Mr. and I went to our first wedding together this weekend and we had a wonderful time! Not to mention, we learned a TON. He was the best man in the wedding so between the two of us we were able to kinda see both sides of the day.
The part that stuck out as the most memorable of the day had nothing to do with the flowers or invitations or food, or actually anything at the reception at all. I will never forget how my heart was pounding after the moment that the bride and groom saw each other for the first time and she walked down the aisle.
It’s easy to put so much focus on the font for the invitations or the flavor of the cake or table decorations and the whole party that comes afterwards that sometimes I feel like we can lose sight of that big thing that happens before we crack open the champagne. I felt so honored to be a witness to the vows they said to each other. No, they didn’t write their own, but it felt so special to be able to see them take such a big step together. Special isn’t even the word…it was just…just something so sacred and I felt truly honored to be able to witness that moment.
Mr. only looked at me once during the entire ceremony because we knew we would just lose it. I have no idea how I’m not going to be a slobbering mess come the time that we have to say our vows. I mean, why can’t the girl say the vows first? I think I’d be less likely to cry then. Anyway…there are some things that we’re going to do a little differently.
- PHOTOGRAPHY – Where to begin? First of all, it took them over 2 hours for the bridal party to meet the rest of the guests at the reception after photos. Made it totally blow that I didn’t know anyone except my future in-laws and I was seated at a table of 8 other people I didn’t know. Seriously now, 2 hours?? Also, Mr. said that the photographer was one of those, “now tilt your head this way…a little bit more to the left…a little less smile” type photographers. Also, he was so busy trying to pose shots, but when the bride was holding her baby nephew and they were gazing at each other both with big smiles, you’d better believe that it was not enough for the photographer. No, he needed them to look at the camera! It’s not even like the bride and groom had requested a lot of photos, it’s just that it really took him that long to just take a few shots. Sigh. NO thank you. I’ll pass on that please.
- Food – Ok, I blame this on the photographer again, but there was like no food while we were waiting for the bridal party to get to the reception. I hope to have plenty of appetizers ready to go as soon as guests get there.
- DJ’s Music – For the first 4 hours the DJ played only 1 song from the last 30 years. It was only during the last hour (overtime…the bride’s brother paid the DJ to stay a little later after all the old people left, well except for the bride’s 92 year grandmother who ROCKED it!) that he finally played some newer music. I get it, you need to have music to fit everyone’s tastes, but seriously, I had had enough with the disco and Motown by the third hour. I was ready to get out and shake it to some Michael Jackson! Wasn’t even going to hold my breath for some Black-Eyed Peas. Don’t think that Michael would have been too much of a compromise.
Overall though, what an amazing day. It certainly changed my view of wedding planning a bit and made me TOTALLY excited to get married :)