Wednesday, May 30, 2012

reception

I think other than the Ceremony, the Reception is a very important part of the day. It’s when you sit down surrounded by your close friends and family and you get to share that moment with them. I wanted the Reception to be perfect. It’s the part that guests will really remember when they think back on your wedding. I tried to plan everything as much as I could and explain what I wanted it to look like to my mom and Bianca as I could not be there for the transition from Ceremony to Reception. In my 12 page wedding itinerary (yes 12 pages - I am not exaggerating) I had a whole page dedicated to the Reception change-over and what all needed to set up. I know everyone made fun of my itinerary, but my mom will tell you that my actual wedding day was very calm and not stressful. That’s because everything was planned, and everyone knew what they were doing. My mom also told me that at one point, she and Sandy (Nick’s mom) sat down after awhile thinking that everything was basically done, but my mom decided that they should look over the itinerary one last time, and they realised that they indeed did forget a few small items.
When I arrived to the Hall and I was able to see it just before the Reception began, I was blown away. Everything was how I had imagined it. From the decor, to the tables, to the flowers, to the head table, to the band and the dance floor. It just all looked amazing. I am so glad that I was able to count on my friends and family to take what I envisioned and make it a reality. When we first arrived, Bianca welcomed us as Mr. & Mrs. Nick Irvine. Then Bianca went though and introduced the whole wedding party and family. Finally, we ate! I got tons of compliments on the food – though I really didn’t eat much as my stomach had not been in the best state for the entire week (don’t worry – I gained my appetite back on the honeymoon). Then the program started and we showed a slideshow of Nick and me growing up that I had made. Toasts and speeches were made after that. I’ve talked about the toasts in earlier posts, but again, Kris and Danika did such a great job. Kris moved us all to tears with his speech and then presented us with a penguin sculpture that he had welded for us. Danika then sang us a Taylor Swift song and changed a few of the lyrics at the end about Nick’s Hawaiian Shirts and my Coach Purse. It was adorable. She also told a story about Nick and I when we were first dating that I completely forgot about. Bianca, Crystal, Megan, Ryan, my parents, grandma, and Sandy all gave such touching speeches and each meant so much to me.
About a month before the wedding I emailed Bev and asked if she and Joe (Nick’s groomsmen) would help in coordinating a game to play at the reception. I wanted to play the shoe game, which calls for her and Joe to ask Nick and me questions. Some examples were “Who has better taste in music?” which I reluctantly replied Nick by raising his shoe. “Who said ‘I love you’ first?” which was me, but Nick at first put his shoe in the air saying that he did, but I had to correct him. The only one that we disagreed on was “Who is the better kisser?” I said I was the better kisser, and Nick said he was the better kisser, so I asked the guests, and my name was said louder, so I feel like I won that question. Overall is was a really good game, and Bev said that even though she knows us both pretty well, it was very insightful and you learn a lot about the couple. My grandpa said that he has been to quite a few weddings, and seen the game played many times, but ours was the best. He said that while most of the time the couple disagrees on many of the questions and he’s even seen a fight start because of it, Nick and I agreed on all but one of the questions and could just tell that we really know each other and really fit together.
Cake was then cut and we then proceeded to have our first dance. We danced to "Love like Crazy" while friends and family blew bubbles around us. Finally the fun started and the band began to play. This is also the part were my night becomes a complete blur. Everyone danced the entire night and I had so much fun. I got so many compliments on the band and the huge range of music that they played. They played everything from Lady Gaga, to Keith Urban to Kiss and Rush. I was so thrilled that a lot of people were up and dancing the entire night. I was so scared that people would leave and the wedding would be dead by 9pm, but that didn't happen. The entire night I spent dancing, talking with as many people as I could. The one thing that I did find hilarious was I didn't see Nick at all that night. Okay, well I did see him, but not that often. I think because we were both just so busy entertaining our guests, we just didn't have too much time for each other. Anytime that I did find him, I just made sure I physically held onto him for a few moments and make him hold me and dance with me for a song. Finally around 11:30pm a few of the guests were starting to leave and I was so tired so we decided to wrap things up get the sparkler send off done. This was just the cherry on top of the night to have a send off surrounded by all of my close friends and loved ones while speeding off in a mustang!

Friday, May 25, 2012

private vows


I wanted to exchange some personal vows on our wedding day instead of just the normal "I Do's", because I feel it's more personal and I really wanted to say  a few things to Nick and I also wanted to hear his thoughts and feelings. Well Nick did NOT want to exchange personal vows in front of everyone at the Ceremony as Nick is sort of a private person (unlike me - I blog, tweet, facebook, update and instagram everything). I think he was also afraid that if he had to say more than 3 words during the ceremony, he would begin to cry a little bit - and men are not allowed to cry, especially when there is people around. So we compromise and decided to exchange our personal vows when we were done taking photos but before we headed back to the rececption. I think overall this was the best decision we made and it just allowed us that one special and private moment together.

Saturday, May 19, 2012