Winter Wonderland Wedding Reception
I was very excited when a friend of mine asked me to help with the decorations for her son's wedding reception. He had actually gotten married in another state, but she wanted to throw a reception here in Texas so that we could all celebrate and meet the new bride. Her budget was tight. Since the reception was to be held in December, what a better theme than "Winter Wonderland" with Christmas decorations? I already own an obscene amount of Christmas decorations in white and silver, so we actually only purchased an additional $10 worth of decorations that I could not reuse in my own Christmas decor. Yes, you read that right. She spent $10 out of pocket for decorations. She wanted everything to be simply decorated. My usual motto of "if something is worth doing, it is worth overdoing" had to be reined in here. It all worked perfectly. The bride and groom were not picky about the theme and my client is easy to please. Another of her dear friends handled the food. What a joy to do this job! I recruited my willing friend Janet (thank heavens for Janet) and my two boys (they are the best) to help with the labor, and off we went.
We used a lot of white with silver items. Christmas greenery added some nice natural color and emphasized our outdoor theme. White lights were everywhere we could stick them. We didn't forget the rest of the senses. We had Christmas music playing in the background and we had Christmas tree and pumpkin spice candles from the Legendary Candle Company wafting Christmas smells through the air. Janet let us borrow 6 small decorative trees to add to our forest. We used white sheets around the base to mimic snow. We used some uplights with blue bulbs to create a beautiful wintry effect on the walls. A nighttime, it would have been more dramatic.
I made tender lemon butter cookies decorated as snowflakes with silver and pearl candy accents. I am no Martha Stewart, but these are so delicious no one notices!
The simple small guest table decorations were borrowed mirrors, snowflake ornament and tree candles sprinkled with iridescent snow and confetti.Homemade snowflakes on the glass front of the church added a wintry touch. Thanks to my boys for helping me with these.
These trees sat at the entrance. Placing them on a table gave added height to these small trees.
The adorable couple
Gail supplied a feast for the eyes and tummy!
Gail, the friend doing all the delicious food, made these gorgeous cheese balls in the shape of Pine cones to compliment the decor. She graciously agreed to supply me with the recipe. Yes, those are almonds!
Pine cone Cheese Ball
Mix together in mixer:
16 oz. softened cream cheese
8 oz. grated sharp cheddar cheese
1-1 oz. pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
1 pkg. real bacon pieces
When mixed well, shape into large pine cone, chill. Place on dish and position whole almonds over surface slightly overlapped, starting at the small end. Garnish with rosemary sprigs to resemble pine branches.
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Here is the recipe for the punch Gail had. I'm always looking for a good punch recipe. This one was tops! There are some ingredients that must be frozen ahead of time, so plan ahead before jumping into this recipe.
Luscious Slush Punch
2 1/2 cups white sugar
6 cups water
2 (3 ounce) packages strawberry flavored gelatin mix
1 (46 fluid ounce) can pineapple juice
2/3 cup lemon juice
1 quart orange juice
2 (2 liter) bottles lemon-lime flavored carbonated beverage
In a large saucepan, combine sugar, water, and strawberry flavored gelatin. Boil for 3 minutes. Stir in pineapple juice, lemon juice, and orange juice. Divide mixture in half, and freeze in 2 separate containers. Gail used ziplock freezer bags.
When ready to serve, place the frozen contents of one container in a punch bowl, and stir in 1 bottle of lemon-lime soda until slushy.
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