The Reception: The Cake

Our cake was red velvet and super delicious. So much so that I'm pretty sure my dress didn't fit as well when we left the reception as it did when I arrived... Needless to say I was pretty pleased that Dan wasn't one of those smash-the-cake-in-her-face type of people.

I wanted a really simple cake and I almost didn't even get a cake with tiers, but then I found some vintage inspiration and loved this simple two tier cake. I found the vintage cake topper on etsy and the cake cutter things were from Ikea which I customized with ribbon. Looking at cake cutters at wedding shops was ridiculous! 30 bucks for a tacky cake cutter? No thanks. I think ours were 5 bucks plus a couple dollars for the ribbon. Plus they matched our wedding colors!

photos by Arrow & Apple

The Reception: Dancing and Toasts

Dan & I chose Dusty Springfield's Son of a Preacher Man for our first dance. Dan's dad is a pastor, so it only made sense! Plus, it's just such a classic song. Unfortunately someone had unplugged the speakers so when we started dancing the music was only playing out of my laptop speakers and no one could really hear the song! Thankfully, my bridesmaids stepped in and started singing the song so we wouldn't be awkwardly dancing in silence.

I chose James Taylor's Copperline for the father-daughter dance. For some reason the song just always reminds me of my Dad and I can't quite put my finger on why. It was an interesting moment to be dancing with my Dad in the dress that my Mom wore when they were married. Who would've thought he'd dance with another girl in the same dress?

We used the same space for the ceremony and reception, so after the ceremony everyone moved out of the hall so it could be transformed into the reception space. During that time we signed our marriage certificate, shook a ton of hands (and met a ton of new relatives) and everyone sipped on tasty mimosas in mason jars.

The toasts were really wonderful. Everyone gave beautiful (and sometimes funny and/0r alcohol assisted) toasts and I almost made it without crying until Kristi, my best friend and Maid of Honor gave hers. We've been best friends since 8th grade and she's been with me though pretty much everything major in my life. She used to say back when I first met Dan and started liking him in 2006 that one day we would get married, and that she'd never seen me be more myself and more inspired and full of life than when I had Daniel in my life.

photos by Arrow & Apple

The Ceremony

I feel like the whole ceremony was just a blur. One moment I was standing on the stairs on my Dad's arm and the next, Dan & I were in the receiving room kind of just looking at each other like, "...well, now what!?" I do know that it was a wonderful and beautiful ceremony though. I got front row seats, afterall! Don, our officiator & good friend, put together an incredible and meaning filled ceremony. Dan & I chose not to write our own vows and instead asked Don to write them. We wanted the vows to come from someone who's known the joys and hardships of many years of marriage. As man who has a way with words and a beautiful mind, we knew that Don would write vows that were just right for us.

I think one of the most moving parts of the ceremony was just realizing that we were in a room full of people who were wholly dedicated to supporting and loving us and our marriage. There was no question that we were completely surrounded by people who were 100% behind our marriage. It was really a feeling like nothing else.

I walked down the aisle to Montezuma by Fleet Foxes.

photos by arrow & apple

The Wedding Party: The Boys

I really love the way these photos really show the personalities of the boys. Dan is such great friends with all of them and you can see how silly and fun they are in these photos. I think that's what I loved most about Sarah and Josh from Arrow & Apple. I knew I wanted a photographer who would capture people's personality and candid moments that are so special. My favorite part of our wedding party photos is that they were pretty fun and un-posed. My favorite ones of the boys are the ones where they're all just laughing and having a good time together. I can just hear each guy's laugh as I look at them!

photos by arrow & apple

The Wedding Party: The Girls

I knew that I wanted all my bridesmaids to have dresses that suited each girl's taste and body type, so I gave them a bunch of options in similar yellow colors to choose from. I absolutely love the dresses they chose! I've never been a fan of the thing where all the bridesmaids wear the same dress and you tell them, "you can totally wear it to other events too!" Kristi actually wore her dress multiple times before the wedding, haha! Oh, and since I've been referring to names, it'd probably be best if I gave you faces. In the above photo from L-R it's: Kaela, Kristi, Me (obvi), Molly, and Anna.

The candy cigarettes reappear again! Kaela decided that we definitely needed to take bridesmaid photos with them, so she ran upstairs and grabbed them. Hilarity ensued.

This one is best.

photos by arrow & apple