Our Wedding - The Reception

When planning our reception, we knew we wanted 3 things: Great food, great music, and lots of dancing.  We figured if we could really nail those 3 things, it was sure to be an awesome time.  I don't know about anyone else, but in my humble opinion, we pretty much rocked all 3, with a surprise 4th element which was the scorching heat.  True story...it was the second hottest day on record in Louisville the day of my outdoor wedding and reception (106 degrees...), and yet there was hardly any space on the dance floor.  That's how rockin' our guests were. 

Keeping with the sweet southern venue, and of course, my sweet southern groom, we wanted very simple romantic and southern elements at our wedding.  A few weeks beforehand, the boy and me made homemade chalkboard signs to direct people around our ceremony and reception.  While we took pictures with the bridal party, our guests enjoyed bottled water and cold washcloths to cool them down along with cocktails and an assortment of veggies, fruits, and cheeses.

Our tables were decorated and lit with mason jars and candles, and hydrangea bouquets with burlap table runners.  As I said, sweet and simple was the game plan. 

When deciding on our menu, we knew, without question, that we wanted southern food.  We ended up using Kingsley Meats in Louisville and set a menu of a full roast pig (the freakin' best barbecue!), citrus chicken, country green beans, roasted potatoes, cold cucumber salad, cheese grits, and of course, fried green tomatoes.  And yes, I did eat at my wedding, and it was awesome! 

My brother leading the bridal party in

Our plan was to relax and eat dinner, do the toasts, mingle some more, cut the cake around 9:00pm, and then start all the dancing....but alas things change (well, heat changes things) and we moved the cake cutting bit up after the top tier just melted off and fell off the cake.  This would have been the point which I probably should have flipped out...but I really didn't care.  I pointed at it and laughed.

The cake before...already tipping a little...

Our best man and made of honor both gave amazing speeches that made us both laugh and cry.  We were so lucky to have them by our sides that day along with the rest our our bridesmaids and groomsmen.  My dad also gave a wonderful speech as well, which was followed up by a surprise dance from my parents and their wonderful dinner club (our extended family). 

A must watch video of their surprise dance for us!

For our first dance as husband and wife, the boy and I danced to Ray Lamontagne "You are the Best Thing" and followed that up with a dance with my dad to "Songbird" by Eva Cassidy.  Two moments I will remember all my life.

We sang to each other the entire time we danced...

Dad & me

Once our first dances were over, the party officially began.  Despite the heat, we had people out dancing and playing cornhole until midnight, which is when the boy and me finally headed back to our hotel downtown to take the most needed showers in history. 

My sorority sisters joining in for a Theta kite!

dirty dancing - Aunt Karen & my cousin Summer

Pretty much the pic of the night - wearing my husband's tie, a glowstick, and with my dress pulled up to my waist to air my legs out by the fan!

The fans were a popular spot at the reception....conveniently located by the bar.

Dancing...

Dipping...

I can't wait to show y'all some of the shots of all the bridal party, including me and the boy! 

August 9, 1982

So, I have to take a little break from posting wedding pictures to talk about something huge that's happening today.  You see, on this day in 1982, my dear husband was born.  For those of you who are math geniuses like me, that means today is his 30th birthday.  Let's all take a moment and absorb that.

It's a strange thing for me to comprehend how something so simple as a baby being born, 30 years ago, in a town I'd never heard of to people I had no connection to would drastically alter my life in the most amazing way.  Truth be told, August  has always been a special month for us.  Five years ago in August, I started at my current company where I first met this handsome guy with the goofy smile.  Even though nothing happened between us for many months, that decision to accept this job had already set me on a life altering path that would take me many years to fully understand. 

A year later, I remember meeting the boy out at a bar with his friends on August 8...the day before his 26th birthday and he put his arm around me and said "Are you my birthday present?"  I so desperately wished that was true, but I knew even 3 months into our relationship that I probably wasn't what he wished for.  I clung to it anyways, and the next day woke him up and led him into the kitchen where a cake was waiting and wished him a happy birthday.  Even then I leapt with hope that we would have more days like that together.

And we would...but it would be a very long time...several years actually.  Last year on this day, I sat at the park with the birthday boy, with a picnic spread out around us and the sun setting behind us and lit one tiny candle on a tiny little cake and proudly announced, "This will be your last birthday as a single man!"  It only took us 3 years to get there. 

I will not lie when I say that this past year we were engaged was definitely bumpy.  You try moving in together, taking on about 20 household renovations, trying to save money, working crazy hours at our jobs, and planning a wedding - all at the same time - and let me know how that goes for you.  It is not easy.  I promise you this.  But even through all the stupid argument (and they were VERY stupid, mark my words) I never once thought, I don't want this.  I never once thought, I'm not the luckiest girl in the world.  I never once thought, our life together would be anything less than everything I dreamed of.  And even on those nights that were not perfect, I still slept like a baby knowing I had something that many people only dream of.

I've often said that birthdays are a big deal to me. Not just my birthday, but birthdays in general.  I really believe that we all need one day a year to sit back and appreciate those we love and be grateful that they were born.  When I think about my husband and all he does for me, and all he tries to do for me every single day, I am SO grateful.  Let's get real - I am not an easy person to live with.  I'm moody and bitchy sometimes (okay, a lot), and I have high expectations.  I don't always say the right things, and I definitely don't always say Thank You.  I sometimes don't abide by the golden rule, and sometimes I ask him to give of things that I'm probably not giving enough of myself.  But I'm glad he was born, and I'm glad I get to share that with all of you. 

And lastly, to my dish washing, bourbon drinking, dog drool cleaning, floor sweeping, GA Tech loving, happy-go-lucky, massage-giving, bed making, truck driving, sweet and simple, country boy husband...I love you.  Happy 30th birthday.  One month down...forever to go. 

"I loved you since the very first day...when I caught you lookin' my way.  I smiled and just knew it."