Dave & Chelsea's "Pre-ception"

My brother, David, is marrying a darling girl named Chelsea that he met in Idaho (where he coaches women's volleyball at ISU).  I haven't gotten to know her as well as some of my other family members have had the opportunity to do, but from what I do know, she is so sweet and cute.  We are very excited to add her to the family.  They decided to have their wedding reception the night before.  Some call that a "pre"ception.  Funny.

The couple did not have a lot of $$$ to work with, but with a little family/friend "input" we pulled off and amazing celebration.  Dave's really good friends, Chad and his wife Marleah, who is a wedding planner, did all the decorating as a gift to him and Chelsea.  The place looked simple, yet stunning (even for a church rec hall).  The fabulous food was all made by the family.  I personally was in charge of the BBQ meatballs.  We used my grandma's yummy BBQ sauce recipe that she usually made with meat patties for the meatballs.  Wow!  (Not a hard thing to do, normally, but when you are 12x-ing the recipe...that is a lot of work.)  Also on the menu were Chix-on-stix, bruschetta, mini-quiches, veggies, and chocolate fondue.  People kept asking us where we bought the food...  where we bought the BBQ sauce; what jarred chocolate we used for the fondue; who catered your meal.  We kept telling them that we made it all ourselves.  WAY DELISH!

My sister, Heather, was the DJ (she happens to be one of the top 10 DJ's in Vegas and surrounding areas) so, of course, the music was entertaining.

My mom's friends were all in the kitchen, making sure the fixins were flowing.  Did I say the food was fantastic?  Yup!

A professional photographer was not affordable, so several of us took photos through out the night that captured the wedding couple's bliss and excitement.  (Below are some of my faves of the night.)

Although not nearly as many guests came that we had anticipated (they were competing with a funeral for a member of a well-loved family in the stake), it was nice.  And there was more awesome food for the rest of us!  (Lots about the food...but seriously...it was one of the the best spreads I've ever seen at reception.  My family knows how to do food!)  NEXT POST:  THE WEDDING!