France had the head table set up on risers at the far end of the room underneath these gorgeous Arts & Crafts style windows. She had two cute little vignettes set up on either side of the head table and the dance floor just below.
This is the French Market Cart & Bicycle that France found and painted black. It was supposed to hold the gifts, but I think most of the guests were afraid to mess up her cute vignette so only one or two gifts ended up inside the cart (including ours - because I was trying to set the example) and the rest surrounded the cart on the stage and the floor in front of the stage. Michelle suggested adding a card to let everyone know that the envelopes were supposed to go in the wooden trug inside the cart. That was a good idea and ended up being very helpful!
This is the vignette from the other side of the head table. It is just supposed to represent a little French Street Corner. France painted the bench and sewed the cushions. I don't know if you can tell, but the green trim on the little black pillow is the leftover trim from Alaina's bridesmaid dress.
This is an overview of the room from the head table. I'm actually standing on the dance floor.
The centerpieces were either a tall candlestick vase with a lovely floral arrangement or a French style wrought-iron lantern with flowers arranged at the base. It was nice to have the mix of tall and short centerpieces.
Tamara (or maybe it was France) wanted a Sweets Table to hold the "wedding cakes" and treats that were supposed to be put out during the dance portion of the evening. The wedding cakes were cheesecake and a traditional French Croquembouche (a tower of cream puffs held together with a stiff caramel).
The Croquembouche sat on the cake plate on top of the square box and the homemade cheesecakes were in the cake plates next to it. France also made Madeleines and fudge to set out on the other plates on the table.
France made 3 New York style cheesecakes which were supposed to be decoration and then Tamara & Leighton were supposed to cut into one and serve it to each other around 9:00. At that point the wait staff was supposed to set out the Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes for dessert. BUT that wasn't made clear early enough and as the guests finished their dinner (which was very yummy by the way) they saw the cheesecakes and other treats and lined up for dessert. Somebody decided to cut into the cheesecakes and serve themselves and then everyone else followed. France was remarkably good tempered about that.
The Crocquembouche started leaning about halfway through the slideshow so they had an emergency early cake cutting and France decided to just go with the flow for the rest of the desserts.
Tamara and Leighton each picked out some of their favorite candy and had those available for munching on during the evening.
The entry turned out to be a real highlight for a lot of people. Ladies that just worked in the center walked by and commented on how fabulous it looked and what a special idea it was. France somehow found wedding pictures, or at least couple pictures, of almost every couple four generations back. Michelle and I laughed and laughed when we saw France's wedding picture. Tad had hair and France and Tamara look soooo much alike but the best part was the crocheted headband that France wore across her head (like a hippie?) with a big pouf of net billowing out the back of her head. SOOO 1997! I wish I'd thought to take a picture when we finished.
The dance was fun and a lot of people actually stayed past 9:00 pm. Dad & I danced and even made Alaina proud by doing a pretty good Swing! We tried to embarrass her by slow dancing (bear hugging) like we did in the 70's and 80's but she just laughed and showed us the "Proper" way to dance (very Ballroom).
Sorry I didn't get pictures from that night, but I hope you get a little sense of what a special event France created.
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