A Family Wedding Reception in Missouri!

In early April Laurie and I hit the road to St. Louis Missouri… Laurie’s niece had recently gotten married in the Caribbean on the island of St. Lucia.  A bit after their return, they scheduled a wedding reception…really a celebration of their marriage shared with family and friends…

We liked this photo of the newly married couple better than the one we took… Kevin acquired an instant family when he married Kasey.  Delaney and Avery already love Kevin!  They are about as cute as any two little girls could be… Don't they make a great looking family!?

Kids are always more fun to photograph than the adults.  Here we have Delaney and Avery with their cousins Keaton and Collin.

Villa Antonio is a family owned working winery and event site that is located in Sandy Valley south of St. Louis in Jefferson County Missouri.  The winery specializes in wines made from French-American hybrid grapes that are grown on the property.  The winery is named after its winemaker and founder, Antonio Polesel.  He learned the art of winemaking from his father while growing up in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. 

This is the reception pavilion at Villa Antonio.  This is where the food was served, toasts were made and the cake was cut.

Villa Antonio Winery produces and offers Dry Reds, Dry Whites and Sweet Wines… Bottles range in cost from $15.00 to $24.00.  Individual glasses of these wines cost between $5.00 and $8.00 each. 

In addition to lots of alcohol…food was served.  It included garlic cheese bread, toasted ravioli, salad and pizza…lots of pizza!  After living away from St. Louis for over 23 years, adjusting to pizza made with provolone cheese vs. mozzarella, (provolone being the St. Louis variation), did take me a couple of slices…

Villa Antonio also has a lunch menu.  In addition to the items shown above, other offerings include Mini Italian Sandwiches, Italian Salciccia, a Cheese and Salamini Plate and Chicken Strips.

Avery was ‘into’ the dancing going on in the wedding or ‘music tent’, which was adjacent to the reception pavilion. Here she’s watching her mom and Kevin as they took their initial turn on the dance floor. 

Awwww…. Isn’t love grand!  Sweet!

Then it was time for Bill, the father of the bride to step out on the dance floor with his daughter.  Our photo of Bonnie, the mother of the bride (Laurie’s younger sister), just didn’t come out.  Sorry Bonnie!

The sun came out and we took this photo of Avery with her cousins Regan, Abby and Cate…who were all down running around by the little lake near the tent.  Regan, Abby and Cate are the Karole’s grandchildren…and Karole is another of Laurie’s sisters.  FYI…Avery has some snails in her hand!

This is Matt Weyand…”Variety to the Extreme”.  He provided the music for the reception as well as for those folks at the winery who were just out enjoying the day.  Matt is very good…with a huge variety of music genres at his fingertips.  His website is found at www.myspace.com/mattweyandmusic.

This is Kasey’s brother Kyle and his oldest son Collin…

This is Melissa, Kyle’s wife, with a very tired Keaton…

Here is the view that we had from our table in the dance/entertainment tent… It was cloudy early on but the temperature was just fine and the sun came out just to brighten up the event!

In addition to Kasey and Kevin’s friends and relatives, there were a lot of people at the winery…relaxing, dancing, visiting and enjoying the wine.  This is a very popular spot indeed!

Kasey posed for this photo on the front porch of the 1880s cabin or home that serves as the tasting room and offices for the winery… This was a great place for a wedding reception!!

Villa Antonio Winery is located at 3660 Linhorst Road in Hillsboro Missouri.  Phone: 636-475-5008.  Website: www.villaantoniowinery.com. The winery is open 7 days a week from 11 AM to 5 PM.  On weekends, February through November, there is live music from 1 PM to 4 PM. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and sharing this family event with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave