Randy And Anusha's Wedding, Part 2: The Festivities Begin

...Continued From 7/4/2016:
   Saturday afternoon friends and family began arriving in town for Anusha and Randy's wedding.

Miguel and Claire.

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  Saturday evening, after a brief wedding rehearsal at The Makoy Center,

...there was a dinner for the wedding party and immediate family,

...at the beautiful Montgomery Inn in nearby Dublin.

   Tom and I were the first to arrive.

     Our party was overseen by two very friendly, accommodating  young waitstaffers, Ashley and Will,

...who  helped Tom and I set up the dessert table while waiting for the rest of the party to arrive.

    Randy's mom Mary Jane brought beautiful plates of her famous chocolate chip cookies,

...and cream cheese brownies.

     I brought peach pies,

...mini-cupcakes,

...and blueberry bars,

...that have become such a hit since I first made them for Anusha's wedding shower back in May that I'm going to share the recipe so they can be part of everybody's dessert repertory:

    Blueberry Bars
    1 cup  sugar
    1 teaspoon baking powder
     3 cups flour
     1 cup shortening
     1 egg
     1 pinch cinnamon
      4 cups fresh blueberries
     1/2 cup sugar 
      3 teaspoons corn starch
     About a cup or so of canned vanilla frosting

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. Mix in cinnamon. Use a fork or pastry cutter to blend in the shortening and egg. Dough will be crumbly. Pat half of dough into the prepared pan.
3. In another bowl, stir together the 1/2 cup of sugar and cornstarch. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely.
5.  Microwave the frosting for 15 seconds, then drizzle over the top. Cut into bars.
   

   By six 6 pm the delicious hors d'oeuvres were set out:

Margherita bruschettas,

...hot, thick-cut home-made chips,

...with barbecue sauce for dipping,

...and veggies and dip.

    Soon family and members of the wedding party began arriving,

...and, of course, digging  into the yummy hors d'oeuvres.

     Anusha arrived, looking exquisite in her rehearsal sari, one of her several wedding saris,

     Anusha's mom Jaya.

Randy's parents, Mary Jane and Ken.

Anusha and Randy.

Randy with a couple of his groomsmen.

     Earlier in the day Anusha had arranged for a mehndi, or henna, painter to come to the hotel where the guests were staying to paint the hands of any of the ladies who wished with the traditional Indian henna designs.

     Being the bride,  Anusha had a special marriage mehndi design painted on her hands.

      Soon after all the guests had arrived dinner was served.

Tom and I sat with Mary Jane and Ken and Anusha's lovely parents, Jaya and Satya.

Randy, Anusha, and Anusha's sister and maid of honor Alekhya sitting   across from the  bridesmaids. 

     For dinner we had a choice of menu options.

     I chose the pork chops, which were so moist, tender and flavorful that they left me wishing I knew the secret for making such divine chops.  They were served over a bed of tasty onion straws.  And speaking of tasty, the skin of my baked potato was seasoned, which was a really unique - and yummy - taste experience.

   Tom ordered the salmon,

...Jaya and Satya had the mushroom wrap with a side of intriguing-looking coleslaw,

...and Mary Jane had the chicken and ribs,

...with another of the restaurant's intriguing-looking sides, this one a baked sweet potato.

     Everyone raved over their meals.  (Note to self for future reference:  The Montgomery Inn has great food!)
     After dinner - and, of course, dessert -  Mary Jane and Ken gave gifts to the bride and groom.

To Randy they gave a shirt commemorating the recent Cleveland Cavaliers' basketball championship.

   To Anusha they gave a mug on which they'd had superimposed a photograph of Randy celebrating when the Cavaliers won the championships so that when she drank her coffee while sitting across from Randy he'd see the photo on the mug, recall that glorious moment when the Cav's won, and feel happy.

    After dinner we watched a sweet slide show of photos from Randy's and Anusha's childhood to the present.

     By the time the slide show was over there was a beautiful sunset  visible through the room's picture window.

    It seemed a good omen for the close of a happy evening.

     Though the best, of course, was yet to come.