Rachel And Jason's Wedding, Part 3

...Continued from yesterday:  

   Rachel and Jason's wedding reception was held at the Emerald Event Center,

...which was conveniently located  just down a hallway from the lobby of our hotel, the Residence Inn.

     The reception began with a 6 pm cocktail hour,

...where we enjoyed the most delicious appetizers,

...savory lamb chops,

...and Bloody Mary shrimp cocktails,

...served outside on the patio,

...and inside in the entrance hall.

      The entrance hall was set up with messages of love from Rachel and Jason to each other,

...photographs of of the wedding days of the newlyweds' parents and grandparents,

...and a table at which guests could share wedding day thoughts  and wishes for the bride and groom placed in boxes to be opened on future anniversaries.

Alyssa and Michael, sister and brother of the bride.

    Stacey and Audrey, sisters of the groom.

    Then the doors of the reception hall opened,

...the guests found their tables,

     Mike and Lisa, parents of the bride.

     Ken and Mary Jane, parents of the groom.

     The seats were place-set with shots of moonshine.

     The color of the lid of the shot indicated to the servers which meal the guest had ordered, the salmon-colored lid indicating the salmon, the white lid indicating the filet mignon.

      There was also a vegetarian option - I'm guessing indicated by a green lid?
     When all the guests were seated the celebration began with the entrance of the wedding party followed by Jason and Rachel,

...and their first dance as husband and wife.

     Next came the cutting of the cake,

...followed by wonderfully funny, touching speeches by

the father of the groom,

...the Maid of Honor,

...and the Best Man.

    Then began the feasting,

...starting with a salad,

...followed by a choice of salmon, which Tom had and pronounced delicious,

..or the smothered-in-mushrooms filet mignon, which I had, that was fork-tender juicy and soooo tasty!  Especially good was the side of potatoes, a sort of hashbrown-mashed potato fusion - so good!

     The vegetarian option was a pesto pasta,

...which I have on the good authority of my vegetarian sources,

...was also excellent.
     After the feasting began the dancing,

...starting with the father-daughter dance,

...followed by the mother-son dance,

...then we all joined in the dancing,

...taking a break for the delicious desserts,

...then we danced the night away,

...and celebrated the gift of being here,

...to celebrate two beautiful young people,

...whose happily ever after was just beginning.