I can't seem to figure out the photo thing to include pics, but here's my recap. Despite a few hang-ups, we had such an amazing day!
In the morning, FI and I met with my sister and our coordinator, dropped off all the decor, tablecloths, etc. at our reception site (we could not get it until 9 am that day). We left everything there with her, and then went to church (we were married on a Sunday, as is Orthodox Christian tradition).
After our regular church service, wedding prep started! My hairstylist arrived at noon and began. While she worked, I ate a sandwich (my parents ordered sub platters for our wedding party and family) and did my own makeup (trying not to move my head). The only problem at this time was that the cupcake deliverer couldn't find our reception site, so called me, and I had to talk her through all the turns even though I wasn't there--not sure why she didn't call our coordinator, but it didn't matter--at that point, I just wanted to get her there!
Our photographer arrived at 12:45 and took some shots of us getting ready. At 1:15, we did some pre-ceremony shots of FI and me, then at about 2:00, did immediately family and wedding party photos (our wedding party was really just our flower girl and our koumbaroi (Orthodox sponsors--friends at our church)). We were out of the church at 2:30 for the choir to begin (they did 30 minutes of pre-ceremony songs as guests arrived).
At 3:00 our service began. We had two priests--one who is our local parish pastor, the other my brother-in-law, who lives out of state. We did not do the whole "here comes the bride" or dad giving me away thing. FI's parents were already seated. My parents were singing in the choir. FI and our priest met me and our flower girl at the back of the church, where he asked each of us if this was the person we wanted to marry, and we both replied "I do" (the only words we said for the entire 45 minutes ceremony). Our priest then led the procession down to the front of the church: the priest, the flowergirl (my goddaughter), FI and me, and then our sponsors.
Once at the front of the church, my brother-in-law completed the betrothal service, which is when we are promised to each other and exchange rings. FI's godfather read from the Epistle, our priest read from the Gospel. Our priest then blessed us with our wedding crowns, and did a short sermon, in which he explained the Orthodox crowning service -- bride and groom are crowned as king and queen of their new home, and should always treat each other as king and queen. I loved this explanation and wish I had photos of the crowning right now, but not yet.
After finishing the remainder of the service, we exited the church, escaped to a side room, shared a bottle of champaign with our wedding sponsors, and signed our marriage license while waiting for guests to clear out. We then went back into the church and did extended family photos.
Once we arrived at the reception site (at 4:45), our Beatles cover band announced us to the applause of all our guests. This moment was almost overwhelming--seeing everyone cheering for us! My brother-in-law blessed the food and then we immediately began our first dance--"Got to Get You Into My Life"...we had done a little practicing (not really choreography) so everyone loved it when my groom spun me and even dipped me! I was so happy this went well, because he was really nervous about everyone staring at him while we danced. The band continued, the buffet was open, we did a little greeting of guests, and then escaped to the patio to take some more photos.
At 5:30 we "cut" our cupcake tower, and then danced to more awesome Beatles songs. The band took a break at about 6:00 and during that, we did some traditional Greek dances, We only did three (which was plenty) and the band started back up soon after. We danced until about 8:15, they played our song again as the last song of the night, and gave us the drumsticks as a keepsake! We didn't do a dramatic exit, just hugged our parents and made our way outside.
After leaving (mainly my family) to clean up--we offered, but my mom would not let us--we met back up with a few close friends to have a drink at a nearby bar. Very nice and relaxing. After leaving there, we made our way to a B&B in an old historic house. It was beautiful!
The next day, we had our brunch at a family friend's home, with just my immediate family and our wedding party, where we drank mimosas and opened our gifts. The following day (Tuesday) we left for PuntaCana. We stayed at the Majestic Elegance which I would definitely recommend!!