Idyllic garden wedding at Almansor Court

Almansor Court in Alhambra is not on my list of my favorite places to go decorate. But I guess on a fresh spring day between rain storms in Los Angeles, it can actually look idyllic. But let me tell you, it takes a lot of hard work to get to idyllic on a sunny day - I guess I'd been so used to the dismal, chilly weather, I underestimated the sun and wore jeans to this particular job. Even if its just an hour of decorating, if its in the sun, you're going to get sweaty and disgusting. Ah well.

Oh, and I worked here last Saturday. I'm posting late because I have not been feeling well and have been busy. So sue me.

The banquet folks, in the weeks before this particular wedding, had told my mom that she was going to be able to decorate in the morning, important for us since we set up so much for these weddings - all the draping, putting seat covers and sashes on, putting the flowers and lights in their final places. But that changed last minute because of some sort of Mary Kay gathering. Because I work the night shift, I was only able to decorate the gazebo for the wedding and the backdrop. At promptly 3:10 I had to book it to get to work on time.

This picture, by the way, is of the departing gaggle of women from the Mary Kay group. One of the women decided to break out her camera phone as we decorated, which we all know I hate. The first time around, I just stopped what I was doing and glared at her. The second time, I actually got into the middle of the path and began flailing my arms and yelling, "Hi! Hello!" Yes. I'm crazy.

But at least there were the turtles. Heheh. And the lake didn't even smell! Most other times I've decorated at Almansor Court, the lake has been stinky. Again, another perk about rain in Los Angeles...

And not only were there turtles, there were ducks and geese! Of course, none of them attacked me, thank God. I just took pictures of them from a safe distance - inside the gazebo.

I wanted to share this picture. Not because it's particularly beautiful (though it is), not because the stargazers look vibrant (and they do), not because it's difficult to hang a 5-pound flower arrangement from the front facade of a gazebo (and it is, so I didn't do it, heheh)....

...but simply because right after I took the picture, I tripped backwards over this light and fell on my butt. Gracefully. No, not really. I fell on my butt, then on my elbow, as my mom called to me to help her with something or other.

But yes. This was a lovely garden wedding - at least before the guests arrived. I didn't stick around, but hopefully the wind (which was quite strong that day) didn't knock over any of these stands.