The wedding is over.

For a few hours on Friday evening we were all held captive by the love story of my radiant niece and her prince charming.

Through-out the ceremony and the reception I heard many comments on how beautiful everything was – and how delicious the food was.

I just smiled.

I knew that my very frugal sister had worked very hard to create all that beauty and deliciousness – all on a budget.

My amazing mom (you all know her as Nana), with the help of my sister and niece, made all seven of the bridesmaid dresses, and the wedding gown.

Instead of renting tuxes for all seven of the groomsmen, my mom made matching blue vests and silver ties for them to wear with their own black pants, black shoes and white dress shirts.

The attendants, wearing all that beautiful blue and silver, were all the decorations needed to bring color to the front of the church.

The couple had friends provide the music – which was wonderful! They also spent a lot of time planning the ceremony itself – making it meaningful and personal.

For the reception, my sister turned a barn-like room into a romantic and almost intimate space using borrowed tablecloths, candles and twinkle lights. Never underestimate the power of twinkle lights and candles!

For table skirting, she bought twin size white sheets at Wal-Mart for $4 a sheet, cut them in half and pleated them right on the tables using masking tape to hold them. She used a borrowed tablecloth to cover the top of the table – including the masking table.

Then there was the food! My niece and my sister put in lots of hours to make everything from scratch. My sister made hundreds of homemade rolls, and gallons of pulled pork that was served with barbecue sauce on the side.

They hosted a “potato party” and several of their friends came to help them peel, cook and mash hundreds of potatoes to make make-ahead mashed potatoes. They doctored them up a little with cheddar cheese and toasted garlic before being placed in aluminum foil pans and frozen – ready to be baked for the reception.

They did buy prepackaged salads to save time – but added a fancy dressing and croutons to dress it up.

The kitchen help was made up of friends from church who volunteered to help make their day special.

I can’t forget the cake! My niece worked for several years at a high-end bakery that is famous for it’s decadent desserts. The owners made the cake for her – free of charge.

It was luscious! As one of the cake cutters, I stood there for an hour and cut pieces of the three different flavors – decadent chocolate, raspberry vanilla and caramel.

All those layers of ganache!

I so wanted to lick my fingers! 🙂

It really was a beautiful wedding.  The sanctuary was filled with love – the food and the wedding garments were made with love – and the couple was celebrated with love.

Isn’t that what it’s all about?