The Best Day of Our Lives (Part Reception)

After the delicious food and entertainment at the luncheon it was time for some dessert!! Wedding cake!! Or I guess really Costco cake since I didn't leave much wedding cake for them. Grandma Shepherd can make the best cake I've ever had!! About time for the reception to start it began to rain and as the reception was intended to be in the backyard, my fast thinking family improvised. They thought quickly and were able to bring everything inside. Here are a few pictures of the beautiful backyard that Grandma and Grandpa Shepherd had worked on for so many years to beautify. I have many many fond memories growing up playing in this yard. But the most wonderful part is that you can't tell that just a few weeks before the whole thing was dug up by bulldozers as they began renovations on the house. They stopped long enough to plant grass and let it grow some just for the reception. Here are a few pictures of the backyard and the house all ready for the party to begin!!


Here are my diligent Kumps working on the finishing touches for the flowers. I can't thank them enough for their hard work in getting these done for the bouquets and reception. The flower arrangements were absolutely stunning!! And of course Grandma Shepherd getting more flowers for the cake. I know this wedding wouldn't have been as wonderful and beautiful without the hard work of so many family and friends!! Linda as the mastermind behind the flowers. And it was also her Birthday and she never even said a word about it until after the reception. What a woman!!!

Grandma putting some finishing touches on the cake. I have to tell you it was the most delicious cake I've ever had!! Which is what I wanted! Chocolate with raspberry filling and butter-cream chocolate frosting. It was so good that I made sure we brought some cake with us on the honeymoon.
And it even looks absolutely beautiful!! Grandma did such a great job with the flowers!!
Here are some of the results of the hard work of everyone to put everything together. See how great the flowers look!!!
Here is another shout out to Grandma Shepherd for doing the framing for these pictures and finding the green to match. We have two of these hanging in our home from our two receptions and it is fun to see the advice that we got!!
But don't worry, it wasn't all hard work!! We did find ways to have fun and enjoy the day!! Each in their own ways. :) And I especially hope that all of the Hinton's enjoyed the reception after all of their hard work putting together the amazing luncheon!! Even our wonderful photographer Emily found time between taking pictures to have a few laughs. Emily is a family friend and did absolutely amazing on the photos. We couldn't be happier!! If you want to contact her for jobs let me know!! Most of all I appreciate the feeling of love I felt from all of the dear family and friends who sacrificed so much to travel up to DC to celebrate with us. I cannot express my gratitude to them and wanting to share this day with Dustin and me!! And also for all of those who I knew they would have come if they could. We feel truly blessed. I have been trying to find pictures of everyone to include in here but there are a few that I found were missing. I couldn't figure out especially why there were no pictures of Dad Hinton, until I found the following evidence! OH Dad we love you!! I am still not sure if Darren was banished or trying to get in from the rain....or if he was just needing some attention....
I wish I had a few more pictures of everyone else. But thanks to Nate to took the task of parking everyone, and even carried umbrellas to walk everyone to the front door. And to Katherine and Michelle who I know helped serve the cakes, and Aunt Cheryl and Aunt Cathy for helping behind the scenes, because I know they did!! And to everyone else for their help with quick thinking and meeting the needs. And Matt for setting up the music for us.
My two adorable nieces and my wonderful Sister-in-laws!! It is good to know that our future beautiful babies won't feel too alone in their gorgeousness thanks to Kitty and Isabelle. Even Josh found his own way to have fun at the reception!! See we cater to everyone!

Right before cutting the cake. Again people thought quickly as Dustin and I went to go cut the cake in the dinning room, realizing that there wasn't enough room for people to watch, so they found a table and moved the cake to the Living Room. Thanks again to Grandma for her hard work!
Cutting the cake....self explanatory.
Yummy!! Oh yeah, the cake was good too :) Giving the bouquet to Grandma Maughan, as she and Grandpa were about to celebrate I think 53 years of marriage in two weeks. They have been an amazing example of what a marriage should be and I wanted to thank them for that!! See!! Love grows with time!!
Dustin chose the song for our first dance, unknown to me. We danced to Kalai's "Divide Me". Man what a wonderful husband I have!! Heading out!! I told everyone we were leaving at 6:30 on the dot, but we were close!! Here we are leaving at 6:45 with Grandma's cake in hand, trying to not get too wet!! Oh and there is Nate!!
Making our escape.
Notice that Dustin is still holding that cake that his wife wanted to eat so much! We ran to go say goodbye to mom and dad and got attacked.
Despite the looks of it the car was decorated but the rain washed the paint off, but Jessica and Sarah got us back a few weeks later with both of our cars saying "just Married" and things like "Happily Ever After" on them.
And so now the real adventure begins as we embark on eternity together. Thanks again to everyone for all of our help during the wedding and your love and support!