Je suis Mariée: The Reception Recap

When we last left off, Spike and I had just said "I Do!" and sealed it with a kiss! We opted out of the traditional receiving line after the ceremony and instead got right to work getting family formal's out of the way before hopping on the party bus to have some fun with the bridal party before the reception:

Side Note: There was a disgusting amount of this going on.
All. Day. :)
{Click any of the pics to enlarge}

Love these girls so much!

These guys crack me up!
I'm honored they accepted me in to their group.

Did I mention that it never stopped raining?
Luckily, we didn't let it ruin our fun!

Soon enough it was time to get to the party, but, before I get to all the fun, here's a few pics of the details we put in to tying our "book-nerd" theme together:

First up, the welcome table: Spike found the card catalog at an antique shop and I created the seating cards we filed inside. The "Card" box is actually as stack of fake books from Hobby Lobby that Spike cut the bottoms out and glued on top of each other. The crane mobile was made by one of the groomsmen out of extra book pages we gave him. It was/is so beautiful! (And another thing we'll have for years to come!)

Everyone loved that we had the framed pics
of our parents and grandparents weddings

Our reception was held in the event space above, and catered by, San Chez Tapas Bistro in downtown Grand Rapids. Sadly, we had one of the last weddings in the space, as they have since sold it. Which is unfortunate, because it was such a fun space, with a great view of the city. 

Instead of table numbers, guests were given a book title; we had framed covers from our favorite books for each table. Under the book assignment, I also put quotes from each book that were either about love, friendship, adventure, or if all else fails, philosophical. (Spike had a few books that made this a challenge.) On the tables were stacks of hard cover yellow, gray, and white books. (We spent almost a year scouring local book sales "judging books by {the color of} their covers" Ha!) Spike's mom and aunt found, and made the squares that we draped on each table; they had the perfect patter of yellow, gray, and white that matched the pussy willow branches we had on each table. (That was another project Spike and I gave ourselves: harvesting pussy willows in a swamp. That was, muddy.) On top of the fabric squares, but under everything else, are "book page splashes" that I made from pages from all the books we used for the table assignments. And, because we got married in October and Halloween is my favorite holiday, I found some miniature white pumpkins to put on each table as a nod to the season.

I wonder if anyone tried to guess who's
favorite book they were seated at?

For favors we opted to have a candy bar, featuring all of the treats we had on our first road trip together: mounds, M&Ms, nerds, dark chocolate Reese's PB cups, York Peppermint Patties, Oreo's and Cheezits. Yes, Cheezits. (At least Spike didn't insist on having frosting for them too!) Instead of cake we had cupcakes, cuz y'all know I love a cupcake. Sadly, neither of us were in love with how they turned out decorated, but they sure tasted good!

We had originally planned to have the bridal party arrive to the song "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Hall and Oates but at the last minute we decided to be silly and went with "Gangnam Style" instead. The bridal party improvised their own version of the dance as they made their way in, before grabbing their cowbells and 'spectating' signs. (A nod to our running addiction) And the crowd went wild, it was so hilarious!

You might recognize these two lovely ladies
that assisted with the entrance!

They had made the signs after the rehearsal dinner
so we didn't know what they said until that moment.
HILARIOUS!

Once they were all in place, Beaker Luv and DZ, our MOH & BM, held out the "finish line" marking our arrival and then we boogied down for a few too. 

A few of our awesome friends had also {unknowingly} made their own 'spectating' signs, so when we looked out in to the crowd we saw these:

Jen B, Nichole, Kevin, & Jennie, you guys rock!

After our big entrance it was time to eat and speech! Dinner was tapas served family style and our father's each took a turn on the mic before handing off to the maid of honor and best man. Beaker Luv's speech was the perfect blend of sappy and sweet, making me cry (of course), and DZ had everyone in hysterics with his stories of he and Spike's debauchery over the years.

With speeches and food out of the way, there was only two things left to do: drink and dance! Spike and I danced to "Overwhelmed" by Tim McMorris before dancing with our parents. 

"And I am, over-whelmed, by you
Am, over come with joy
You've, taken me higher,
and shown me what love can do
Where would I go, or be, without you?"

*le sigh*

(Top) My fav pics of our parents dancing;
(Bottom) Two very special people:
(Left couple) My godmother, Aunt Donna,  who I ran in honor
of for the breast cancer half marathon, of which she is a survivor
(Right couple) my Uncle Steve, who lost his fight with lung
cancer earlier this week. I am so thankful he was able to be there.

All my Florida girls came!!!!!!

I was excited to have both my brothers meet
my other brother (and his gf) after they've all heard
so much about each other over the years.
(Sadly, my younger sister wasn't able to be there)

Dance, dance, dance!

Midway through the night "Buck and the Buckaroos" (which include Spike's dad, a few cousins and an uncle), played for the crowd, a family wedding tradition. They even had a few surprises for us: including a new addition to the band (Spike's nephew) and they invited me up to sing back-up with the "Buckette's" (Spike's sisters). Ha! 

I love, love, love Spike's family traditions!

After the band, we ended the night with a whole lot more dancing... and a late night donut and cider bar so that all the out-of-towners got to experience a "taste" of Michigan in the fall. 

All in all, the whole day was such so much freaking fun! Spike and I cannot thank our family and friends enough for traveling from all corners of the U.S. to be there to celebrate with us and are so incredibly blessed that we have so many people that love us.

Thanks for reliving the day with me and enduring all the photos! In case you're wondering, yes, we took plenty of other formal/fun shots, but I had to save something for the anniversary post...