My dear Auntie Lorna reminded me this week via email (during an apparent moment of insomnia…it was 4AM Beijing time) that I never finished uploading the rest of the photos from The Circus of Love. This was a complete oversight on my part. With the Chinese wedding, the trip to South Africa, the burn incident, the Hutchinson visit (those pics to come soon), Brett’s birthday, and then the holidays…it totally slipped my mind!
I think I have actually saved the best for last though – the pictures of our family, friends, and the festive atmosphere (created with the amazing help of my mom and Aunt Lorna) are so much fun. Enjoy!
**If you missed the other entries about the Circus of Love – here they are: Calling All Circus of Love Guests, An Upstaged Bride, Southern Ladies and Their Lipstick, Silly Schafers…Tricks are for kids, Happy Couple at the Circus of Love, The Classy Bride.
Tates, Raglands, Hites, Bolins, Lehnings, Neelley's, and newly wed Hutchinsons!
The Hutchinson Klan
Greeting our Guests!
Besides being greeted by us, our guests were also welcomed with the sounds of a vintage carnival themed horn section, cotton candy, and circus themed cocktails like Mint Julep Snow Cones and Spiked Pink Lemonade.
It's a Mo-Mo! My wonderful mom. I don't what was causing her to look so serious...maybe it was the power outage issues. The venue wasn't used to having so many "carnival" food stations. In fact...every time the cotton candy machine started going - the band lost power! In the end, we opted for dancing over spun sugar.
With my Dad and Becky
My sweet Alabama ladies. Brandace Burnham, Morgan Hutchinson, Christa Crow and Jessica Solon.
We really wanted to have fun with the decorations. Hence, the Morgan and Brett flying trapeze artists in the background of the picture above. You can get your own custom set at www.cardboardpeople.com! We also used hundreds of yards of awning striped fabric in circus bright colors, striped table clothes, giant 36″ helium balloons, and any other circus inspired trinkets we could find to play up the theme.
Brett chatting with the Alabama gents. I have to assume the topic of conversation was SEC football.
Part of the NYC Crew. Shana Spavin and Jill Hacker.
With one of Brett's childhood friends, Kelly Campbell.
With mom and two of her best friends from college. These lovely ladies (plus 5 more) have been getting together every summer for over 30 years! Love it.
With cousin Lizzie and Aunt Cindy.
Friends since the first grade. Ellen Carpenter and Morgan Hutchinson
Columbus ladies taking advantage of the candy cigarettes!
Tate Family Dance Number. We had to at least "try" to keep up with the Schafers!
Mom and I with great family friends - Ruth and Anne Bligh.
With the Amazing Hutchinson sisters - Emmy and Jess! Looks like all of us had just made a trip to the Pabst Blue Ribbon bucket!
With my Auntie Lorna. Thank you so much for your help and creativity. The Circus of Love would not have been the same without you!
With my fantastic mother-in-law!
Pretty in Pink with Fiona!
A big thanks to the lady who introduced us in the first place! With Miss Shana Spavin.
With Leigh and Damir. Love Leigh's self-made feather accessory!
In addition to the rides and games, we also hired a stilt walker, a flame thrower, and a unicyclist to keep the guests entertained. Truth be told though – it was the silly stuff on the prize table that kept them happy all night! Who knew that wax lips and bangle bracelets would be so popular?
Newlyweds - Brett and Morgan Hutchinson with Andy and Jess Schemick
With Christina and George Karolis...and their little one that was still a bun-in-the-oven at the time!
Dancing with my dad
We danced to the lovely sounds of Mr. and Mrs. Todd Hill and the Todd Hill Band. Here is the lovely Kala Hill.
Todd Hill singing and playing one of the classic tunes they are known for.
Dancing with Aunt Lorna and Nannie.
With my two gorgeous grand-mothers: Jean Blankenship and Bettie Tate
One of my favorite pictures of the night. The lovely Mrs. Amy Barto getting her groove on!
Of course, Brett and I also wanted to be sure that our “outfits” were Circus of Love appropriate. So, we added special details whenever we could – like the pink lining of Brett’s dinner jacket with M+B monogrammed on the inside and our special shoes!
Thank you to our wonderful family and friends for celebrating with us! Sharing our Circus of Love with each of you was such a blessing. Thank you to our parents for countless hours of help, for storing loads of “Circus” paraphernalia in your homes, and specifically to the Hutchinsons for a fantastic golf tournament, Friday Night BBQ, and Sunday Brunch at the Club.
We would also like to send big thank yous to A Catered Event – the catering company who helped create the perfect “carnie” menu, Laura at White Star Farm – our venue, Sterling Funways for the rides and entertainments, and Abigail at Eden Ink Photography for capturing every moment so perfectly.
Images courtesy of Eden Ink Photography.
A Blonde in Beijing 
Love the pics!!! Wow! Hope you newlyweds have time to catch your breath!! Loving reading your blog, too! When I go back to school, I won’t have time…:-( Much love!!
Great pictures…love the Columbus women “smoking!”
This really took me back! Great pictures! Enjoyed our talk this morning. Although it was 2:00 AM in Beijing you two made perfect sense! Next time it will be all right if you call when it is 2:00 AM in Murray! I really do enjoy seeing all the wedding pictures.