Wedding ABCs Part Deux

Yesterday, I started recapping our wedding by doing a little ABC fun.  Today, I am back to finish up the party.  But before I do, I must mention that today marks four years since that phenomenal day.  And as I look back at the memories we made that day, I am even more proud of the memories we continue to make.  I married my best friend and am very lucky to say that four years, 1 1/2 children, 1 crazy cockapoo, and countless good (and some bad) days, that is still true.
So, let's continue, shall we...

N: Newlyweds

We found out I was pregnant (the first time) about a week before our second wedding anniversary, officially marking the end of our carefree newlywed days.  Here's some pictures of some of the fun of those years:

the Chesapeake Jubilee...true Virginia fun

in Austin, TX for a friend's wedding

just a random night out...man, did we take those for granted?!?

DC

in Pittsburgh for the Super Bowl 

Chipper's 1st birthday at our townhouse

Baltimore

Man, we got around...seriously, totally took those days for granted!!!

O: Oops

I had a major oops at our reception.  Early on in the evening, I was already sick of wearing my veil.  I took it off and without thinking, I put it on the table.  Well, wouldn't you know it...I put it right on one of the votive candles and it totally caught on fire!  I didn't even notice until someone pointed it out, and now there's a lovely burn hole in my veil.

P: Party (as in wedding)

Josh and I each had 5 members in our party.  Josh had his brother as his best man, my brother as one of the groomsmen, and 3 friends rounded out the party.  I had my sister as my maid of honor.  My cousin was one of my bridesmaids along with one of my childhood friends, a friend from high school, and a coworker (well, former coworker).

Q: Question Popping

Josh and I were headed to the Homestead (a beautiful, traditional hotel) for his former company's Christmas party in December of 2006.  Josh wanted to stop in Charlottesville (my college town) on our way up to break up the trip, and that night, I kind of thought he might propose (we had, of course, been talking about it, but honestly, I didn't know if my lovely boyfriend would ever get up the guts to actually do it).  He didn't, and we headed on to the Homestead the next day.  As we were getting all dressed up and ready for the party, I thought about it again, but again he didn't.  The party got started, we were having a great time, and as it came to a close, a bunch of people decided to continue the party at one of the bars.  Josh told me he had to go to the bathroom before we went to the bar and asked me to join him back in the room to do so.  I thought nothing of it, and as I prepared to open the door to go back downstairs, I turned around to see him on one knee.  I was totally taken by surprise...to the point where I just kept saying, "are you serious?" and laughing (my normal nervous reaction).  Turns out, Josh had considered asking me in Charlottesville, and before the party, and even on a carriage ride around the Homestead, but kept wussing out...I guess he needed a little liquid courage.

after the question popping (and some celebratory champagne)...notice the hand placement..,real subtle, huh

the beautiful Homestead

R: Roses (and other flowers)

When I originally met with our florist, I really had no idea what colors I wanted to use.  She suggested the green and orange (with brown as the accent color).  I immediately fell in love and totally went with it.  You have probably caught plenty of glimpses of our flowers throughout this post and the last, so I won't bother you with more...feel free to look back through if you missed them!  

PS: My personal favorite was the balls...I think they're called pomanders.

S: Sweets

I am a huge chocolate-peanut butter fan, and because I wanted our wedding to be unique and reflective of us, I searched high and low for a baker who would make us a chocolate-peanut butter flavored cake (on a side note, our wedding was about a year before the cupcake craze hit Va. Beach...nowadays, this would not be difficult at all!).  We did find someone though, and while I had more input on the flavor, Josh was actually a little outspoken (at least for him) on the look of the cake...random, I know.  

On another sweet note, we actually chose to forego traditional favors, thinking they were just a waste.  Instead, we brought in Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  At the end of the reception, we had cute little bags with a little poem (I don't remember the exact wording) instructing everyone to take some for a nightcap or even for the next morning.

T: Trash the Dress

Nope...it is in a protective bag tucked in the closet...not necessarily well-preserved, but in tact nonetheless.

U: Unique

If you've been actually reading this thing, hopefully you've noticed we had quite a few unique elements.  But one of our most unique/memorable moments actually started the night before at the rehearsal dinner.  My grandfather had 2 of his closest friends there...these men grew up with my grandfather (like were in the same kindergarten class!) and have been at each of our significant life events.  Well, one of these men passed out at our rehearsal dinner.  Needless to say, it was one of the scariest moments ever.  Given his age, he was taken by ambulance to the hospital and the next day, I kept getting periodic updates about him, mainly that they really couldn't find any reason for him passing out and that he was going to check himself out of the hospital to be at the wedding.  Well, he did!  As I turned around to leave with my husband, I saw him sitting in one of the front rows, beaming.  This picture is of me stopping to kiss him and thank him for coming:

V: Venue

I think I've already mentioned it, but we got married at the Princess Anne Country Club in Virginia Beach.

W: Woes

Luckily, we did not have any major issues arise on our wedding day to disrupt the joy of the day.  However, I did have a couple vendors that looking back on it, I was less than happy with.
 One of them was our photographer.  My family had always used the same photographer for all of our needs: bar/bat mitzvahs, family portrait, etc.  So when it came time to select a wedding photographer, I didn't even look around and just hired our girl.  She was as nice as always, but let's just say her photography wasn't exactly modern, as in she didn't even use a digital camera still!  We still got some beautiful shots, but I get a little jealous when I see other people's photos.
Our other issue was with our florist.  After being super nice and helpful at our initial meeting, we booked her despite the fact that she was one of the most expensive options.  Over the next few months, she blew off meetings with me a few times and I just kept thinking "she knows what she's doing." (I hate conflict!)  Well, the day of there were several details she messed up....there was supposed to be fruit (limes, oranges) in our tall vases, she totally left out the boutonnieres for the grandfathers, and a couple other minor things.  Obviously, I didn't let it bother me that day, but while we were on our honeymoon, my mom called her to just mention the errors and she was a total biotch about it!  Let's just say, I would not recommend her in the future!

X: X-Rated

I don't know if it's necessarily x-rated, but our ride back to the hotel got a little rowdy.  My dad had rented an Excursion limo to transport people from the reception site back to the hotel (where most of our friends had gotten rooms for the night even if they lived in town) because it was about a 10 minute drive on one of Virginia Beach's most dangerous roads.  As the party ended, Josh and I got in with a bunch of our friends.  I was totally oblivious to it, but supposedly there was hooking up everywhere (including a little girl-girl action!). Josh and I headed up to our room when we got to the hotel, but the scandals continued all night I guess.

Y: Youngsters

We had no little people in our wedding (or at it for that matter!).  Because we didn't really have anyone close enough, we decided to skip the whole flower girl and ring bearer thing.

Z: Zzzzzzzzzzz

Josh and I spent the night of our wedding in the honeymoon suite at the Virginia Beach Resort Hotel.  One of the smartest things we (ever) did was wait to leave for our honeymoon until Monday, which meant we got a good night's sleep and had time to recover and visit with our out-of-town guests before leaving.  In the interest of full disclosure, our night in the honeymoon suite wasn't all perfection though (don't worry...this isn't going too far!).  Josh had brought a small bag I had packed to the room earlier in the day while I was getting ready, but I had another small bag of things that I had with me at the country club that I intended to bring with me.  In all of the fun, I totally left without my bag.  When I woke up the next morning, I realized I didn't have my skirt (or any bottoms to wear), my brush, or the keys to the car we had left at the hotel.  So, we had to call my dad to come get us (seriously, how ridiculous is that).  When he retrieved us, I was wearing Josh's boxers as my "shorts" and he had to drive us down to the country club where I snuck in to get my bag.  Aaahhh...I'm still embarrassed just thinking about it.

And that's it...a little recap of our wedding.  Thanks for reading/bearing with me!