We're taking a short break at the apartment in Paris before heading out for dinner and night-time entertainment. So, this won't be an entire post-and-run, but I'll run in a bit.
It was a really awesome day. Most everything went according to plan or was easily adjusted. The biggest issue was the weather - it was COLD and windy. And by cold, I mean 59 degrees, and by windy, I mean gusts up to 40 mph, so that was interesting. My veil tried to attack the guests during the ceremony a couple of times. We did the ceremony as planned, but had the cocktail hour inside the restaurant. I wasn't really too cold during the ceremony, but I saw some frozen guests, so we tried to hustle along a bit. The reception was in the tent, as planned, but they kept the bar inside the restaurant. They also set it up so that they could use the proshop as the staging area for the food for the reception, which worked really well.
Our ceremony was a HUGE hit, from what I can tell. We wrote it ourselves. We pieced together bits from other ceremonies, some cool stuff our friend/officiant found, and some readings - one we used verbatim, and one we tweaked to suit us. I will add the full text to my bio once I get back - I don't have a copy of it with me.
Other than it being cold and windy, I couldn't tell you anything that went wrong. Our shuttle bus drove into the wrong spot and became part of the ceremony backdrop, but oh well. The photog was annoyed because it killed his wide angle shot hopes, but I honestly didn't care. And, I was nervous for 2.2 seconds waiting to exit the proshop with dad to walk down the aisle, but that's the only nerves I had all weekend.
The reception went really well. We each managed to visit with every guest during happy hour, so we got to sit down and eat our dinner in relative peace. We made the rounds through the tables a couple more times after that, throughout the night. The food was awesome - we got lots of unsolicited compliments on it. The cake was really good, but I didn't eat enough of it, so I'm happy mom's got the top layer at home for us. We'll likely work on that once we get back from the honeymoon. If I can, I'll order another one for our 1st anniversary.
The canolis for the groom's cake were awesome too, and really popular. Although, we had too many. And the late-night snack was super popular, though again - perhaps too much food. They could really have made less of everything except dinner & been ok, but I'd rather have too much than too little.
We actually took a total of 2 dance lessons and learned a few basic things, so our first dance was pretty nice! I almost tripped over the inside of my dress a couple of times, but I stayed upright.
Oh - my shoes! I had them dyed to match the BMs dresses, and they were a huge hit. People loved them. And now, I'll get to rewear them. Only to things that don't require a lot of walking or standing around, though. I switched to platform flops after awhile because they made my feet a bit ouchy.
Overall, aside from the weather, I wouldn't have changed a thing. And - darn near all the guests said it was the best wedding they'd ever attended. Helll yeah! I had everything WAY over organized, but it made it run so smoothly that day, especially since I didn't have a coordinator.
The guy who owns the venue did frighten me at one point - told me, halfway through the reception, that they'd never moved so much liquor. Ever. In a single day, anyway - including their New Year's Eve parties. Remember, we had a consumption bar. But, because we got such an awesome price - it was still within our budget. WAHOO! He's getting me a copy of the bar tab because I want to save it. I don't remember how many shots of Sambuca were on there, but it was $375.
Also - despite traipsing through a field with knee high grass, an old log cabin, and a rock garden - my dress is still really clean. Amazingly so.
All in all: I throw a kick ass party, H(!) has a spectacular time being the center of attention, I want more wedding cake, and I can't wait for the rest of the pro pics - so far I've just gotten the 3 teasers.
DIY & Planning |
Married
Married: 2010
Mom to J: 2011
Mom to H: 2014
Dresses may be easier to take in than let out, but guest lists are not. -- kate51485