Friday, the crew works to clean and decorate the day before Casey's wedding...

Friday, June 22, 2007, began like just about any other day, except for the fact that Sharlene and I were tired to the bone from the intense workout that we'd received during the previous days of our "vacation" from work, as we'd been engrossed in bringing our house, patio and back yard up to the task of hosting a wedding, and entertaining an estimated 70 guests. Despite the fact that Sharlene and I were very tired, we up and at 'em at the early of 0600, ready to hit the deck, running.

Left: Jacquie proved to be an expert at cleaning windows. Right: The guys from Ada Dabba Rentals are setting up the big top tint in the backyard.

Actually for me, I had completed most of the chores in the back yard, as that was my allotted task to ready our house for the wedding. But, how could I resist savoring a few minutes around a coffee cup, admiring the fruits of my labors, and thinking that the whole thing was starting to come together?

Left: Our house is busy, as we have the air conditioning guys fixing our broken air conditioner, and the Ada Dabba guys unloading tables and chairs, and setting up the tent. Right: Larissa and Casey show us signs that they've just made, to reserve parking spaces on our driveway for the disk jockey and the caterer.

Casey is not an early riser, but she was over at our place before I'd finished my first cup of coffee, along with Tim's grandmother, Sandy, and Casey's long-time friend, and matron of honor, Larissa, and her beautiful daughter, Tristen. Sandy and Larissa were to prove crucial in helping us pull the whole thing off, as they are experts at coordination, and decorating, as Sharlene and I are rank amateurs in those endeavors. Let me say that before Casey's wedding at our house, I think the biggest event was Christmas, 2006, when we, maybe, entertained 15 people? So for Casey's wedding, we were open to all of the suggestions and help that we could garner.

Left: Sandy and Larissa start to assemble the bridal arch, on our patio. Right: Looking toward the undecorated, but set up big top tent, with one of our misting fans to the left of the photo. The misting fans worked to cool everybody.

Larissa and Sandy had a plan to help Sharlene decorate the house inside, and decorate the gazebo before the rental company, Aba Dabba Rentals, brought the big top tent, the smaller tents for the caterers, and the chairs and tables. While the girls were working inside, I busied myself with some last minute pressure washing of the patio, plus pulling a few weeds that had somehow spouted near the place where the wedding was to take place, hooking up electrical outlets for the minister, and just helping to get everything ready for the wedding. It was a tank top and shorts affair for all of us, as the day was hot, and the work was hard.

Left: Casey, Sharlene, and Jacquie relax on the couch, in a rare mother-druthers photo. Right: Larissa and Sandy assemble the bridal arch on the patio.

At around 9:00 in the morning, the air conditioner guys arrived, and installed the sound-deadening blanket, and had got our home air conditioning system to work, albeit on only one damper. Now that our air conditioning system was fully functional, we had dodged a bullet that had included embarrassment and inconvenience to our guests, especially some of the ones arriving from the San Francisco Bay area, who are not accustomed to the Sacramento valley heat. Sometimes you get lucky, and sometimes you don't, but today, Friday, June 22, 2007, Lady Luck was on our side.

Later in the morning, the guys from Aba Dabba Rentals arrived, in a big truck, with a big tent, small tents, chairs, tablecloths and tables. We'd learned that if you want to host an outdoor wedding in Roseville in late June, there are a few things you must have, such as adequate shade for your guests, and lots of ice-cold water for them to quench their thirst. We rented a 20 by 40 foot tent from Aba Dabba Rentals, plus a couple of pop-up 10 by 10 foot canopies to shade our caterers, plus eight 8-foot round tables, and four rectangular tables, table cloths, minister's pulpit, not to mention 80 folding chairs. The Aba Dabba guys delivered all of this to us, and they set up the 20 by 40 foot big-top tent on the back lawn, exactly where we instructed them to set it up. They placed the tables, chairs and the tablecloths on the patio, as it was up to us where to place those items.

Left: It takes engineering talent to assemble a bridal arch on our patio, but Sandy and Larissa have great teamwork. Right: Sharlene, Jacquie and Sharon contemplate the evening's events.

Now that Aba Dabba Rentals had set up the big top tent, the girls proceeded to decorate it, along with the gazebo, using wedding decorations, procured from the wedding cache, that had been stashed in our storage shed in the back yard for several weeks previous to the big event. Sharlene, Casey and Sandy had trolled many local craft stores, in search of wedding decorations, they had brought home a bounty of stuff, and stored in the shed. So today, out came all of the cached wedding decorations, just waiting to be installed by Casey, Sharlene, Larissa, and Sandy. These girls were certainly up to the task! All afternoon, it was putting up bells, flowers and bows under the big top tent, and around the gazebo.

Left: Larissa and Sandy are quite a team. I don't think we could have pulled this event off without their help. Right: Sandy and Larissa take a break from decorating the patio on Friday night. Note the arch is assembled.

We set up the pop-up canopies on the slab next to the garage, as that's where we planned to have the caterers set up. I took it upon myself to position the folding chairs under the big top tent, as the girls hung decorations. Now, how do you set up 80 folding chairs, under a tent, and align them evenly and correctly? Simple, as all it takes is a bit of string! I got out some string, and "strung out" the aisle, and then it was a simple matter to align the chairs evenly. I have to admit on the day of the wedding, many people asked me "How did you get those chairs so even?" and it made me proud to know that I'd done a decent job.

Left: Who told the joke? Whatever the joke was, Sandy seems to appreciate it. Right: Sharlene and Tim arrange tables in the family room. Much of the furniture has been removed to the den, much to my chagrin, as now I don't have access to my beloved computer.

After a 10-hour day of setting up stuff, cleaning, decorating and attending to seeming endless last-minute details, we were able to look around and say, "Gee, we're good to go..."

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