Wedding Day - The Reception

We got a little bit more geeky at the reception - our table centerpieces (which also named each table for the seating chart) were all ships from different Sci-Fi and fantasy universes that Brian and I both enjoy and/or introduced each other to.  All photos by Modest Monkey Photography, unless otherwise noted. 

The head table, of course.

Points if you can name every movie/tv show!

Photo by Pamela Cuffee

Photo by Pamela Cuffee

Photo by Pamela Cuffee

Photo by Pamela Cuffee

Ok, some are cars.

Photo by Pamela Cuffee

Photo by Pamela Cuffee

My mom made the beautiful - and delicious - cakes.  The wedding cake was frosted in a pale blue to match my dress, and embellished with royal icing roses, lilacs, and lace motifs.  Brian requested a Millenium Falcon groom's cake, which Mom also made.  And Optimus Prime graced the cake table, because why not?

Photo by Pamela Cuffee

When we entered the reception hall, we surprised our guests with a karaoke song:

We sang "Life's a Happy Song" from The Muppet Movie.  And we danced a bit.

Brian loves to dance.

For the call-and-response part of the song, we had each member of the wedding party sing one line of the response:

Every table had mini lightsabers and folded paper favors with mints inside.  I'll have to do a separate post on the favors, I think.  They were a bit complicated.  The lightsabers were pretty simple, though.  I followed this tutorial that I found on Pinterest, and they turned out really cute!

The toasts - there were five total - were all beautiful and made me cry.  One each from the Maid and Matron of Honor and the two Best Men, and my brother also requested a toast, which was very touching. 

Little did we know that there was more geekiness in store!  My parents and siblings collaborated on a surprise lightsaber arch midway through the reception:

There were eight total lightsabers - all of which my dad and sister made - carried by the five groomsmen and three ushers.  It was quite possibly the coolest thing that has ever happened to me.

Our first dance was to Aretha Franklin's version of "You Send Me."

Father/Daughter Dance was "My Girl" by The Temptations:

And the Mother/Son dance was "Stand By Me" by Ben E. King:

We also sang "A Whole New World" from Aladdin to kick off the karaoke portion of the evening:

And we danced like fools:

My spaced-out expression here can be attributed to concentrating on my killer moves.  Or something. 

See?  Killer moves.

Have I mentioned Brian loves to dance?

Obligatory bouquet toss:

My brother's date, Ami caught it.

Jordan (Brian's son and Best Man) caught the garter!

Ceremonial cake-cutting:

We fed each other very nicely:

Mmmmmm... Chocolate!

With one hour of the reception to go, we said goodnight to the live-stream viewers:

And we lived happily ever after!  :p 

Wedding Day - Getting Ready

(And then I make you wait three months...) 

Wedding day!  April 11 had finally arrived.  I had much help getting ready.  My aunt Diane styled my hair while I ate the eggs that my cousin Erin had made for my breakfast while my mom finished sewing the lace to my veil.  I got into my corset, threw a skirt and top on over it, and drove to the church with my tiara in place.  My bridesmaids and I set up camp in the room set aside for us for the morning, and they helped each other with hair and makeup while my aunt Donna (my personal attendant) helped me get dressed.  Stephen, our excellent photographer, arrived a little later and took fun getting-ready pictures.  Unless otherwise noted, all photos in this post are courtesy of Modest Monkey Photography. 

My sister (and Maid of Honor) Gretchen decorated these bags, and we filled them (and one for the groomsmen) with various emergency items: 

Bonus point is you can spot the most massively useful thing in this shot

All of my "somethings"

Something Old - the lace edging on my handkerchief was scraps of leftover lace tatted by my aunt and grandma for my mom's wedding dress in 1980. 

Something New - the garter knitted for me by my aunt Diane

Something Borrowed - the pearl necklace belonged to my grandma, and both my mom and sister Elise (Matron of Honor) wore it in their weddings as well

Something Blue - silk ribbon shoe clips

The pearl earrings were a 30th birthday gift from my parents, chosen to match the borrowed necklace.  I also had a silver sixpence that Gretchen brought back from England for me to wear in my shoe. 

Shoes, stockings, and shoe clip hardware are all from American Duchess.

 Donna helping me get dressed: 

Diane affixing my veil for me:

Finishing my makeup:

Bridesmaids (Laura and Melissa) helping each other get ready:  

Gretchen's photo

 Stephen doing his thing: 

Gretchen's photo

My brother Aaron (one of the groomsmen) and me, chillin':

Gretchen's photo

 Mom being sweet:

And before we knew it, it was time for the ceremony!