{Wedding Day: Reception}

Other than the actual wedding ceremony, the reception was the most important part of our big day. We both have fun families and friends, and some of the best weddings we’ve been to were ones that had fun receptions! We knew from the start that we wanted ours to be a big party, obviously keeping it classy, though…nothing too wild. Since I had already been planning our wedding before we were even engaged (thanks to Pinterest!), I had some great ideas. I actually chose my color scheme thinking of the reception, not necessarily of the ceremony. I ended up going with navy, green, and white – with touches of pale pink flowers. I loved the colors and found plenty of ideas using this color scheme. 

We really wanted our reception to show our personalities – so we wanted it to be fun, of course, but also sentimental and romantic. I paid close attention to detail, from the striped signature drink straws to the embossed cocktail napkins to the music selections, and everything in between. Our reception was a compilation of nine months of hard work and dedication to make it everything we wanted it to be. The best part was, we did a pretty good job of creating our dream reception on a budget! Given enough time to plan, it’s pretty easy to shop around and find the best prices and selection.

I did not hire a wedding planner or even a day-of coordinator, mainly because I’m a planner at heart and knew that I could make the wedding & reception everything I wanted it to be. After all was said and done, I would suggest that brides-to-be either hire a day-of coordinator or ask a very trusted friend or family member….or even a Mistress of Ceremonies may be able to step into the role. Luckily, our church had a wedding planner that was provided to us for the ceremony, which was great! However, after the ceremony, it was up to the wedding party to hold it together. We were so so lucky to have a great family friend as our DJ, and he has done so many weddings that he graciously stepped in and acted as coordinator for the rest of the evening! If you’re in the Hampton Roads area, check him out here. I cannot recommend him enough – he’s so fun and really knows how to get the party going!

We were very blessed throughout the entire process of planning our wedding & reception because we have so many talented friends & family members who helped us make our day special. As I mentioned, our DJ was a family friend, our florist was a family friend, our caterer was my MIL’s company(!), and my parent’s were the ultimate DIYers – they helped with so many of my Pinterest-inspired ideas! Not to mention our photographer was amazing and became a great friend to us during the planning process – oh yeah, and our videographer was a co-worker of my mother…who made a wedding video for us, gratis. If you’re planning a wedding, I encourage you to think of anyone you know who may be able to help out with your big day – chances are, if you ask, they will be more than willing to help you! 

Enough about the planning – onto the fun stuff! We were slightly late to arrive to the reception venue because we got caught up taking lots of gorgeous post-ceremony pictures, but everything came together smoothly. The bridal party made an entrance to “Bust a Move”….and we made each of the couples, including our parents, actually do a dance move as they were introduced! Then, we were introduced as Mr. and Mrs., and we began our first dance to “Marry Me” by Train. We had taken several dance lessons at a local studio, and made the decision to dance to this song a few months prior to the big day. This is a very meaningful song to us, and I’m so glad we chose it. Now, whenever we hear it on the radio, it brings us back to that moment. After our first dance, it was time for the long-awaited Father-Daughter dance. I literally didn’t make a song choice until the week before the wedding, because I really wanted to find the right song. I wanted it to be special, not only to me, but to my dad. I had narrowed it down to two songs, and the one I chose ended up being perfect. True story, I was hesitant to choose this one, because I knew it was beyond perfect and I knew it would probably make BOTH of us cry. We danced to “My Little Girl” by Tim McGraw. Listen to that and tell me you didn’t tear up thinking about you and your dad! After my dad and I danced, it was time for the Mother-Son dance. Michael and his mom danced to “And Then They Do” by Trace Adkins. Country music is great for a sentimental dance song. 😉

After all of the dances, we had our Priest offer a blessing, then dinner was served. One thing that I’d heard over and over was to set aside time to actually eat, because if you don’t, the night will go by and you’ll end up starved at the end. Truthfully, the entire day was a whirlwind, and I wasn’t even hungry at the reception. However, I made an attempt to eat a little, and we actually had a bit of time to enjoy dinner with our bridal party. After dinner, we headed up to take a few pictures in the gorgeous venue with our photographer. While we were taking photos, our youngest guests (cousins, nieces, nephews) headed for the dance floor. When we were done with photos, we ended up dancing with the kids. It took a bit longer to get the adults on the dance floor! 

After some dancing, it was time to cut the cake. It really is amazing how quickly the evening goes by! Our Best Man and Matron of Honor gave sweet speeches before we cut into our gorgeous cake. Then it was time…Michael and I had talked plenty of times about how we would do the cake cutting. It was decided that there would be NO cake-smashing onto each other’s faces. However, my lovely brother-in-law told Michael he should go for it after all, so he did. Which meant that I smeared cake all over his face, too. Payback!

After a lot of socializing and more dancing, we did the bouquet and garter toss. Things started to get funnier and slightly more inappropriate as the night went on…but we all had fun! The best thing about being the bride is, everyone makes it their mission to keep your wine glass filled the entire night – even the priest! He actually got me my first glass of wine earlier in the evening when we got to the reception. I think he could tell my Type A nerves were coming out before the Grand Entrance…so wine to the rescue! 😉

Yep, that’s the man I’m married to.

We had so much fun, but finally it was time for the night to come to an end. It always seems like receptions fly by as a guest of a wedding, but as the bride – it literally flashes by in a blur! We had so much fun, and I didn’t even realize how exhausted I was until the party was over. We were so blessed to have a wonderful day with all of our family & friends – but we were so looking forward to the next 8 days of relaxing in paradise. Stay tuned for a honeymoon recap!