Shelby's Life and Whatnot

Where Have I Been? Where Have I Been?

Ha! I snuck away while you weren't looking! I've been in Scottsdale, AZ at the Palmer-Brown Wedding. We were guests of the groom, Jason Brown, a very close family friend of mine. Jason's dad and my dad worked together for over 30 years and have been friends as long. I grew up with Jason and his sister Holly and consider them family.

The wedding was fantastic. Erica, the bride, was absolutely gorgeous in an elegant lace covered gown. She's a wonderful person, too, and I'm so glad to see her and Jason together. The ceremony was held outside against a backdrop of the Arizona mountains and desert and was just beautiful. Yes, I cried :). It was about 90 degrees out, despite the wedding being held at 5 pm, but the heat wasn't unbearable as it had been for a few days prior. Of course, that's no consolation to the groomsmen in their tuxes! But actually, the boys cheated--they had ice packs in their inner pockets--a pretty creative solution, I'd say!

After the ceremony we had hors d'oeuvres on the lawn, where they had the coolest thing I've ever seen at a wedding: a martini luge. (just so you know, it only remained the coolest thing I've ever seen for a few hours, until dessert when they had something even cooler) The martini luge was an ice sculpture with a sloped top and two "tracks" carved in. You held your glass at the bottom of the slope while the bartender poured the drink mixings into the top, to have it travel down the ice and into the glass. I'm not a martini drinker, but I was very impressed.

After hors d'oeuvres (which included these divine mini-crabcakes and coconut encrusted baby lobster tails, among others), we headed up to an interior courtyard for dinner and dancing. The whole courtyard was lit with tiny white lights and candles--so romantic! Dinner was delicious (a green salad with fresh berries and a light vinigarette, chorizo-stuffed chicken, salmon, mashed potatoes). We were serenaded by an excellent band, the Groove Merchants. After dinner it was time to get down--Play that Funky Music, White Boy!

And then came the coolest thing ever--even cooler than the martini luge: the chocolate fountain. Yes, it was just like it sounds--a fountain of cascading melted fondue chocolate with marshmallows, fruit, cookies, and other things to dip. All I have to say is Wow. And where can I get me one of these? It was awesome.

At this point the batteries in our camera crapped out :(. But Kevin's uploading the pictures we do have right now. So as soon as he makes a page for them, I'll point you to it!

Following was all of the typical wedding events--the dances, the bouquet toss (in which I will never again have to take part of), the garter toss. We danced the night away and had a great time. Overall it was definitely one of the best weddings we've attended.