Weddingbee

When we last left our sparkly new spouses, they were taking formal pictures with their photographer . . .

But what happened after the serious shots? Find out now!

After the ceremony was over, people went in two different directions - either up the hill to drier ground or over to our fabulous open bar (In spite of the mud, this was the more popular option).

Mr. Hum chatting with some of the serving staff while he grabs a drink. You can see the ground around the bar is already getting smushy.
Someone smartly though to put a piece of plywood down before things got too bad.

Not to taint the magic of a wedding with talk of cash, but the bar is a major consideration when you’re budgeting. A friend of mine got married in a hotel with an open bar and the bill quickly soared past the $20,000 mark which, as a budget conscious couple, was a little horrifying to hear*. Thankfully, since we were having the wedding at Mr. Hummingbird’s father’s house, we could provide our own liquor which allowed us to provide the bar selection we wanted at the price we could actually afford. All we had to provide was the bartender which we did in the form of the fabulous Duncan (the redheaded guy in the vest), who we hired through our catering company and who we could not have loved more. Seriously, he was a quick draw on the bottle, he made the guests laugh and he mixed a bunch of special drinks in our honour. Awesome!

Some notable mingling moments . . .

My wedding dress maker Allison! She could only stay for the ceremony and the first part of the reception, but we were really excited she could come for at least part of the festivities so I could credit her with her handiwork in person. (This picture was taken from on top of the deck, which explains the perspective. She is a tiny lady, but not quite the “I live in a tree and make cookies” version of tiny she appears to be here.)

As they came all the way from Alberta to visit, I made sure to grab a picture with my old friend Oscar and his mom Annelies. As I had previously written about Oscar on my blog, a number of guests knew who he was already, making him a minor wedding celebrity (“It’s Mrs. Hummingbird’s friend from the first grade!”)

Our friends from Toronto. Getting a bunch of urbanites to leave the core is rare. Getting them to come all the way out to the middle of nowhere is practically a miracle. But our pals rented a car, took to the highway and trekked out for us. Whether it was their love for us or the pull of free liquor, I cannot say, but whatever it was, we were happy to have them there.

My Man of Honour Greg and Mr. Hum’s Best Lady Sarah. We were lucky enough to have Mr. Hum’s Best Lady’s Husband Tom as our photographer, but once cocktail hour hit, she jumped in as our second shooter and took a tonne of awesome pics!

Grabbing a drink with Mr. Hum’s Brother/Best Man Nick. Since the worst had passed, he was relaying the humorous side of Mr. Hum’s Morning. A Rum and Coke helped Mr. Hum see the hilarity.

Mr. Hum’s Grandpa and his girlfriend Gail. A brave woman, Gail had never met us (or much of Mr. Hum’s family!) before, but she trekked out from Sudbury for our big day. According to Mr. Hum, when he spoke privately to his grandfather about how happy we were to have Gail join us, he (Grandpa Hum) giggled and blushed. So cute!

My Paint Wench Pals (plus lovely girlfriend Jenn)! The boys (Luis and John) and I worked together for a few years back in my Benjamin Moore days and more often than not, the topic turned to music. We talked about what bands we liked, what bands we hated and we often shared or burned CDs. Because of this love of music (and because the whole iPod music list thing was getting to me), I asked them to make me wedding mix CDs and was incredibly touched by the results. Not only were they both thoughtfully compiled (John’s even included liner notes with obligatory High Fidelity references) but the music was so great, the first two songs that played after we walked back down the aisle were courtesy of them**.

Wedding parties are good for many things and one of those things, as I found out, is protecting your expensive lace dress from the mud. First my dad, then Mr. Hum and then my Man of Honour Greg; we made sure I stayed clean through all of the serious photo moments***.

Our friend Heather with my bouquet. I handed it to her temporarily when I went to get a drink, and when I turned around, she was gone! Here she is with her stolen spoils****!

My Maid of Honour Erin and My Fake Mom Anne! Anne is actually Mr. Hum’s Aunt (and functioned as Mr. Hum’s temporary mom in his last semester of University), but when my mom couldn’t make the rehearsal the day before the wedding, she jumped into her place like a trooper! Though she is not wearing it in this picture, she is known for her snappy hats and wore a very flattering one to our big day.

But our goofing around couldn’t last forever and after about an hour of pictures and drinks, it was time for us to make our grand entrance into the big white tent to a very special song . . . find out what it was in our next edition of Hummingbird Wedding Recaps!

*= As we were paying for a large chunk of the wedding ourselves, our entire budget was not even $20,000.
**= We walked back down the aisle to “Whole Wide World” by Wreckless Eric (provided by Luis) and enjoyed our first swing around cocktail hour to “Hotel Yorba” by The White Stripes (provided by John).
***= And although I do not have a picture of this, many thanks as well to Mr. Hum’s cousin Shelley who held my train up during my trip through the buffet line!
****= I did eventually manage to wrangle it back from her, but it did not stay in my possession long as I ended up doing a bouquet toss.

• Making Lemons Into…...
• Can You Call it a Rehears...