Final wedding day installment
DJ Bob Smith kept the crowd clapping until Andy pulled out my chair and helped me get seated at the head table. We all sat and then it was time for Adam's toast. He was too funny. Started off with how he kidnapped me the first time he met me, mentioned that he and Andy used to hate each other before they actually met and made a joke about he and Andy having to be gay to be any closer than they are now. We toasted and sipped some champagne. Then it was Bethanne's turn. She was funny too. Mentioning Girl Scouts, climbing in the trees and reading at Budd's and that she figured she could share me with Andy since he saw how special I was. She gave us a little advice at the end of her toast. She got a little weepy then. What was it you said, Bethanne? Sometimes marriage is hard but it's worth the fight, so just do it? Something like that I think but... a little better. Anyway, it was sweet. And so we toasted again and sipped more champagne.
Adam gives his toast.
Again.
Bethanne giving her toast.
Then it was dinner time and everyone chowed down. It was very yummy. At least I thought so. Rosemary chicken and prime rib, salad, roasted potatoes, veggies, bread. Mmm.
Mmm, eating.
Once almost everyone was done eating and we were starting to mingle, Bob called up to the floor for our first dance as husband and wife. We chose "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds as our first dance song. Such a beautiful piece of music. We love it. And so we danced and sang to each other and forgot about our guests for a couple of minutes. So in love.
The mother/daughter dance followed our first dance and for that I chose "She's Somebody's Hero" by Jamie O'Neal. Mom was a little teary-eyed but didn't cry. I was surprised. Knowing my mom, I expected her to be a mess. But I don't think she really listened to the lyrics, probably on purpose. So we shared a dance, laughing through most of it, and it was really nice and I am glad I was able to honor both my parents in some way.
Our family dance was next. It was supposed to be us, our parents and grandparents dancing to Alan Jackson's "Remember When" but I know Cindy and Andy's cousin were up there dancing too. I guess some people thought we meant all family members (which in reality would have been like... 100 people, which is why we decided parents and grandparents... haha) but it's not a big deal. My aunt tried to get my grandpa L. to dance with her, because grandma L. had gone home with her brother as she wasn't well enough to come to the wedding and reception, but I guess he refused her. I'm not surprised by that. He's not really a dancing kind of guy. And my uncle Merle asked Traci to dance with him since Andy's dad wasn't able to be there.
Family dance. That's Andy's mom and Chris to the right, my dad and Terrie in the back right, Budd and mom in the back left and grandma and grandpa H. to the left.
Mom and Budd front and center, dad and Terrie to the left and grandma and grandpa H. to the right.
Traci and Uncle Merle.
Cindy and cousin Kevin.
And then it was time to cut that cake! Mmm, cake! Andy's special recipe cake was a little different in cake form than it is in cupcake form. It was very dense. I think that it gets a little crustier than other cakes where it's touching the baking pan but with cupcakes being in their little paper cups, we didn't know that. It was still very yummy, just a little harder to cut that we had anticipated. But cut it we did. To set the mood for the cake cutting, we had Bob play "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" by Pat Benetar. And so after feeding... erm... if you could call it that...each other our first bites of cake, we both ended up with cake smeared all over our faces... and I don't think either of us got to actually eat any of those pieces of cake. Oh, wait. Yes, we did. I licked some off my fingers and Andy licked some off my face. Haha. There were also icing-covered smooches. My right nostril was completely full of icing, so even after Bethanne cleaned off my face, I had to excuse myself to the bathroom. Alan helped Andy clean the mess off of his face. Very entertaining.
Our cake!
Cutting.
Another angel featuring Adam and Lizi.
Are we going to be nice?
Not likely!
That's love.
After the cake cutting, Bob got things going and started the dancing off by played "Son of a Preacher Man," my special song dedication to Andy. And then there was dancing! Andy and I spent almost the entire evening on the dance floor, which is quite the accomplishment for Andy! We danced to almost every song, with our friends and family if not with each other. I mostly danced with Andy, Bethanne, Brandy and Miriam. Riley, my step-cousin's son who is 2 or 3, was staring at me in wonder but would run away when I tried to talk to him, so he and I played some peek-a-boo around Andy and his mom. I guess he eventually decided I was okay because he came over and danced with me, holding my hand at first and clapping and jumping around. So cute. He stared at me and followed me around for the rest of the night. I think he was in lurve. Hehe. I also 'danced' with my great-aunt Juel, who is wheelchair-bound. Uncle Merle wheeled her about the dance floor while I held her hands and danced.
I think this was the Electric Slide...
Jeff and Sarah.
Grandma and grandpa H.
Grandpa Don and Grandma Shirley. Shirley looks like she is a wild beast in the jungle in this picture peeking around that centerpiecs. Haha.
Our friend Dan and his girlfriend Laura.
Swing dancing!
My little buddy Riley.
Aunt Sheryl and Uncle Ricky.
Paige
Merle and Juel.
Merle, grandma H. and Dad.
Mom and Budd
Aunt Maggie and Uncle Walt
After some general dancing, there was the dollar dance. We had some Bare Naked Ladies playing for that ("If I Had a Million Dollars", of course, and "Light Up My Room"). That was fun and completely full of tom foolery. Some highlights were Andy dancing with Dave, Andy dancing with Adam and Andy 'dancing' with Liz (he kind of stradled her wheelchair and half sat on her and half crab walked around). So funny. I enjoyed dancing with my dad and grandpa, my brothers, my bridesmaids, all my uncles and my cousins (who were particularly funny because they're 12 and under and have no idea how to slow dance). It was nice to get a minute alone with some special people. It was spent laughing a lot though. Haha.
Andy and Adam
Grandpa indicating that whoever was in front of him was having too long of a turn.
There was more dancing after the dollar dance, with everyone taking part. The dance floor was really crowded all night. It was great.
Dave assalts Brandy. Haha.
Adam and Lizi dance.
Again.
Roger-Jake and Jeni.
Grandpa and his brother Jack.
Merle
Grandpa and two of his sons, Merle to the right and Neal to the left. My cousin Alex is mugging in the background.
My mom and Uncle Jeff.
Jeff and Sarah.
The guys. From the back to the front, left to right -- Uncle Neal, Uncle Ricky, grandpa, Uncle Merle and then my cousins, Tommy, Danny, Zach and Alex.
Budd's Aunt Audrey (to the left) and the Geloks, family friends.
Jeff and Aunt Lisa, Sheila and Carl, my mom's co-worker and her husband.
Jim Smith, our photographer.
Ron and Cathy, my mom's cousins.
Mom and Bill.
Mom and Brad
And then there was the bouquet/garter toss. So crazy. First I tossed my bouquet to all the married women (for which Cindy and Brandy booed me, hahaha) to the tunes of "It's Raining Men." It just so happened that Sarah, my new sister-in-law caught the bouquet. Andy retrieved the garter from my leg to "Thus Spracht Zarathustra," the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was laughing so hard that he almost didn't understand me when I told him that he was searching for the garter on the wrong leg. Andy ended up flinging the garter over the heads of all the married guys but Jeff swooped down and grabbed it. So funnily enough, it was my brother putting the garter on his new wife at our wedding reception. I don't think I ever imagined that they would be the ones to catch the bouquet and garter but it's kind of cool that they did.
Going for it.
Flinging the garter.
Jeff pulling the garter up with his teeth.
He's very proud of himself.
Hahaha. He looks evil.
The reception was really just one big party. It was loud and boisterous and just a wonderful time. We were surrounded by friends and family and we danced and laughed and yelled and got sweaty and acted silly and just loved each other and everyone around us. It was just an amazing time. A number of our bridal party ended up getting a little tipsy. Brandy got a lot tipsy. We completely ran tipsy over. Brad and Jeff each got completely trashed. By the end of the night, Jeff was apologizing for not making it to the wedding earlier and getting all emotional about it. He just kept saying he tried as hard as he could and kissing me on the cheek. Then he went back to dancing like a total weirdo. Brandy spilled wine all over everyone on the dance floor and we have a number of photos of Brad getting progressively drunker. The reception ended "Let's Get It On" and a fairly drunken and very happy and joyful last dance.
The bartender.
Roger-Jake.
Crashed. Grandma, mom, Merle and Aunt Toni.
Brad and Sheila
More guests took centerpieces home with them than I thought would but that's okay. We ended up with a few leftover for ourselves and now that I look back on it, I am glad that some people liked them enough to want to take them home. I know that a few of them went home with some of my close family members -- dad and Terrie and grandma and grandpa and mom and Budd.
Grandpa steals a centerpiece.
After the reception, some of us -- mostly my family and some members of the wedding party -- went to the Grand Victorian Inn to continue the party. But that was short lived, due to Andy and I needing to stop by our house to get people settled there and pick up some things which made us arrive later than we anticipated, Brad throwing up and mom and Budd needing to take him home, Brandy getting beligerent in the lobby and being so drunk she could hardly walk, my aunt taking my uncle upstairs so they could have sex (hahaha, I don't think she would have told me that if she was sober) and everyone else being exhausted... yeah, we decided we had had enough fun for the day. We hugged everyone, said our goodbyes and thank yous and sent everyone on their merry way. We headed up to our room, open our cards, just sat for a little while soaking in each other and the day and then we crashed.
The entire day was, in a word, amazing. I could do on and on about how wonderful everything was and how happy we were but I could never recreate the feelings that were in the room that day for someone who wasn't there. It was just spectacular and we are so pleased with how everything came together. It was a fantastic wedding and reception and I wouldn't trade it for anything.