a country girl and a barn dance }{ event
I'm a small town country girl at heart. No, I'm not from the south, but I was born and raised in California's Central Valley. People here often talk with a bit of a drawl, we love biscuits and gravy at tiny diners, know the sweet and earthy smell of alfalfa, and know what it's like to be farmer's daughters, nieces, granddaughters, and sisters.
Yep, right here in California.
I've lived in and loved several other cities in the world and I go crazy for a buzzing, walkable metropolis, but I'll always have a kind of country-song nostalgia for my home town. So when I was asked to help plan and design a barn dance as part of my hometown's centennial celebration, I got a little (or a lot) giddy.
A barn dance?? Yes, please.
The dance took place in a huge cotton gin surrounded by almond orchards (much like most of the town where I grew up). The perimeter of the gin was lined with garlic boxes that were filled with delicious, mouth-watering, just-harvested garlic. The place smelled amazing!
Photos by Sasha Saldana Photography
No barn dance would be complete without hay bales, so we created an entire lounge area out of hay and sprinkled perfect pumpkins (from my bother's pumpkin patch!) throughout the space for an extra dose of fall festivity.
Twinkle lights, a s'mores bar, lovely sunflowers from Sun Country Flowers, live band, and delicious libations made for the most down-home and beautifully fun event. Sasha Saldana, a fellow Shafter-ite, took such lovely photos of all the pretty and rustic details and treated guests to a photobooth filled with props, of course!
