We were man and wife at last, and, all smiles, we recessed out of the church hand-in-hand while the trumpet and piano blared Clarke's Trumpet Tune. The children and then the rest of the bridal party paired up and trailed out after us. We waited on the lawn to greet any who weren't able to make it to the reception, plus a few others . . .
Even though everyone was supposed to drive straight to the reception, several understandably stopped by for a quick hello and photo. I'm pretty sure someone tagged us on Facebook right away. :)
Then we took pictures on the lawn and went inside for more pictures, and finally got in John's Honda Civic with Keith and Heidi, the best man and maid of honor, who were supposed to drive us to the reception. I don't know who parked it out in front of the church for us . . . but thank you, whoever you are. :)
Poor Keith and Heidi . . . we were kissing the whole way there, and discovering that the backseat of a Civic is not very big, and that kissing is very wet. ;) The reception was being hosted back in my parents' hometown, so it was a long, country, awkward drive for our chauffeurs. The rest of the bridal party followed in John's parents' big Expedition, but I wish we had communicated better. We were all supposed to enter by the back "secret" driveway and appear out the front of the house in formation, but we got a bit too far ahead of them, and so they turned in at the sign for the reception. It didn't really matter, though.
When we pulled around the back, our photographer friend was ready with the camera. :)
And we took some quick pictures of just the two of us against the backdrop of the trees before heading inside. They ended up being some of my favorites. :)
And then we went inside and all waited until it was time for us to be announced. In the intervening time, our guests were supposed to have had cookies and punch inside while the pianist played on the grand piano (which we'd paid to have tuned). But of course the photographer was with us, so we don't have any shots of that, and we'll never know if there was actually any piano-playing going on!
But finally it was time! One of the deacons from church acted as MC, and we all emerged in turn out the front door with the children waving their ribbon wands a la Sense and Sensibility. I didn't know that the hostess was going to arrange the children on the porch like that, so it was a pretty nice surprise!
Oh, we were so happy! We just couldn't help it. We found our seats under the tent, greeted folks casually and took a few pictures, and I remember feeling slightly disgruntled to see some folks at the wrong tables, when we'd arranged the seating so thoughtfully.
We went back in for yet more pictures, though trying to get a serious photo with all the children was a bit of a challenge! :-D How much bigger they all are now . . .
The band played! And we ate dinner, and after hearing stories of brides who never tasted their wedding food, I was determined to enjoy the full dinner! I was looking forward especially to the tortellini with broccoli and garlic, chicken marsala and eggplant parm, and they were excellent. Marcella's catered, and maybe someday we'll go eat there on one of our anniversaries!
After eating, we started working around the tables and greeting everyone. But soon the hostess was saying it was time for us to cut the cake before people started leaving, so we paused to do that. I poked my fingers too far into John's mouth. ;) Keith actually gave his speech and toast first, which we all loved.
After yet more photos and more milling about, it was time for our dance. :) We'd planned to dance to Steve Green's wedding song "Holding Hands," though that was really the only recorded song we were counting on. While John tried to sort out the technology with the band, Derek took the mic and did an impromptu rap for our wedding day! Eventually we realized they didn't have the jack that we thought they had, but they played a lovely waltz for us to dance to, and it was just perfect. (You might also notice that I'd somehow managed to keep my veil until now! With the first turn, I tugged it out accidentally, but the photographer's wife blithely took it for me and we hardly missed a beat!)
There was another neat detail-- a few of the flower girls were doing little ballet steps around us while we danced. It actually annoyed me a bit at the time and I was wondering where their parents were! Later, though, people remarked on how precious it was, and looking back I wouldn't have had it any other way!
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