Utah Wedding - Part 4

This post will focus on some other events that happened during my daughter's wedding in Utah.

Following the actual wedding/sealing at the Bountiful LDS Temple, the entire group made its way to a nearby country club at Eaglewood Golf Course:

This was a gorgeous location, sitting in the hills above Bountiful. The groom's parents were kind enough to sponsor this luncheon, and selected a wonderful venue for the occasion. We invited about 60 people - just family - and couldn't believe the homes surrounding the golf course. They were HUGE (you'll have to click to enlarge):

The reception center at Eaglewood was very nice. The room was decorated with beautiful flowers. The view from the main room was incredible:

You'll notice a couple of things about this picture (above) of the table setting. First, that the desserts were there to gaze at, even before the meal was served. That's my kind of establishment! Second, you'll see a little card on each plate, with a picture of the bride and groom. This was a great idea from my wife. As the "official photographer", she took all of the engagement pictures. She created these little cards with the opportunity for anyone to offer marital advice on the back of each card. If you enlarge the picture, you'll see that the cards aren't identical. There were four different cards, with different pictures and advice "questions" on the back of each one. This was such a great idea, as some people had hard-learned wisdom to pass along. Others had some very funny things to say. For example, one person wrote "Remember to kiss each other every morning, as you part ways". Another wrote "Don't take advice from people that write on the back of little cards." I think you get the idea...

Pretty straightforward advice from a younger cousin ; )

You can get a little sense of the beautiful view, from this snapshot

Where the bride, groom and all sets of parents were seated.

It wasn't too long before all of the family members (from four sets of families) were there. I can't wait to see the "official" pictures. Here are a couple of snapshots of my family, in the mean time:

This is my younger brother's family. They drove all the way from CA, straight through...

This collection of suspects include my brother, sister, aunt, brother-in-law and father

Once everyone was seated (and stared at the desserts), the bride and groom entered the room, after finishing additional photographs at the Temple:

We proceeded to have a small program. My daughter's aunt (from her mother's side of the family) gave a wonderful toast.

The bride's niece - enjoying the funny stories

I was able to follow, and tell about the time that I tried to teach the bride and groom how to drive a manual transmission. It's the closest to swearing that I've ever heard from the groom ; ) However, it gave me a unique opportunity to see both of them support each other, while trying to do something difficult. It's a pattern that they will need to follow several times in their time together.

Following me, the groom's mother shared some cherished memories of her son, as he grew up. His father finished things off with some cute stories and a heartfelt poem:

During this speech, we learned that the bride and groom's families were actually connected - but about seven generations ago! It was lovely to hear a father express some tender thoughts about his son - and how glad he was to have my daughter as part of his family. The groom's family is a great collection of people and we're lucky to be connected with them, now.

Last on the program was a little video that I put together. I assembled photographs of both the bride and groom growing up. It was fun to get-to-know my new son-in-law through these pictures of his youth. For your viewing enjoyment, I offer you the video, below:

It was a delightful luncheon, and we had a great time. After the conclusion, we went to a hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, to rest up a bit before the reception. This gave the bride an opportunity to relax and "touch-up" the make-up and hair.

Up next - the big reception!