Wedding Wednesday: The Reception

We've arrived!  Let's get this party started

My little do it yourself centerpieces turned out OK

[July 10, 2010] The reception was truly the funnest part of the whole day.  By the time we were standing outside the doors waiting for our "grand entrance" I was so ready.  We danced into the room after our bridal party to the tunes of "I Gotta Feeling" and it just got better and better as the night went on.

Greeting our guests

We both sat down and ate dinner.   I wouldn't have it any other way as we did in fact pay for it!  I loved sitting there at the front and watching everyone eating and chatting and enjoying themselves.  Then we went around the room to every single table and greeted our guests while everyone was finishing up dinner which was really fun.  I am not normally a social butterfly so I can't believe I did this!  On your wedding night you kinda have to be social and I actually found that it came naturally and I enjoyed it.

Cheers to US

After dinner we went right into open mic for toasts. Often times only designated people make speeches during the reception and for some reason it didn't really cross my mind to do that.  I just told the DJ to open it up to anyone who wanted to speak which could go really badly....but in our case it worked out fine.  It went on longer then we expected but it was really special to hear what people had to say.  And the tears just kept on flowing. I absolutely did not realize just how emotional this would be.  Having people you know and love stand up there and share there well wishes on your wedding day is awesome.  You know people care about you but how often do those words actually come out? Not very often, so it was just awesome to give everyone that chance here.

Toast time was emotional.  I was sobbing!

After that we went straight into the cake cutting.  I simply had to ignore the fact that my cake was the wrong color or else I would have been mad and I did not want that emotion to invade my wonderful time.  No cake shoving allowed but we did have fun feeding each other.

That's not my cake!

Nice and easy

One of my favorite moments of the entire reception was our dance. I felt like we were in our own little world even though everyone was watching. We whispered, laughed, kissed and hugged through most of it and enjoyed it to the very last note.  The words from "I Turn To You" (Whitney Houston) were PERFECT!!

 Savoring The Moment

After that I danced with my dad to "Can You Feel The Love Tonight."  Mj and his mom joined in about 1/3 of the way through the song.  Then, we opened the dance floor up to everyone and boogied the night away.  It was the most magical night of my life and I didn't want it to ever end.

Our Wedding Day Story: The Beginning........

Our First Party!



Appetizer platter

We invited people over for dinner at 6.  By 6:15 they started rolling in and we Mj had dinner ready to serve by 7:20 pm.  It was a rainy cold night but 10 people still made it out to come hang out with us and we had a really great time.  We put out tortilla chips with salsa and a really fancy schmanchy looking cheese, cracker and fruit platter for snacking on.  Then for dinner it was a really yummy chicken that hubby dreamed up.  Breaded chicken with an arugula mix and tomatoes covered with melted mozzarella cheese on top.  You put your marinara sauce on the bottom and the chicken goes on top.  He served it with pasta on the side and it was extremely tasty.

Dinner

My awesome hubby host extrordinaire!

I was drinking and chatting and having a good old time after dinner when suddenly I realized...I'm a host too and I can't let my dear husband do all the work.  So I hopped up and kicked him out of the kitchen and finished up the dishes.  Everything was washed or put in the dishwasher by the time dessert rolled around.  We used these really cute clear square plastic plates so the only thing that really needed washing was silverware and glasses.  Plenty of glasses for all of the wine and drinks we offered.  We had three kinds of beer, wine and a variety of mixed drink options.  Dessert was made from scratch brownies (by Mj of course) which we warmed up right before eating and had ice cream to put on top.  One of our guests bought some cheesecake and another brought some wine and more beer so there was plenty to go around.  The first guest didn't leave until around 10, the last ones left around 10:30 pm and we had the kitchen all cleaned up by 11 ish.  Mj is so awesome.  He really was the one who put everything together and I just made sure that I helped with whatever he needed.  

Time for dessert

What struck me the most is that it really didn't feel like work at all.  It's a party!  It's fun.  I clean regularly so we mostly just had tidying up to do to get the house ready for guests.  The cooking and any other prepping we had to do was for something fun and I found that I just didn't mind it at all.  The clean up wasn't bad either.  You just roll up your sleeves and jump in there and before you know it everything is done.  I was so happy that everyone had fun and that everything went so well that I hardly even noticed what I was doing.  Oh, and still being a little tipsy from the drinks made it fly by.  The good thing about having a party at your house is that you don't have to go anywhere.  Everyone comes to you and it's your party so you get to have what you want.  I got to have my hard alcohol of choice, Grand Marnier which I mixed with orange juice.

Mj told them it wasn't a house warming.  We were just having folks over for dinner and we were not soliciting gifts but they decided to chip in and get us something off of our wedding registry.  The Cuisinart stainless steel wine cellar!  It's a wine chiller that holds 8 bottles of wine.  Another couple got us a really cool drink dispenser that will come in handy for future parties.  They are so sweet.  I think everyone had a really good time.  I'm glad we did it and I never thought I'd see the day when I'd say this but....I loved it and am actually excited about the idea of doing it again sometime.   Who knows, by this time next year I might even be ready to host Thanksgiving.

On Entertaining

Entertaining is a bit of a foreign concept for me. My bridal shower was at my house but I just provided the space and my lovely hostesses did all the work.  I can't count how many times I've watched HGTV and heard a prospective home buyer chirp, "Ohhhh and I love how open it is.  Perfect for entertaining!" or "We just looove entertaining!"  Sure, I thought now that I don't live in a shoebox I can invite someone over but actual full on entertaining....not so much.  My thought process was more like "How spacious....I should actually have enough space to keep my house neat."  In that case, throwing a party seems more like a conflict of interest then anything else.

I have never hosted any kind of gathering at my house.  Ever.

• First of all I don't have a gaggle of friends.  You kind of need those to invite a bunch of folks over to entertain.  The ones I do have aren't part of the same circle and I'm kind of a homebody loner type if left to my own devices.  For me, I figured at most it would be a friend or two here or a friend there.  Back in the old days I had even less friends then I do now and was in a lackluster relationship.  Entertaining like some shiny happy couple that we weren't was the last thing on my mind.   
• Second, I haven't exactly unlocked the joy of cooking.  I am making an effort to get in the kitchen because I want to be a good wife.  I haven't found it awful but I'm just not sure it'll ever be something that I look forward to or want to do more then once or twice a week.  For a party I could easily solve that problem with Pat & Oscars or El Pollo Loco-What did you think I'd resort to Pizza?-but hubby is decidedly more "hands on." 
• Thirdly, it can be a lot of work and money.  You have to prepare by shopping, cleaning, and cooking.  You have to consider Hor's Dourves, desserts and drinks.  You want everyone to have a good time so you have to put some effort and thought into that.  Then there is more cleaning and dish washing late into the night after everyone goes home.  And what if someone spills something?  Uh...how is this fun?  Normal Saturday nights include chillin' in my pj's eating popcorn, watching a DVD and dozing off to sleep by 11pm.  Easy and free 99.
• Lastly, I have only ever lived in tiny and/or drab bare walled apartments that I honestly never really took much pride in.  More recently I lived in the tiniest place yet.  The maximum occupancy was 5 and because it was a studio having people over was sort of like inviting a group of people into your bedroom.  I had 0 wine glasses and exactly 4 plates.  My most frequent guests were mom and dad.  Knowing that I was not equipped with food or proper cooking materials we either went out or my mom would bring something in.  I rarely had any other visitors at all. 

Mj has plenty of friends who get together and do all kinds of things throughout the year and we have been invited on multiple occasions to some of their homes for dinner.  Now that we are for the most part settled into our home we naturally want to reciprocate so our first dinner party ever is..... tomorrow night!  Originally, I thought he was just going to invite about 2-3 couples, six people max but come to find out that number has swelled to about 13.  He even sent out an e vite!  He is definitely running the show and as usual when it comes to anything kitchen related I will assist.  No ordering take out on his watch.  He's planned out the menu and will start cooking tonight.  He already started on the mixed drinks and did the shopping for it last night.  He is so organized...well when it comes to this stuff that is.

I like his friends.  I like the idea having them over to see our new home and hang out but this is all just so new to me.  Martha Stewart I clearly am not.  NOT EVEN CLOSE.  I dearly want to be but I just seem to be missing that gene.  I have not done any holiday decorating, I balked at the idea of hosting Thanksgiving, i'm not doing holiday cards and am even debating if we should get a tree!  I'm just the lowly assistant along for the ride but even so I am technically hosting a dinner party...dahling!  At first it really just felt like work but Mj's enthusiasm is catching and now even I am starting to get excited.

The Party.......

Wedding Wednesday: Bridal Party & Family Shots

[July 10, 2010]  We walked down the aisle as husband and wife and right into a little private room stocked with champagne, cheese and crackers.  The cocktail hour came to us so I wasn't as upset about having to use this time for pics.  I wanted my cheese and crackers too!  We had about 10 minutes to ourselves to laugh, kiss, drink champagne, munch on cheese n crackers and revel in the huge moment that just took place.  Eb came in and brought me a mirror and some lipstick so I could touch up my make up and it was time to head out for group shots.

The only thing missing was the red carpet!

 We started out with family shots and then moved into bridal party shots.  Isn't it funny how the photog wanted solo shots of  the bride but not the groom? Yes it's a shared wedding but as the bride I kinda get to be the star of the show.  And why not?  The groom is handsome in his tux and all but it can't compare to that cascading pretty white dress. 

Me and my family

Mj and family

This part was really fun.  Everyone was talking, laughing and getting their drinks.  The sun had come out, I was just starting to get a little tipsy and I could hear the cocktail CD with our favorite songs playing over the sound system. 

Handsome Groomsmen

Lovely Bridesmaids

Time continued to march on quicker then I ever thought possible and before I knew it our guests were being ushered inside for the reception.  We lingered a bit before heading to the double doors leading inside our ballroom and all lined up for our grand entrance.  I was so anxious to get inside and see everything and everyone.

The Reception........