
Our meal was a feast of some of our family favorites: Charleston Crescent Chicken Puffs (the recipe is from the Charleston cookbook we purchased on our honeymoon, sparking the tradition of adding to our cookbook collection on every trip), a Spinach Salad with a Bacon Vinaigrette Dressing, and Camelized Bacon Wrapped Green Beans. You can find these recipes here.
We ended our anniversary celebration with this White Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Filling, because as Julia Childs said, "A party without cake is just a meeting."
They say life is short, so make it sweet! We're so thankful we are blessed get to live a life doing exactly that - celebrating the EXTRA with those we love!
