Wedding flowers and decorations

I had so much fun organizing and planning the flowers and decorations for Natalie and Seth's wedding! I have helped in some weddings but I have never done this from ground zero.

After figuring out what Natalie wanted to have for the ceremony, down the isle, on the arches, flowers, etc, I was able to calculate how much we would use and place the orders for tulle, ribbon, arches, flowers misc.  Receiving the orders in the mail was thrilling!!!


   Setting the stage with the "forest" which was the  background behind the wedding party was the first step in making this happen. My dad provided all the trees.

#2 The isle tulle was not at all how we planned, but it turned out so beautifully not even Natalie was disappointed!  We wrapped the tulle around the lights and ended at some fake ferns. We also set the flower jars on the ground for every other row.

Here is Rachel working on the arches. She did a fabulous job! Lots of tulle and purple flowers set the romantic feel for the ceremony.

You can see the woods taking shape behind her.

Anna is artistically arranging tulle and lights around the bottoms of the "forest" and purple flowers all through out the foliage for a spark of color. This was mostly for Natalie as it wouldn't show up much from the audience's perspective.

We were able to use all the church's fake plants for more depth, color and texture.

View from balcony

As you can see behind Seth, the unity candles, communion and fabulous peacock fan (made by amazing Karen Bever!) nestled in the woods.  I am not sure if anyone got a closer picture of this beautiful table arrangement or not. :(
 
   While all this was being perfected, there were steady and gifted hands working on the exquisite flower arrangement.  Those hands belonged to: Karen Bever, Darcey Bever (friends of Natalie), Kristin Butler (cousin of Natalie), with some

in-and-out help from me, Holly Butler (sister of Natalie), and Bethany Butler (sister-in-law of Natalie)

For each bridesmaids' bouquet: 1/2 dozen each white roses, purple carnations, baby's breath and peacock feathers!  I was so happy to make Natalie's bridal bouquet which was about 3 times as large as the bridesmaids.

 Bouquets, boutineers and corasages probably took 3 women solidly at least half a day.

                                                             In these pictures, you will see the bouquets, boutineers and ring bearer pillows!!

The flower jars on tables and down the isles

 I had decorated the ring bearer pillows the week before with feathers, ribbons etc. I was so excited to do these! I got the idea off a wedding website.

I am ready for the next wedding whenever that happens! :D

                                                                                                       

Zucchini Lasagna (my favorite!)

This is my favorite recipe this year--and a great way to use up zucchini (though we love it and never have to "use up" :D )

No Noodle Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients

• 2 large zucchini or yellow squash, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small green bell pepper, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup tomato paste
• 1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• hot water as needed
• 1 egg
• 1 (15 ounce) container ricotta or cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, fresh or frozen kale or chard, thawed and drained
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 8 ounces grated Parmesan or mozarella cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a deep 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. Slice zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices. Sprinkle slices lightly with salt; set aside to drain in a colander.
3. To prepare the meat sauce, cook and stir ground beef and black pepper in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Add in green pepper and onion; cook and stir until meat is no longer pink. Stir in tomato paste, tomato sauce, wine, basil, and oregano, adding a small amount of hot water if sauce is too thick. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Meanwhile, stir egg, ricotta, and parsley together in a bowl until well combined.
5. To assemble lasagna, spread 1/2 of the meat sauce into the bottom of prepared pan. Then layer 1/2 the zucchini slices, 1/2 the ricotta mixture, all of the spinach, followed by all of the mushrooms, then 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Repeat by layering the remaining meat sauce, zucchini slices, ricotta mixture, and mozzarella. Spread Parmesan cheese evenly over the top; cover with foil.
6. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil; raise oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Definitions

I love the definitions of words, so here they are:

Abundant: more than necessary, plentiful

Treasures: prized possessions, valuable