Ceremony Decor and Music

While I dedicated most of my time and energy to decorating for the reception, I wanted to make sure the gazebo had just a few touches that tied everything together. To save time and money, I only decorated the 10 chairs that lined the aisle. I bought a long spool of wide sheer satin, tied it around the chair in a big bow and added a silk rose accent.

I found these simple rusty wire and grapevine sconces at Hobby Lobby and knew they would be perfect for the two front columns of the gazebo. I didn't want large flowers to be distracting, and these wispy wildflowers were just right.

A turn down the wrong aisle at Target one day led me to these grapevine accents (which my mom had previously found and I totally forgot about). Two on each side was just enough color and texture.

When it came to music for the ceremony, I was at a total loss. I, of course, turned to all of you for help and received so many suggestions! (You can read them all here.) A couple days before the wedding, I finally decided on two songs that had been lingering in the back of my mind and just felt right.

I walked down the aisle to In My Dreams by Josh Turner, and we chose L.O.V.E. by Nat King Cole for the recessional, at which point we were also surprisingly bombarded with scented jasmine hulls that my mom secretly picked up – scared the heck out of me!

Later today I'll have more pics of the reception decor I put together along with a tutorial on the napkin rings we made, see ya then!

Our Wedding Day

Our wedding took place on September 12 at a little place called Skyview Lodge in Brunswick, Ohio, which is a bit southwest of Cleveland. It's a beautiful old tin roofed lodge atop a big hill with an amazing view.

We had the short ceremony at 5pm at the gazebo in the backyard. After waking up to rain, it turned out to be the most perfect weather ever.

With a convenient break in his treatments, my Dad was rested up and feeling great to walk me down the aisle, which was a great blessing.

Guests enjoyed drinks and played corn hole out back while we took some photos on the grounds. The reception began inside shortly after.

Click here to see more photos of the reception decor and my awesome custom card box (shown below). Here you can find a step-by-step tutorial on making the tissue flower napkin rings we used.

Click here for a closer look at our cake buffet with a tutorial on making the sign holders and templates for the flavor cards.

Click here for all the details of how I put together our candy bar, downloadable templates of the candy labels and all the information and resources you need to create your own candy bar.

If you missed it before, here is a post about my dress and all the handmade touches that made up my bridal ensemble!

Next week I will share a few more details and photos of my bouquet with a tutorial on how to dry it after the big day. I'll also have a step by step how-to on making my birds nest ring pillow.

It was a beautiful sunset that night which everyone enjoyed from the back deck of the lodge. Later in the evening, my aunt and uncle surprised us by decorating the grounds with luminaries.

We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.

Photography by David and Lisa Wilding, Lorain, Ohio

In the Kitchen: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Truffles

I have to say, I impressed myself with this one. Words can hardly describe the deliciousness of these heavenly bites, though I was reluctant to eat them because they just looked so darn cute on the plate. Make them as a special dessert, take them to a party or package them as gifts – trust me, your friends will be impressed, too. The recipe is surprisingly easy (though you can pretend you slaved for hours) and you'll find a link to a printable recipe card at the end of this post.

Prep time: 30 min | Makes 30 truffles

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white chocolate chunks, wafers or chips

2 cups white and/or milk chocolate chunks, wafers or chips

1/3 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs, plus more for garnish

1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup canned pumpkin

1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

This recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon of orange zest which is simply shavings from the skin of an orange. You can use a zester or the smallest part of your grater and scrape the outside of the orange against it. Do not go too deep, as you only want the orange skin, not the white layer underneath.

Now onto the recipe! In a large bowl add the pumpkin, softened cream cheese and orange zest.

Melt 1/2 cup white chocolate in a double boiler over medium heat or in a small bowl in the microwave as instructed on the package and add to the pumpkin mixture.

In a small bowl mix the gingersnap crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add to the pumpkin mixture and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Cover and chill until solid enough to roll into balls, about 2 hours.

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1 teaspoon pumpkin mixture at a time and roll into balls. Set them on one of the baking sheets. It seems like there is not much filling in the bowl but don't make the balls too big, a little bit goes a long way when you eat them. I used a melon ball scoop to size mine and it worked great.

Set some gingersnap crumbs nearby to sprinkle on top.

Melt the remaining chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave, transfer to a small, deep bowl. Drop one pumpkin ball into the chocolate at a time, gently spoon chocolate over to coat. Using a small spoon or fork, lift the truffle out of the chocolate, let any excess drip off and transfer to the other baking sheet. Sprinkle a few crumbs on top. Once finished, chill truffles until chocolate is completely set, about one hour.

This recipe originally called for only white chocolate but I decided to try some with milk chocolate and they were equally delicious! I was amazed at how different the two tasted. I'd love to hear if you give this one a try, enjoy!

> Click here for a printable recipe card.

Find more easy and delicious recipes here.