Wose Wedding Recap: Speeches and Dinner

After our first dance, it was time for the father/daughter and mother/son dances. Dad and I danced to "Little Miss Magic". Adam and his mom danced to "My Wish". 

All photos by Melissa Manzione Photography.

If I'm being honest, dances and speeches are my least favorite part of pretty much every wedding reception. Being on display, emotions potentially running high, and 130 guests watching and waiting to eat and party makes a Type-A bride verrrry antsy. We almost nixed these, but in the end, I'm glad we didn't because I think our parents loved it. 

However, we did roll right into speeches after the parent dances to try and get to the party as soon as possible. First up was my MOH Hillary, which I was pretty excited about. She's from Chic-ahhhgo, and her accent comes out whenever she's speaking in front of a group. 

She's a champ.

She did a great job. I am so thankful to have a friend that would travel halfway across the country - twice in less than a month - to celebrate with us. Hopefully Adam and I make it out to Chicago for a visit soon!

Next up was the Best Man, Tommy.  He did great too! The dads gave impromptu speeches as well.

Finally, Adam's grandmother led us in Grace before dinner and it was time to eat!

I thought we would scarf our meals down and attempt to go greet each table, but we changed our minds. By this point we were mentally exhausted and just needed to enjoy a meal. We served a choice of chicken marsala or steak, and it was fantastic! I was too excited to eat more than a few bites though, and unashamedly ate my leftovers around 2AM. 

I'm so glad we took a bit of time to relax. The sweetheart table was perfect - a few guests still came up to chat (which was great!), but mostly we got a chance to talk and soak it in. 

Just as we were finishing our dinner, our photographer came up and snagged us for a sec. She said there was an absolutely gorgeous sunset, and could we sneak out and take a few pictures? Umm, YES! And I'm so glad we did. These photos had the stunning light I so badly wanted, and we just look so relaxed and happy. 

It's okay folks, they're married. 

 By the time we joined everyone back at the tent, the sun was almost completely gone and it was FINALLY time to party! CJ the DJ got the party started with one of my favorites - Shout! Before we knew it, the dance floor was packed!

Next up, the party continues and Adam almost leaves me to cut our wedding cake by myself!

Wose Wedding Recap: Picture Time

After the ceremony, we got right into taking formal family photos. Our amazing photographers had the list I had given them, which helped us breeze through these pictures in a quick and orderly fashion. 

All photos by Melissa Manzione Photography.

Hint, hint: start with the biggest group first, then any photos involving children, and end with your most easygoing family members. They'll be waiting (read: possibility passing up on on cocktail hour) the longest. 

Love this candid of me and my mom.

After family portraits came the wedding party photos. We had so much fun taking these! I was pretty anti-cliche wedding party photos during planning, but our friends had other ideas in mind:

Groomsman-on-groom violence is a serious problem in this country.

The classic jumping shot. What's not to love?!

Calling it now: the "Bridesmaids" pose will be to 2010's weddings what puffy sleeves were to 1980's weddings. 

I *LOVE* these pictures. I love that we have fun friends who had fun on our wedding day. We took some relatively serious/normal ones too...

But overall, the wedding party photo shoot was relaxed and laid back. The caterer constantly bringing over drinks and hors d'oeuvres didn't hurt either!

We wrapped up wedding party pictures and Adam and I took a few more couples shots.

 

Before we knew it, an hour had passed. All during pictures, I kept peeking over at the boat bar where cocktail hour was being held. Great music was playing, the food and drinks looked fantastic, and our guests were laughing and mingling. I was so ready to join that party!

Wose Wedding Recap: First Look (And A Rain Freakout)

My hair and make-up were perfect, my dress was on, and I had just read a heartfelt letter from my soon-to-be husband. Before I knew it, it was 3PM and time to meet my groom for pictures! Butterflies in my stomach, I went to the window, and - 

POURING. DOWN. RAIN. 

There it was: the deepest fear of any bride planning an outdoor wedding. Rain with no sign of stopping. A;sflksglkjdsg this cannot be happening. A million thoughts raced through my head: where will we have the ceremony? What about our gorgeous open air dance floor? What about MY HAIR?! I distinctly remember considering sending all of our vendors away until a sunny day as a viable solution to my rain problem.

My amazing DOC, Kim, said something to the effect of "how much rain can you tolerate before moving the ceremony under the tent?" and I completely zoned out. I have vague memories of MOH Hillary grabbing an umbrella (who even brought that?! It was supposed to be SUNNY), and carefully escorting me to the boat bar, where Adam was waiting. 

Sheer panic behind that smile, folks.

Rain be damned, I was excited to see my groom. So I quietly sneaked up...

And then Adam turned around and saw his bride for the first time. This face, my friends, is why you have a first look (and why you hire a fantastic photographer).

We spent several minutes hugging each other and generally doing this: 

And then Charlie made a guest appearance! We wanted a few professional photos with our dog, and what better opportunity than our wedding day?! A family friend picked him up shortly after and took him to Adam's parents' house.

As we were unwinding with Charlie and enjoying a few moments just soaking in the day together, something magical began to happen. Right on cue during our first look, the rain tapered off and the clouds began to lift. It was a miracle! We still had to move the ceremony location due to flooding, but we enjoyed beautiful, seasonally cool weather for the rest of the evening. 

We were enjoying our first look so much that we decided to put off wedding party photos until after the ceremony. This was a great decision as we got to enjoy more time together, and they really didn't take too long during cocktail hour. 

Next up, jitters set in and the ceremony begins!