Our reception was absolutely perfect (other than the DJ being about an hour late, and that it was not outdoors as I had always hoped-Mom was worried about the weather, but I don’t regret it-I LOVE that we had our reception the same place we met-it was so romantic) and I was glad we kept it nice a small so we did not have to stand there for as long and were able to dance and make the night more about each other rather than a bunch of other people (selfish-I know). My Mom still regrets not inviting more people, so I am sorry to all of those who were not there, we sort of underestimated how many invitations to get, but you know, I always wanted a small wedding, so it kind of worked out. I was LOVING being with Ben and showing off my catch to all those who were meeting him for the first time that night and also (shamefully) all the little girls “ooing” and “awing” over the dress, and romance and well-the entire wedding thing really.
I absolutely loved (and still do) how sweet Ben was is with me.
Love all these people so much! Thank you so much for all your love and support over the years. It has meant the absolute world to us! LOVE you ALL!
Parents, flower girls (Andrea and Lindsay), brides maids (Cami and Camille), and best man (Jon).
My side of the family (minus Ryan who was on his mission).
Ben’s side of the family (that could make it, that is-not many-still have yet to meet them all 5 years late-weird, especially to me since I have known all my siblings since their birth).
Cake time! They say how you handle the “feeding of the cake” to one another is how the marriage relationship will be, and I can tell ya that is pretty accurate-we still like to goof off, tease on another (all in good fun, of course) and play together. It is one of the biggest things that keeps our romance young, fun and alive!
We even let the parents in on all the fun!
Dancing the night away-by FAR my FAVORITE part of the evening! Our second first dance was SO special as we remembered our past and looked forward to our future!
Going for the garter! Ha ha, Ben still remembers me telling him, “pull it down a little first so you don’t have to go up my dress so far.” Good times and even better memories now-I tell ya!
Throwing the bouquet-those girls REALLY took it pretty seriously!
These were the bears at the guest book signing table (because, let’s face it-who really wants to sit at one of those things?-I personally would not, so I did not feel right making anyone else). These bears were the PERFECT greeters for our guests that night.
We went on a date to build-a-bear when we were engaged (yet again…sadly no pictures) and designed these for one another. I designed the bride which Ben got to keep and He designed the groom (they were to give us something to cuddle with at night until we were married and could then cuddle with one another). We made them complete with all the bells and whistles available, including the “I love you, Ben” and “I love you, Danae” recordings that play when you squeeze on of the paws (a big hit with our Jayden these days-oh and he LOVES making them kiss one another-should I be worried?). Ben’s recording is all sweet and mine sounds a bit silly because of how ridiculous I felt (I have a very hard time with public displays of affection-I am getting better though) with everyone else around us at the build-a-bear workshop that night. Sure brings back good memories though as Ben remembers me blushing like a silly school-girl while recording it.
We went on a date to build-a-bear when we were engaged (yet again…sadly no pictures) and designed these for one another. I designed the bride which Ben got to keep and He designed the groom (they were to give us something to cuddle with at night until we were married and could then cuddle with one another). We made them complete with all the bells and whistles available, including the “I love you, Ben” and “I love you, Danae” recordings that play when you squeeze on of the paws (a big hit with our Jayden these days-oh and he LOVES making them kiss one another-should I be worried?). Ben’s recording is all sweet and mine sounds a bit silly because of how ridiculous I felt (I have a very hard time with public displays of affection-I am getting better though) with everyone else around us at the build-a-bear workshop that night. Sure brings back good memories though as Ben remembers me blushing like a silly school-girl while recording it.
Ben’s siblings really got into the whole “let’s make the newly-weds feel awkward" theme complete with a special “honeymoon gift basket”. Being the oldest, Ben’s family took it upon them to make up for the fact that only they could humiliate us in that oh-so-special-way, they took the job pretty seriously!
My family stuck to decorating our car and did a little too good of a job…let’s just say they used the “window-only markers” on the paint job as well and although we traded it in for our Chrysler a little over a year later, I am sure the white hearts are still there on the hood. Good thing it was a bit of a beater car to begin with and Ben and I didn’t mind too much thanks to the sentimental value and memories. We actually DID take pictures of it, but sadly I cannot find pictures, but trust me it was pretty hilarious! My siblings felt awful, the poor kids-I bet they never made that mistake again.
My family stuck to decorating our car and did a little too good of a job…let’s just say they used the “window-only markers” on the paint job as well and although we traded it in for our Chrysler a little over a year later, I am sure the white hearts are still there on the hood. Good thing it was a bit of a beater car to begin with and Ben and I didn’t mind too much thanks to the sentimental value and memories. We actually DID take pictures of it, but sadly I cannot find pictures, but trust me it was pretty hilarious! My siblings felt awful, the poor kids-I bet they never made that mistake again.
When we got to our apartment we were met with a little more than a few surprises…fun things like the light bulbs missing, all our furniture being re-arranged in the worst of places (I am pretty sure bruises were involved as we tried to find our way around crashing into things), Vaseline on all our door knobs, toilet paper everywhere, complete many embarrassing “honeymoon-related items”, tiny heart confetti and chocolate kisses! Those stinkers! I am not going lie, as crazy and unexpected and a little frustrating as it was, it had Ben and I laughing almost to the point of tears.
These same “villans” (Jon and his girlfriend, Elisabeth, Matt and his wife, Julie) volunteered to bring all our gifts over to our apartment since they had more room than us in our tiny little car obviously wanted to come see our reaction to their tricks. While getting all the gifts inside (I tell ya, those gifts filled up our entire front room and then some-you could not even see the floor!), they tried to act surprised about the mess and to pretend it was not them before finally breaking down and laughing like little child pranksters basking in the glory of their craftiness, sneakiness and success and enjoying our reaction to it all. Their children came too and really got excited about the mess (especially the Hershey’s chocolate kisses-which were EVERYWHERE!).
His siblings were nice and did help us clean it up a bit, but then started making jokes like, “okay,now we are all gonna stay here and watch you open all these gifts.” and “I gave you the BIG gift.”and “You guys don’t have any plans for the night, do you?” and a bunch of awkward stuff like that. Ben and I just stood their awkwardly, not sure how to handle it all-on top of the typical wedding night anticipation. Elisabeth (now Jon’s wife) was sweet enough to tell them to cut out the teasing and head out, but needless to say it was all –in-all an eventful night (no pun-intended).
His siblings were nice and did help us clean it up a bit, but then started making jokes like, “okay,now we are all gonna stay here and watch you open all these gifts.” and “I gave you the BIG gift.”and “You guys don’t have any plans for the night, do you?” and a bunch of awkward stuff like that. Ben and I just stood their awkwardly, not sure how to handle it all-on top of the typical wedding night anticipation. Elisabeth (now Jon’s wife) was sweet enough to tell them to cut out the teasing and head out, but needless to say it was all –in-all an eventful night (no pun-intended).
No comments:
Post a Comment