I'm back, I'm married, and to sum up...everything was amazing! I will try to keep this as brief as possible, since I could probably go on forever about everything that happened, but here goes:
Friday - Mom, godmother and MOH came into town and we all went to the spa for mani/pedis before the rehearsal. Rehearsal almost went off without a hitch...one of the groomsmen went to the restaurant first instead of to the venue! So he was late and also scared the pants off the event manager at the restaurant, who wasn't expecting us for another 90 minutes! Fortunately we got it sorted out, did our practice run and headed off to party. We did our RD at Wolf's 1-11, a restaurant/sports bar/arcade that H and I have considered 'our place' since our second date, and it was fantastic. The food was great, the staff was super friendly and accomodating. At one point, H and a couple groomsmen wandered out of the banquet room and into the main restaurant, where they got pulled into some contest that involved holding a full beer stein out at arm's length for as long as you could. He won, and got a free beer stein, and a hat!
After the RD, we had about 15-20 people over to our apartment for drinks and gaming. I didn't have a bachelorette and I didn't care; all I wanted was to spend the night before my wedding doing nerdy stuff with my out-of-town friends. Highlights included the nerf gun duel and one of my bridesmaids stealthily sticking googly-eye stickers all over our apartment that we did not find until after the wedding. I then said my goodbyes and went to the hotel, since we weren't going to see each other before the ceremony.
Saturday morning - Got up, showered, had breakfast with my MOH and went to my godmother's suite to start hair and makeup. Our stylists were great, and everyone was done ahead of schedule, so we got to relax and eat some lunch! My godmother went out to get food and champagne for mimosas...she set the box of champagne down on the stove and accidentally turned it on. My mother saw the smoke while she was getting her hair done...we almost set the suite on fire!
Photog came by 2 hours before the ceremony to do pictures of me getting into my dress, and then I went outside with my bridesmaids to do formal pictures of just the ladies. We were then ushered back into the suite so he could do the guys pictures without the groom and I catching sight of each other.
By now we were less than an hour till showtime and I was climbing the walls. I could see the ceremony tent from the window of the suite and I was glued to that window, watching everyone arrive and get seated. I almost cried a bunch of times because the reality that I was about to get married was setting in. Especially when I saw the groom come out to go wait at the altar for me! Fortunately my mom and MOH were good at getting me to stop so I wouldn't ruin my makeup. And then...THE SUN CAME OUT!!! It only rained a little earlier in the day, but it still looked pretty questionable until about 15 minutes before the ceremony. All the positive thinking must have worked!
Ceremony - I don't even have words. We came down from the suite and the bridal party went out for the processional. It was just me and my parents, and my heart hammering out of my chest. Then the doors opened and we walked outside, and I could hear my processional music. And then we turned the corner to see 120 people standing and waiting for me. And beyond them, there he was...teary-eyed and looking spectacular in his FIXED tux.
Cocktail hour - A quick break for some champagne followed by more photos. I was a little miffed because we had been told there would be appetizers for us, but they were gone by the time we got back from doing pics of just the two of us. The food item I was most excited about at the wedding was a tomato bisque shooter with a mini grilled cheese sandwich to dip in it, all I wanted was one of those. But I told one of the staff and she put a fresh plate of them at the sweetheart table, just for us!
Reception - Let's just say...our families know how to party.
We did our grand entrance to music from the Star Wars soundtrack and gave our wedding party toy lightsabers to do a sword arch. It was completely epic. Hopefully the link to the video will work...
http://www.facebook.com/amy.blechman.3?ref=ts&fref=ts#!/photo.php?v=4465292201214Our cake!
The ice sculpture/ice luge for our signature drink!
Guestbook photo matte!
Table numbers! (In keeping with our geeky theme, all of the tables were named after different fictional locations.)
Our sweetheart table!
First dance!
Dance with my dad! (And oh my god, we both were crying so hard!)
H's dance with his mom!
Other highlights:
- My stepmother did all the centerpieces and decorations for the reception room, and I gave her free rein so it was a surprise to me when I came in. Everything was gorgeous...she really went above and beyond!
- So many shenanigans in the photobooth. My mother stuck her head in and photobombed me with one of the bridesmaids. And my best friend (who is a lesbian) and H's best friend (who is gay) did one where she was wearing his tux jacket and he was holding her bouquet!
- My 80-year-old grandmother tearing up the dance floor to "Baby Got Back"!
- The DJ played "Gangnam Style" THREE TIMES and it never got old. In fact, as people who didn't know the dance caught on, more and more guests came out to dance to it each time!
- The wedding date was H's father's birthday, so when cake was served we put a candle in his and everyone sang him Happy Birthday!
Really the only thing that went wrong was that there was a miscommunication over when the reception was supposed to end, so we wound up having to pay the DJ to stay another hour, but it was well worth it. After the reception ended, FI and I went to our room and found our toasting flutes and a bottle of champagne waiting for us. We drank and compared notes on the evening while I pulled all the bobby pins out of my updo. This morning we got everything from the hotel back home, took some folks to the airport, and went to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday with H's family. We both took tomorrow off to relax, open gifts and start some thenk you notes. Honeymoon is in two weeks! So excited to be a Mrs, and can't wait to see pics and recaps from everyone else's weddings!
October 2012 December Siggy - A Favorite Wedding Photo
