The Reception

You know how when you are the bride you meticulously plan out all of the details of your reception? You line up all the vendors far in advance. You deliberate over the placement of the tables, the cake, the food, the guest book, and the gifts. You imagine where you will stand to greet the guests in the receiving line. You formulate an image in your mind of the atmosphere that will be created from your careful planning.

So, what happens when the day before your wedding, the weather forecast contains predictions of high winds and thunderstorms for the exact same time as your outdoor reception, even though that is extremely rare for your location in August?

Well, in Tricia's case, she attempted to line up a reception center as a backup just in case the forecast held true. By some miracle, she found a reception center that was available for her wedding that was in less than 24 hours. It even happened to be the first one she called. Mom was skeptical that the venue might not be that great if they didn't already have an event scheduled. She called six other reception centers which were of course all booked. At that point, Tricia decided she didn't even care what the available venue looked like; she was just glad to have a backup at all.

Everyone was still hoping and praying for the weather to cooperate so that the original plans could be carried out. The reception was set to take place in our Aunt and Uncle Woolley's backyard which was seriously built for their five daughters to have wedding receptions. The yard is like a fairy tale; the landscaping and views are castle-like. Troy and I were lucky enough to hold our reception there and can attest to its breathtaking beauty. Not wanting to let go of this dream, everyone decided to wait until the last minute possible to make a final decision for the location of Tricia and Jacob's reception.

On the morning of the wedding, the forecast called for thunderstorms to roll in between 7 and 8pm, exactly when the reception would be taking place. We couldn't wait much longer to see how the skies panned out because if there was going to be a location change, we had to get to work notifying guests and vendors. Just before their ceremony, Tricia made the ultimate decision. Though it would mean tossing out a lot of their original plans, she didn't want to risk torrential downpours ruining their reception and the enjoyment of their guests. So, she resorted to the backup plan.

And you know what? The Carmelle Reception Center was an absolutely beautiful venue. Once Tricia made the decision to switch the location she did not look back. It didn't seem to bother her one bit that she was settling for plan B. She was just completely caught up in wedding day bliss. I think I was more disappointed than she was and it wasn't even my wedding!

The ironic part was that it never rained.

After a crazy day of sending out mass emails, updating the wedding blog, leaving recorded messages on answering machines, contacting all of the vendors, printing out hundreds of maps indicating the new location, and ultimating setting up everything in a reception center that previously hadn't been given one glance, it never rained. It was still really windy, but it never rained.

What are the chances?

With everything being arranged and thrown together last minute, the reception actually ran very smooth. I think the biggest thing that went wrong was that the little voltive candles next to the centerpieces never got lit. If that is all that was forgotten after a whirlwind day, I think we can call the event a grand success!

The guests still piled in, there were smiles on everyone's faces, and we were all so happy to celebrate Tricia and Jacob.

A few more shots were taken before the reception started.

The reception center had beautiful gardens in the back which the bride and groom actually ended up using for their receiving line since it wasn't raining.

Trying to get four children under the age of three to cooperate was no easy feat. The little flower girls belong to Jacob's older brother Mike and (ironically) his wife Lindsey.

Parents and helpers scrambled around very quickly to find places for the tables, cake, flowers, and food. The food was delicious and the lemonade was to die for. Troy and I have been craving it ever since the reception ended.

I think that all of the details might have even been finished ten minutes before the reception started, allowing just enough time for the bride and groom and their parents to eat before standing in line for an hour and a half.

The cake cutting wasn't exactly typical. Jacob fed Tricia a bite of cake first, but he wasn't sure what to do next so he just picked up some cake put it in his mouth himself. It was pretty funny that he didn't wait for Tricia to feed him, but in all reality, do guys ever pay attention to the cake cutting at receptions? He probably didn't know that feeding each other was standard protocol!

Their wedding day also happened to be the groom's birthday. That will definitely make his anniversary easier to remember in the future.

Not only was it Jacob's birthday but it was dad's birthday too! I brought him out an additional cake and the entire crowd sang another round of "Happy Birthday." Talk about a celebration!

Then the dancing began. The wedding party made their grand entrance couple by couple.

Tricia and Jacob thought it would be really funny for us all to enter dancing to this Bollywood song that is apparently "their song." Something about Chaiyya Chaiyya? Tricia definitely got her Bollywood groove on.

The little man got to dance with his favorite Aunt, a married woman!

He found this leaf somewhere outside and insisted on carrying it with him the whole night.

Blake thought all the dancing was hilarious. We let him stay up super late to enjoy all the festivities, and man was it worth it! I never seen him dance so much! He was jumping and clapping and flopping and bopping around for more than an hour.

There was even some forced dancing between Blake and Lilly, the flower girl. I don't think they minded too much.

Take this, dance party: we still got it!

It has been fun to get to know some of Tricia's friends at the showers, bachelorette party, and wedding eve/day events. Leah and Erika were two fellow moms hamming it up bridesmaid style. Oh and Erika on the right is 5 months pregnant. Could have fooled me!

Grandma saved the last dance for Blake. He didn't really understand that the reception was just as much for Grandma to greet people as it was for the bride, and he kept running up to her wanting to be held. They really adore each other.

Tricia and Jacob ended the night by walking through a tunnel of sparklers to get to their getaway car.

After the married couple rode into the night, Blake burned his fingers by touching a hot burned out sparkler (as so eloquently captured here).

Thankfully he believes that dipping burns in cold water magically cures them.

Love. So much of it. We were so happy to be a part of this crazy, happy, memorable, unforgettable day!