Where is the main entrance? I wish we could see the approach path to it in a picture that is from neither too close nor too far away. It would help in order to determine what should be emphasized. I wish the approach path had a small tree that provided a sense of shelter and protection (like an awning gives.) The path seems completely exposed, whereas a small tree would offer a little shade in case a person wished to pause on their way to or from, and stay out of the hot sun. As well, the house could use a break from all the hard lines. Those junipers at the street ... are you trying to hid the house from that position? As they are, I don't think they look good. The drive seems a touch narrow, but I see from a later shot that plants are covering one edge. Better to keep them trimmed back. One thing that would help is to get rid of all the rock sitting around. Most of it is too small be any kind of real feature so ends up looking as nice as gravel or boxes of kleenex strewn about the yard. Either just get rid of it or get some mortar and make something big and nice out of it. Likewise, there are too many little plant containers. For a good size house, fewer, but larger containers (with bigger plants) would be better. I'm only illustrating a couple of ideas, but I can't take the time to clean up the photo first, so you must look through what exists. I don't mind the low planting that borders the drive and lawn, but the row of other plants running down the center of it seem like a negative. They're beginning to form a barrier-like division from the lawn ... but for what purpose? There's no reason to not want to see the lawn while using the drive. And there's no reason to divide the bed in half. I can't see any reason why a simple, neutral, non-busy paver would be any problem. The plain brick shape is versatile ... always a favorite. Herringbone pattern could be nice. I would consider dressing it up with a single or double edge contrast color. For example, you might use grey pavers and the red brick color as a contrast edge (like piping) ... or plain concrete color as a contrast against a darker grey field. Get some samples, lay them out and observe from a distance. It will look fine if there becomes much less busy plantings.

Gorgeous pictures Brenda! I can hardly imagine how much work that was put into that wedding. My sister was married last October(indoor wedding) and I know how much work we did for that with growing our own flowers, but when it's outside, you've got a whole new bunch of things to worry about. Glad everything turned out well for you, even if it was a bit hot, but it's better than rain ;^)

Congratulations to you! For two reasons, I would not call this party a "reception": (1) the party is much too far after the wedding -- closer to the first anniversary -- and (2) although it was a very small wedding, it wasn't an elopement or a City Hall ceremony with no celebration or guests at all. I would just call it a party in their honor. I would omit any reference to the wedding at all, so as to avoid any appearance of the party being an attempt to get gifts, as if the couple wanted an exotic private wedding at the time, but now feel they missed out on gifts. Of course, people who didn't already send a wedding gift probably will bring them one anyway, but you don't want it to look like you are prompting them. Everyone you are inviting will understand that the party is in honor of their marriage, because you will only (I assume) be inviting people who are close enough that they know that the couple were recently married, and that's why you are doing it. You wrote "food will be served," but I don't know if that means a casual barbecue in your yard, a picnic lunch at the park, a tea dance at a country club, a brunch, snacks, or what. The games make it sound casual, but you also mentioned music and dancing. Once you decide on your plans, that of course will affect the text of your invitation. If it will be a casual evening barbecue in your yard, for example, you might word the invitation like this: Please join us for a cookout, dancing, and swimming in honor of [couple's names, including last name(s)] Sunday, June 34th 5:00 p.m. at our home 123 Sesame Street R.s.v.p. 555-5555 [or email@email.com, or omit if you are including a response card or trust your friends to respond without prompting!] Or, you could leave out "and swimming" and add "Bring your bathing suits for a swim" at the end, depending on what you want to emphasize as the tone of your party. It's not necessary to mention that games will be available. I don't think you need to specify attire, unless you want it black tie, which doesn't sound likely. If you feel you must, IMHO it is better to stick to "casual" or "dressy" or something rather than anything confusing like "festive attire." But I don't think you need to say anything: the style, color, and font of the invitation will get the message to your guests. (We went to 3 weddings this month. One invitation said "black tie optional," one said "cocktail attire," and one said nothing, but it was a rather formal looking invitation to a Saturday night wedding with dinner and dancing. The guests' attire was the same at all three of them! Well, no tuxedos at the last two, but the women at all of them wore dressy evening outfits, some long, some short, some pants.) Have fun.

Your crape myrtles most likely had an infestation of crape myrtle aphids which resulted in the black sooty mold. I strongly advise that you get a horticultural oil and spray the crapes while the leaves are off. Aphids lay eggs in the crannies of bark and branches in the fall that will hatch out later to reinfest the tree. Applications of the oil will greatly reduce their numbers. Please, please make sure that there are no pesticidal additives in the oil that you choose. Spray the entire tree two or three times over the winter and again just as the buds break in the spring. I hope that whatever you are using to spray for mosquitoes is not putting everything else at risk. You live in a fragile ecosystem, filled with aquatic and amphibious animals, beneficial insects, and others. All of the chemicals used for mosquito abatement except for larvacides are a hazard for everything in the area. Tiffany has a good list of plants that are likely to be blooming in your area in May. You probably have some of them already; they are southern staples. Add to that some high performing annuals and you've got all the makings of a beautiful garden wedding.