(Most of these lovely images were taken by Jenn Repp.)

We were announced as “The Straub Family! Ben, Becky, Will & Lucy!  And made a fun grand entrance to the song “Fireflies” by Owl City (which is as close to an “our song” as we really have):

Our “guest book” was a 2013 calendar that we had people sign on their birthdays:

With having nearly half of our guests be under the age of 10, we knew we needed to do something different.  We hired a team of nannies to come create a “kid zone” where parents could drop off their imps and let them have a fantastic (supervised) time while they got to mingle and have adult time within eyesight of the nanny area.  It was a HUGE success for both young and old:

Having a horseshoe shape for the tables was really important.  We wanted the “dance floor” and the meal to be combined, so all our guests would remain together and participate any way they wished.  You can see the kid zone off to the left:

Our tables were very simply dressed.  They were covered with burlap and my amazing and talented sister-in-law Erika made little “nature groupings” of wildflowers in jars and pretty pebbles.  It was simplicity and perfection.  Exactly our style:

We had spent several months collecting fun sayings and quotes and had 30 of them scattered around the tables for entertainment:

This table featured wedding photos from all our immediate family as an homage to all the amazing weddings and relationships that had come before ours.  Pictured from left to right: Chuck & Phoebe, Sam & Grace, Jeff & Liz, Margaret & Ben, Sarah & Alan, Ken & Dorothy, Kay & Roger, Heather & Randy, Ashley & Joe, (ground) Michelle & Andrew, and Erika & Kevin:

And now it’s time for the food.  We are MAJOR foodies, so this was one of the most important aspects of our wedding.  We also don’t eat any grains or processed food and didn’t want to have any at our meal!  Our amazing caterer Jamie listened to us and put together a phenomenal spread:

Here’s where you can stop reading if you are bored, I’m going to wax poetic about food.  We highly value eating locally and seasonally.  This was pretty easy for Jamie as local Hood River is just stuffed with local farms and food purveyors.  Being spring, there was a bounty to choose from!  First up: Springtime Cobb Salad – butter leaf lettuce, hard boiled eggs, baby new purple potatoes, green & wax beans, nicoise olives, fennel, artichoke hearts, with a classic Dijon dressing:

Chicken breast stuffed with artichoke, lemon, and cream cheese; wrapped in prosciutto; with a light lemon cream sauce; sprinkled with green garlic shoots:

Cherry-wood smoked steelhead salmon drizzled with orange-herb gremolata:

Fresh peas, baby carrots, ramps, and asparagus, with minted butter sauce:

Salami plate – Molinari soppressata, Molinari coppa, Fra’Mani salami rossa, with olives and cornichons:

There was also a fruit plate with local stone fruits, strawberries, and cherries.

Wait until you see our “cake”…