10/25/14: Kim and Carlos
Preview video clip courtesy of Bella Vita Productions – https://vimeo.com/114044571
11/9/13: First Look
Photos: Stephanie Davis Photography Packard Rental: Trey Consuelo
Our Family In The Gardens
Ginko leaves
I chose not to cook for Thanksgiving 2013, instead we ordered traditional and vegan food from Blaneks. Our older son Ryan and his fiance Margaret flew into Abilene from their Portland, OR home, where they picked up her three children for a four day TX car trip, our place was the second of several visits with family. Eben, Nikki, 3 year old Benjamin – and as of 1/16/14 – granddaughter Lily (6#) live in Waco but they too headed out for other family dinners after visiting with us. Multiple family holiday visits involving long car trips (in our case Montana to California) are part of our family’s history.
Playing with the kids in EHHPG’s gardens was a nice way to wrap up the day’s visit. Thanks to Nikki, we have wonderful photos to help us remember the day.
11/2/13: Chris and Lindsey
Lindsey and Chris added many personal items to the decor including a red screen door for a snapshot display, along with framed/tagged photos of their vacations together. Guest table centerpieces included pecans and acorns from our garden that were added to cylinders filled with Lindsey’s tied bunches of wheat and dried grasses. A custom Etsy canvas was replaced a sign-in book. A rich palette of deep red, orange, green and brown added warmth to this joyous, fall wedding and reception. Photographer: ixiphotography; Caterer: Johnny Carino; Cakes: Custom Cakes by Laura; Officiant: James Price
10/12/13: “These Are My Colors, Surprise Me”
Officiant: Curtis Jones; Photographer: Photerium Photography; Ceremony Music/Guitarist: Derrick Dutton; Reception Music: Sloppy Joe Band; Caterer and Cake: Festive Occasions; Personal Flowers: Valerie McIninch; Floral Arrangements: Kathy Riggs
Winter Projects
Many wonderful events occurred but were not blogged about in the gardens between April-November 2013. Over the next couple of days I’ll post some of these. I am recovering from a foot surgery, now able to sit rather than being in bed, so I am more than ready to get some of the stories posted, along with various other computer tasks. Being a patient is difficult but compliance (staying off my feet) is necessary to heal properly. Winter months are a time for us to complete various property maintenance projects; this time it included a manager repair!
EHHPG’s Ellis Street parking lot is now paved with cement, the last pour was completed yesterday. Azteca Concrete Contractors, removed the asphalt, regraded, laid a tight grid of rebar and added a curbed 4-6″ concrete lot with a street gutter that will provide many years of maintenance-free parking. Greg & Eben will add parking stripes once the weather warms. Azteca (Jesus Hernandez) is a local family-owned business that offers a quality product at competitive pricing. We receive at least three bids on all contracted projects, we also check references and require proof of insurance. Azteca won our last three concrete projects & we are fans.
Leaf and debris removal is a major winter task. All of the beds contain plants that must be cut back once stock freezes. We use a 72″ mulching mower with bagger for leaf pickup in the lawn and on the driveway. The beds are manually raked, mulched in the mower, then composted, or for some of the beds topdressed to naturally breakdown. Due to the variety of trees in the garden, leaf removal is a November-March task. Most of the perennials are trimmed back between December-February. Composting and mulching begins in March.
This month Brian’s Tree Service (a certified arborist) will trim the pecan and oak trees around the tent. Years ago these mature trees were planted too close, resulting in lopsided branches and crowding. The pecans are prone to ‘surprise’ fallen branches that are always a concern with wind and after freezing rains have weighted down the branches so we’re looking forward to the work Brian’s crew will perform, all done via climbing with harnesses.
April 2013
Lovely warm days followed by surprisingly cold days. The guys have been busy weeding and tilling the beds; henbit and dandelions are rampant this year. Trees are leafing out, columbine, roses and gerberas are blooming in the garden, but we’re also still raking up live oak leaves and pollen – another typical Waco spring.
The tent has a new lighting addition. Twenty-one 10″, 18″ & 20″ wire balls, several strung w/ LED strings have been added to the tent’s string lights. Paper lanterns will still be hung, but the new lights tie well into the grapevine/stringlights on the tent’s interior poles.
4/6/13: A wedding for 200 guests; a peacock palette with an emphasis on teal. 4″ annuals planted in glass containers were added to the table decor, then gifted to guests. Vendors were a mix of family and professionals. Bride’s cake: Bobby Rudeen; Florals: Cyndi Desmarais.
4/13/13: A palette of navy, white, gray, cream & peach. 185 mostly out-of-town and out-of-state guests. Personal touches included fan programs, CD favors of the couple’s favorite music, and keyboard music performed by the bride’s grandmother. Officiant: Eric Howell; Caterer/Bar: Patti’s Kitchen; Cakes: Bobby Rudeen; Flowers: Cyndi Desmarais; Photographer/Photobooth: Shelley Kutina; Videographer: Rob Lewis; Hair: Phillip Sanchez; Makeup: Kathy Lewie; DJ & Ceremony Music: Apex Productions
4/20/13: A “soft, elegant,vintage, romantic” wedding/reception that incorporated the brides 26 DIY projects, including a brooch bouquet she made with the groom. A 30′ photo and candy table is to date, the largest we’ve set up. MOG delivered cakes from an Athens, TX bakery; the groom’s cake featured a fondant airplane ordered from a NY vendor that replicated the plane the groom is responsible for at L-3. Officiant: Johnny Adams; Photographer: Alex Wolf; Caterer: Carino’s; DJ & Ceremony Music: Mike Swain.
4/27/13: 165 guests, a wedding for two newly-graduated physicians who will report to their residencies next month. Navy, gray, white and coral palette; the bride’s coloring books and program fans added a personal touch to the ceremony and reception. The couple’s dog wore a floral necklace and served as one of the groomsman. Officiant: Drew Baker; Caterer/Bar: Patti’s Kitchen; Cake: Bobby Rudeen; Florist: Cyndi Desmarais; Photographer: Nikki Riggs; DJ/Ceremony: DJ Connection
March 2013
Photos by Nikki Riggs, taken in the EHH dining room.
March 2: 185 guests. Our season’s first wedding/reception, we’ve now had the pleasure to host two weddings for this family! A navy, blue and ivory palette, lanterns and candlelights were central to a “modern with touches of vintage” theme. This couple sang a few songs with the seven-piece band (provide their name & I’ll credit) including a song written by the groom especially for his bride. Food: TCP Catering; Personals: Baylor Flowers; Photobooth: Those Party Guys; Photographer: Kris Bumpsted
March 3-21: Spring garden tasks always includes weeding, this year’s weed crop seems to consist mostly of dandelions, thistle and henbit. Giant liarope and planters of colorful annuals were added to the tent. New wedding prop additions including a sweet metal bench; Greg made more framed chalkboards, and picket fence props. I made a series of varied-height altered cylinders w/ decorative bands for branch centerpieces, and am working on silk ribbon flowers – ask if you are interested in a classy option to fresh flower corsages or headpieces – these function especially well as wristlets due to their light weight.
March 21: A Friday evening wedding/reception for 90 guests. A palette of purples, creams and greens. It’s always good to hear “You made it so easy, we didn’t have to do anything; we had so much fun”. Officiant: Scott Talley; Photographer: Legacy Imaging; Catering: Eddie Ray’s BBQ; Personals: Cyndi Desmarias; Cakes: Gwendyne Hunt; DJ: Johnny Bradshaw
March 22: 300+ guests. A palette of champagne, muted gold, mauve, peach, turquoise; vintage romantic w/ burlap and lace accents. An 18′ candy bar and trays of her grandma’s Czech pastries. Officiant: Albert Fuentes; Photographer: Stephanie Davis; DJ: Diamond Productions/Jim & Dawn Alvarado; Catering: Bestyett/Vicki Parker; Cakes: Gwendyne Hunt; Personals & supplemental rentals: Wedding Design Group;
March 29-30-31: Easter Hill Country Bicycle Tours – another year completed; a tradition for Greg, & our sons Ryan and Eben. Ryan has agreed train more for next year’s ride.
I Love This Photobooth!
Bambi is a 1962 vintage Airstream that has been transformed into a photo booth for your fun and entertainment. With a short length of 13ft she can fit just about anywhere. She loves to party and will surely be talked about long after your event. For more information visit http://www.bambibooth.com; they’re running some specials so you might also want to send an inquiry.
Earle-Harrison's Blog 