Southern Wedding in the Garden

Last weekend, we headed to Scott, Arkansas for the beautiful wedding of my cousin, Brooke and her groom, Josh. It was a wonderfully sweet, Southern celebration at a beautiful plantation just outside of Little Rock called Marlsgate. Here are the pics!

The setting could not be better for a gorgeous ceremony!

For the rehearsal evening, cowboy boots were encouraged! I was happy to oblige!

My little cousin, and the bride's brother, Scott. I have lots and lots of great memories with this guy!

Keith snaps a pic with the lovely bride!

My Aunt and Uncle looking so relaxed, even though I know it was a busy weekend!

The rehearsal dinner was at Cotham's - an old hole-in-the-wall with the best Southern down home cooking!

How cute is this!!?? The Bride and Groom had an old truck parked out front filled with fresh produce for the takin'. What a lovely take-home gift for everyone!

We definitely filled up several sacks, so for the next few days it was all about peach cobbler, squash casserole, fresh plums for breakfast, caprese salad with those tomatoes - Yum!

Posing with the cute bride and groom!

My sweet tea lovin' husband!

The staff at Cotham's were given aprons to wear - so cute!

More family pics!

I couldn't eat at Cotham's without having their famous Hubcab burger - I only had about half, but it was insanely good!

My Dad and Scott - or as they refer to themselves, Uncro and Nephro

Wedding Day had arrived! We had a great day getting pampered - first it was nails, then hair and makeup - fun times!

Meg gets her hair did

Bridesmaids and the Bride! This is just before we hopped in the limo to take the ride to the plantation - such a fun idea!

Beautiful gals!

I loved the way my hair had been styled. I wouldn't mind having someone do that every week :)

My Aunt Lana helps Brooke into her FABULOUS gown!

Stunning!

The Bride and her parents; love this pic.

Bridesmaids in lilac! I LOVED our flowers. They weighed at least 7 pounds, so it was a nice little workout for the arms :)

Brooke with her parents, brothers and my grandparents

My lovely grandmother and her son, Gregory Kendall < that's where I get my name! :)

Buzbee, Megs and me

A little relaxing before the I Dos - Brooke and Josh didn't see each other before hand, making that big moment even sweeter!

Reception time! The tent was decked out in big, beautiful flowers.

The lawn was equipped with games.

And, lots of friends and family were there to celebrate! Here I am with my Jantastic!

Ashley, the new Mrs McMillan (per my last wedding post :)

Our dear friends, The Wantucks, were there. I love my TORY!

My color-coordinated date. He knows how much I like that!

The newlyweds! One week into the marriage is lookin' good on these two.

My Grandmother with two of her lovely sister's

The Dr Bollens dancing with their favorite hygienists!

Brotherly love! Both are relieved to have their daughter's weddings over with, I'm sure! We are high-maintenance gals :)

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Relaxing on the lawn with my sweet Papa Doc.

He is a great man. Great doesn't even begin to cover it. I love moments with him.

Brooke and Josh in the photo booth with their AMAZING photographers, The Benfield's. OMG, I just love these two! I wish I had known about them when planning my big day. They are the BEST, and super fun and sweet.

Dr Bollen and Dr Jones - two of my best men.

A happy and relaxed couple!

Scott with Grandma - cute, cute! I just love his Jesus hair :)

Another with the hubs

Booty-bumpin' with my grandma. Will your Granny shake what her momma gave her!? I think mine is pret-ty cool!

At this wedding, we introduced two of our favorite couples to each other - it was like two of my little worlds coming together! Fun times!

Adam singing an 80s jam to his bromance love, Keith

My dad and his mom take in the lovely plantation sunset.

Couldn't pass up this opportunity for another pic with Grandma

One of my favorite things? Brooke changed into her mother's dress that she wore when she married my Uncle Greg years ago. It was the most precious barbie-doll dress and it fit Brooke perfectly. So sweet!

Time for a sparkler send-off...

A nice, long sparkly walk out!

Happy parents!

On our way home, we happened to pass the newlyweds! 

Welcome back from the honeymoon, Mansfield's! We're so excited for you two and look forward to many years to come spending time as a family, and as friends. LOVE you both!

Cucumber and Strawberry Tea Sandwiches

There's something delightfully old-fashioned and charming about tea sandwiches. They're perfect little party bites, and when I eat them I can't help but visualize a ladies brunch in the 50s where everyone is wearing a floral pattern.

I made this Southern Living version as an appetizer for Easter. Yes, I'm that behind on blogging recipes! These were soooo tasty. I think I ate at least 4, and when making them I devoured every morsel I trimmed off the sandwiches. This would be perfect for a party or shower, so keep this in mind as you entertain this summer!

Cucumber and Strawberry Tea Sandwiches

click here for printer-friendly version

Ingredients:

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and finely chopped cucumber

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup minced red onion

3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir together softened cream cheese, cucumber, mayonnaise, red onion, basil, freshly ground pepper, and salt.

Spread on white bread, layer sandwich with diced fresh strawberries. Slice edges off of bread and cut into triangles.

I like to freeze my bread first so that it's easier to handle. I also keep the bread (while I'm working) and sandwiches under a damp paper towel to keep them fresh.

Enjoy!

A Griswold Family Wedding

So, where have I been, you ask? Clearly, not spending leisurely time on my computer... I feel like I have so much to catch up my blog readers on! A backlog of recipes, graduations, showers, and wine Fridays fill my mind (late at night) when I'm reminded of how long it's been since I have blogged. I don't intentionally avoid the blog - time just gets away from me. Work, social life, gym time, business trips and the occasional QT with my husband all take priority most days, which is fine by me! But, I have a moment tonight and I'd love to share photos from our most recent wedding. Can you tell we go to a lot and I'm a professional bridesmaid? I suppose that's what happens when you are blessed with tons of friends!

Our very dear, close, thick-as-thieves friends, Ashley and Jaycob got married last weekend! I titled this post "A Griswold Family Wedding," because we share a deep-seated love for Christmas Vacation and Clark, Eddie, Ellen and Catherine might as well be our alter egos. We love this couple so much! Ashley and I have been friends since birth through our families and years spent on the lake together. To be part of their nuptials was one of the highlights of the year.... Here are the pics!

The beautiful rehearsal dinner at Trio's in Little Rock

Keith with Martin and Daniel, adopted family members of the bride and groom

Amanda, Ashley and I

Keith and the groom - the man of the hour!

Bridesmaids with the sweet (little) bride in the middle! Anna, Jenna, Amanda, Ashley, Kendall and Mary Austin

Jaycob has 5 brothers - can you believe that? - here he is with a few of the fine fellas

A sweet pic of Ashley, Jaycob and her parents. A fun bunch to be around, indeed!

Gotta love Ms Debbie!

Wedding day was finally here! Ashley was like the perfect bride - breathtaking! 

GASP! Her dress, the belt, our dresses - oh it was so gorgeous I could hardly stand it!

PS - That bridesmaid dress I'm wearing may look familiar. I've worn it before in another wedding! How cool is that? I can't believe I would be in two weddings that picked the same fabulous dress. LOVE that! That just means they both have excellent taste :)

Here I am with Mimi - Ashley's grandmother - and my adopted second grandmother. I cannot express my love for this amazing, beautiful woman. Because of her, I wouldn't mind to be called "mimi" by my future grandchildren.

After the ceremony, through which I cried sweet tears, we headed to the reception. I snapped this picture at a red light - they were cruising in this beautiful Rolls!

Making a grand entrance at the reception!!

Sweet sweet sweet

A favorite moment of mine! 

Dancing with Anna, my bridesmaid side-kick! Hi-yah!

Mi Abuela and I. Can I pause and just say how drop-dead gorgeous my 80+ year old grandmother is? I can't get over it. She never ceases to amaze me.

I captured these pictures of my grandparents dancing in the corner quietly by themselves. It melted my heart into a million pieces.

What an endearing moment. True love!

Keith with the REAL cousin Eddy - my Uncle Greg

This is a great pic of the newlyweds with the next-to-wed. Brooke and Josh get married on Saturday and I am a bridesmaid again - I can't wait! I love all of this wedded bliss!

A cute snapshot of the bride and my father, a true fan of the camera

Two of my favorite people in the world!

But, let me not forget my favorite person in the whole world - DR KEITH JONES!

I don't even know what's happening here - but that's my dad, his brother and my hubs - 3 dentists in a row. They look nice... and like they'd give you pain-free treatment, right?

My favorite part of the whole night - a surprise song to the bride from the groom. Amazing, incredible, romantic...you name it!

How precious is this? He sang Edwin McCain's 'I'll Be' with his little brother Caleb strumming the guitar. The crowd sang along and swayed (like it was from a movie!) Then, at Ashley's request, he sang Michael Buble's 'Everything' in A Capella fashion. I was smiling so big and was so happy for my little friend that I could have cried and cried! Too much cuteness.

Then, before we knew it, it was time to go. They exited to streamers and hopped into a surprise horse-drawn carriage courtesy of the mother-of-the-bride.

What a night! It was probably one of the most fun weddings I've been to and it had everything with the personalities of this bride and groom. They know how to have a good time, dance until it hurts, and make me laugh until I nearly pee my pants. Seriously - sometimes, I have to tell Jaycob to slow down so I can catch my breath!

Congrats, McMillans! I love you - but you already knew that. Here's to our years ahead of vacations, weekends on the lake, homemade margaritas, and our children being best friends and summer camp bunk-mates. Ruv :)