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Reception

After the ceremony, it was time to unwind and relax; after all, we have our entire future together.

The cake was created by a good friend of ours, and this photograph doesn't even begin to do it justice. A lot of work went into creating the flowing fields of flowers. We did, of course, save the top layer for our first anniversary.

Our caterer was fantastic and the dinner was straight out of a Victorian tea party. It included Mushroom Tarts, Lemon Curd Tarts, various Tea Sandwiches, Scones and Devonshire Cream, a Fruit Tray, a Brie Wheel, Proscuitto and Pear Wraps, Breast of Chicken with a Two Citrus sauce, Rice, and Three Green Salad with Grape Dressing.

Thanks to our friends, we were also able to find an excellent four-piece chamber group, who played both during the dinner, and afterwards for the dancing. (Which they appreciated; usually they just play for diners. With dancers, they knew that someone was actually listening to them.) To top this all off, the dances were not just any dances, but waltzes. And not just any waltzes, but Viennese Waltzes. Oy!

Learning them was a little harder than either of us expected. Fortunately, one of our friends (who teaches dance professionally) was able to help us, as well as a few of our other friends, enough to keep from looking too bad on the dance floor.

We also danced a few early English country-dances. Since these were dances "of the people," and because Brad and Pam had been dancing with (either as members or as hangers-on) several medieval/rennaissance dance groups, they were much easier than the waltzing.

Back to our friends, the group picture on this page shows most of our SCA friends who were able to attend, and to stay, until this picture was taken.

Our relatives and non-SCA friends were still inside, having a good time. And how do we know they were having a good time? 'Cause most of them stayed until we left in our carriage, for a night at Barnaby's Hotel in Manhattan Beach. Clip-clop.

After we left came the wedding night and the honeymoon, but you're certainly not going to hear about that here.

We'd like to say in closing for anyone contemplating a special wedding, go with your hearts, but be respectful of the meaning of the ceremony. Fortunately, we were able to put this together from our own funds (living very cheaply is difficult, but rewarding) and thus had complete say in what we did.

And depend on your friends. We had some very special friends who helped us a great deal, taking care of numerous details before, during, and after the wedding so that we could have a wonderful memory. We could never have had such a near perfect day without them.

[Spear Family] [Silverelk]