Real Wedding: Helen & Dan
A few months prior to their weekend wedding celebration Helen and Dan eloped in London. A couple of dear friends went with them.
Helen loves to throw a party. The original idea grew to a 3 day celebration of their marriage with family and close friends from all parts of their lives attending. When Helen first met with me and described what she wanted I knew Crooked Willow Farms was the perfect place. It reminded Helen of her family’s farm in Pennsylvania. Dan, who is an avid fisherman, loved the ponds where he and his guests could fish. Crooked Willow also has a Farm House where Helen and Dan, along with their 2 dogs and several of their friends, stayed for the weekend.
Helen wanted her guests to have a wonderful weekend experience. The weekend started on Friday night with a kick off Welcome BBQ Dinner at the Farm House for family and a small group of friends. Saturday was a day filled with fishing, farm tours, a petting zoo which included the farm’s 1000 lb. pig, Lola, and 2 resident camels, hay rides, build your own picnic lunches, games set on the beautiful lawn, hikes, bike rides, horse and carriage rides and a French wine tasting.
In the afternoon Helen offered beauty treatments of hair (Erin Ferris), make-up (Carissa Passerella) and manicures (Stacy Highland) for her women friends. This was in preparation for a formal dinner party Saturday night.
Jesse Ketter from Design Works did an amazing job with the décor for all of the events. There was a different look every time. Epicurean Catering did all of the weekend’s fabulous food. Helen added lots of ideas. She wanted a Fall feel with food that reflected a harvest – farm to table.
Instead of traditional wedding cake she chose to serve apple pie, in honor of her father whom had passed (his favorite). Epicurean added a unique touch by using small pumpkins for the individual pie tins.
At the end of dinner there was a slideshow with pictures from the actual wedding in London. Table favors included jars of homemade jams.
Kids had their own dinner and activities in a special area just for them. Guests adjourned after toasting to the barn where Lola’s Loft had been transformed by Design Works into an edgy nightclub.
Helen and Dan and their friends love to dance and the band, Boogielicious, was perfect! They also had fun in Crooked Willow’s photo booth. Late night snacks were passed as the evening progressed. When the party finished no one wanted to leave.
To top off the night they went outside for build your own s’mores and hot beverages by the fire pit.
Some of the guests chose not to stay at the nearby hotel but rather decided they wanted to camp on Crooked Willow’s property. We had brought in units each with their own toilet, sink and shower so the campers could be comfortable. On Sunday morning the campers woke up to a surprise of juice and muffins left outside their tents.
Sunday morning Epicurean had prepared a delicious brunch and Bloody Mary bar. Design Works had completely changed the look of the room.
The afternoon had more planned activities and good byes to family and friends. A small group stayed for one final event – a fish fry dinner with fish that had been caught over the weekend. Frances Marron (photographer) and Lisa Mares from Mares Video Productions captured this amazing weekend.
What a celebration this was!!!
