Reception Part II.... Also known as Longest Post Ever

After the dances at the beginning, we started saying hello to some of our guests. It was SO nice to see friends I haven't seen in a few years, and others that I see about once a year at weddings. I also got to see family members that I probably only see every 5 years or so, and was so touched that they traveled to be there! Weddings are wonderful excuses to catch up! Shortly after we started visiting the tables, they began serving dinner. Steven and I had a sweetheart table at the front of the room, so we went to our table. Steven's dad got up and did the blessing. I don't exactly remember what he said, but I remember thinking what a sweet and wonderful blessing it was. I love that he was the one to say it. They served salad and rolls with a caesar dressing. After we finished our salad, we decided to visit a little bit more until the main course arrived. I was nervous about having enough time to spend with everyone. As it turns out, I didn't manage my time that well and one table, with my two cousins and my friend and her husband, I only got to for just a few minutes twice during the night. I really, really wish I had been able to spend more time with them! Anyway, we saw the main course being served up, so we went back to our table. I enjoyed the sweetheart table because it was nice to have a bit of time to just talk together. People would come over and talk to us on their way to the bar, which we enjoyed, but we also could just sit and talk about the day, the food, etc. and not have to be in entertaining mode the whole time. The dinner was chicken romano with peas and carrots and sweet potato casserole. When we did the tasting, we liked the chicken and LOVED the sweet potatoes. However, everything was so amazingly delicious the wedding- the sweet potatoes were melt in your mouth amazing, and the chicken was SO good! Two months later, we still hear good things about the food which makes me a happy girl because I had been slightly nervous about it, since we went with one entree/no option. Our guests were happy!

 We DIYed a few things and those candles were one of them. We put ribbons and flowers on each one. In retrospect, I would have ordered taller candles LOL! We also bought those satin napkins and used them as overlays, which turned out really pretty (and it's a good thing we got them since I just realized right this second that they used white napkins instead of the dark purple I had requested!) We also bought freeze dried petals on the cheap and  had them sprinkled around the tables to add a little extra something.

During the blessing...

After dinner, we did a mix of dancing and visiting throughout the night. There were some particularly funny moments like when a group of friends requested "I Gotta Feeling", which I didn't realize was an innuendo until they told me. I just assumed they were referring to "tonight" as in the reception. Later, one of my friends requested "Stacy's Mom" and my mom was so cute and such a good sport. She went in the middle of the dance floor and we all danced around her in a circle, pointing at her during the chorus. Jessica, my bridesmaid, requested a song that was my 'jam' back in a former life, In the Ayer, which I cringe as I type here lol, but it was hilarious and fun. She also requested a song for my brother and I to dance to. The DJ picked "All My Life" which threw me off, so I kept talking to whoever I was talking to until the dj walked up and said "... is this ok?" and I realized that's what he had picked, so I went and got my brother for a dance, which made for a sweet memory. We also had other fun moments like spotlighting certain people (I did dance, but I did NOT get in the spotlight lol!), and doing the thing where you have two lines of people and one person dances down the center until everyone has gone, which was particularly cute since it was a mix of our families doing it.

 Yes, yes, we DID in fact break out the sprinkler.

 During "Stacy's Mom"

We rocked the Cha Cha Slide...  I had never done it before!

My dad is a rockstar.

Dancing with my big bro <3

At one point, the DJ had me start leading the train, which turned out to be more fun than I was expecting. He kept having me wind behind his DJ table and the further I went, the more people we picked up. My mom was at the end, so I turned it around on her, and then she turned it back around on me!

Steven and I had plenty of slow dances to be mushy newlyweds to, and I loved looking into his eyes, wrapping my arms around him (as far as my dress would allow) and knowing he was my husband! The dress... I had read reviews about how dancing was hard because it cuts into your arms, but I didn't think I would be dancing much. I was very wrong, and yes, it was a wee bit hard. I couldn't really get my arms up and around Steven, so our first dance pictures are reminiscent of a middle school dance (you know, nothing touching but arms). Then when we were dancing to fast songs, my friends dubbed my style "The T Rex" because my arms couldn't move much. It was quite funny.

Me doing the aforementioned "T Rex" when everyone else can clearly actually raise their arms.

 Steven's parents.... married 38 years on our wedding day!

 And mine.... married 34 years on May 27th.

Lost in our own little world together!

The speeches... oh my goodness, the speeches! First, my dad gave a sweet little welcome and thanks to all the guests for coming. Then my sister got up... My sister's speech had me in tears, which is funny since I didn't cry through the entire wedding like I thought I would! It was the only time after I left the hotel that I cried (and have watched it twice on video now and teared up both times). I will have to type it up and post it one day. The best man's speech was hilarious, and was about how he and Steven ended up in a laundromat in their boxers one day in college, and how you know a friend is a good one when you end up in that situation and they stick it out with you lol!

Oh yes, the cake cutting! I was so sad to cut our cake! It was stunningly beautiful and I was sad for it to not be in the room anymore lol. The whole cake cutting was a bit of a fail. First of all, we sort of stood to the side of the cake where I guess it was a bit hard for people to see us. So we cut a slice out and Steven fed me, then I fed him. Then...... *crickets*..... people kept staring. So.... we did it again..... *Crickets*. I can only guess that people were waiting for a cake smash, which I informed Steven about 12 minutes after he proposed that we would NOT be doing. Maybe it was a mix of not being able to see and expecting a smash But either way, I remember walking back towards the crowd of  people and going to my bridesmaids and saying, "This is awkward!" lol! Eventually the crowd broke up and we went back to visiting/dancing. Then the cake was served and OH MY GOODNESS it was delicious. We had three flavors in 4 tiers- cream cheese pound cake with cream cheese filling and buttercream icing, vanilla with chocolate ganache and buttercream icing, and chocolate with caramel filling and white buttercream. The entire cake was buttercream because, not only did I not want to pay for fondant, but it grosses me out. I still can't believe how smooth and beautiful they got the buttercream and piping! We ate the vanilla/ganache and it was really good. In fact, it was so good that my dear husband fussed at me for having us take a break to mingle with people before he was able to finish his cake! So, I let the boy eat his cake and then we went back to visiting. At that point, I realized that we got the short end of the stick because we were seeing gigantic cake slices and ours had been totally normal! Plus, by the time we realized that, there was no more cake left for us to try the other two flavors. I had to mourn my cake for a few minutes and then I got back into the fun.

 We had the flutes, cake knife, and server made for our wedding through a Wedding Channel deal (by a lady who hand paints them), and I am SO glad we did because I love having them, and love that they are our wedding colors. It was sweet of the reception venue to give us a champagne toast since we didn't ask for/pay for it, and I felt bad that we both took a sip and abandoned it for our diet cokes! By the way, how beautiful are the gum paste flowers on the cake!?

 We didn't even know there were bows on the back of the cake until we got the pics back!!! We only ever saw the front, so it was a fun surprise!

Love our topper. We'll definitely be collecting Willow Tree figurines for other life events! 

Later on, we did our bouquet and garter toss. I'm pretty sure there were no single women there, so I told the DJ to get anyone who isn't engaged, so there were at least a handful. My friend/bridesmaid Jillian caught the bouquet and his friend Daniel (who was the only person to write something inappropriate on our shadowbox guest book.... "Get nasty!".....), caught the garter. I had told the coordinator and DJ beforehand that we had $10 gift cards for each and it would end there, to avoid any weirdness. But apparently the DJ forgot because he called Jillian back out to the floor and had Daniel put the garter on her. Luckily, they were good sports! The coordinator got the garter back because it was NC State and I wanted it as a keepsake, and we had a toss bouquet made so mine was still on display.

We ended the night with more dancing. We had some pretty good dancers (and yes, tons of not good ones :) !) and there were some awesome moves caught on camera! At one point, Jillian and Jessica lost it and started crying on the dance floor. It was sweet then, but even sweeter when I got the DVD and saw them dancing together during a slow song, both crying, and then having to leave the dance floor because they couldn't stop crying. I have such amazing friends! They told me they were crying because they just realized that I was married and the night was ending, and I was heading off to married life. Love them.

 My poor Jekka couldn't keep it together when she realized the night was coming to an end!

 Just LOVE this photo.... me with my girls and him with his guys, all hugging, all in the same picture, and not planned.

 The one jumping is the one who wrote "Get nasty" on our guest book shadowbox. I suppose I can forgive him since he provided our guests with entertainment.

My bridesmads CRACK ME UP!

It's funny because we planned to exit at 7:30, and at one point I began getting really antsy to leave. I was on the dance floor with Steven and our friends but all I wanted to do was rest my feet and be with my husband! Anyone who knows me well knows I get a bit.... cranky.... when I'm ready to be comfy and relaxed. I was thinking it had to be close to 7:30. Well turns out it was exactly 7:30, but our getaway car was delayed. But it's funny how I subconciously knew it was time to just be with my husband! So we danced for about 15 more minutes and gave lots of hugs to friends and family. When the car arrived, they had everyone line up outside with bubbles. A few minutes later, they called for us, and we exited holding hands into a cloud of bubbles. I love that memory! I felt like royalty with all our loved ones around us, the bubbles in the air, a red carpet to walk on to the fancy car, the driver dressed up and opening the door for us, and the photographers snapping our pictures. I really love that memory. I told Steven to get in first so I didn't have to crawl across in my dress, and as the car driver got ready to leave, we just sat there holding hands, smiling and waving at our friends, feeling like a million bucks.

 Can you see my friend, Jeremy's, face on the very left? His expression threw me into fits of laughter the first time I noticed it! It's the "Stacy is all grown up!" look. I love that my bridesmaid Jennifer lovingly consoled him in his time of need lol.

I had a lot of anxiety surrounding the reception in the months leading up to the wedding. I was afraid no one would dance (family and friends on BOTH sides danced.... we were shocked and thrilled!), I was afraid I would be socially awkward, I was afraid people might get bored, and the list goes on. But not only did none of that happen, we had the most amazing time. I so loved being with that many people who were all there to support us, and just letting loose to celebrate the sacrament of marriage. After we left, I was sad it was over and still get sad that it's already been two months! I don't miss the planning like I thought I would, but I miss the specialness and fun of that day! We are so blessed with the vendors who created an amazing reception for us, the help of our parents in paying for it, our bridal party for their moral support, and everyone who celebrated with us. It was an AMAZING day!

 This reminds me of something... maybe a painting? I just can't put my finger on it.

LOVE MY HUSBAND!

Next up.... the wedding night (not what you think!) and part I of the honeymoon!