Weddingbee Blog

All photos—unless otherwise noted—by the lovely Sam of Samantha Warren Weddings.

As we headed up from the beach after our on the rocks photo session, I had the faintest hope that maybe our power would be miraculously back on. It wasn’t. But there was nothing else to do but join our now electricity-free wedding reception. Hey- at least we were being green!

(non-pro photo by CM)

I was told that because of the lack of a microphone, our guests would be told to hold off on clapping as our bridal party was introduced… and to save all applause for the bride and groom. In my most demanding instance of the whole day, I put my foot down on that one. Our bridal party was downright awesome, and there was no way they were going to be announced to… silence. How depressing. So it took a few minutes longer than it should have, but I made sure there was cheering for all involved.


We were announced last and after we made our way into the tent we all sort of just stood there. The plan had been to go right into our first dance, and now that we were lacking power we weren’t quite sure what to do. So we stood there and smiled at each other. Then the leader of our band, the Boston-based Brick Park (who I have yet to blog about, but seriously saved our wedding day and I recommend to anyone who will listen), came over to us. He asked if we would like to do our first dance anyways, even though they wouldn’t be able to do the one we had chosen. In the spirit of the day, we said, “Sure, why not!” And that, my friends, is how I ended up dancing for the very first time with my new husband, not to the beautiful “That’s How Strong My Love Is” by Otis Redding, but instead to the always-a-classic “Time of Your Life” by Green Day. Sigh. Was it the perfect song? Nope. Was it the perfect moment anyways? A million times yes.

“It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right…”

Okay but we did have to giggle about it a little bit:

Before we sat down to dinner, my dad gave a little speech welcoming everyone and thanking all of our guests for coming.

He also had some advice for my new husband in the form of a poem by Ogden Nash:

“To keep love brimming in the loving cup,

When you’re wrong admit it

and when you’re right shut up.”

Which cracked us up:
Cheers!

Mr. Tiramisu’s brother, the Best Man, was up next:

(non-pro pic by CM)

And how classic is the footwear?

His speech was awesome. I giggled. I cried. I laughed like a horse:

Nice tonsils, Tiramisu.

Mostly he talked about what it was like to have an older brother like Mr. Tiramisu. He poked a little fun, but you could feel the love.

Last but certainly not least was my beautiful Maid of Honor Carolyn, who was nervous without reason for her speech.

I thought I’d share it with you all, in case anyone is interested (and because I think it’s amazing) and also because of the Weddingbee cameo!

I’ve been blessed to have Emily as my dear friend for the past eight years. We met the first week of her freshman year at Richmond, my sophomore year. We sauntered into entry-level chemistry and quickly spotted each other for lab partners among the sea of science dorks. It was a few months later that she caught the eye of a handsome Maryland boy in true Richmond fashion at a fraternity party. Let me tell you, we talked a lot more about Liam, then Bunsen burners and protons from that day forward. Eight years later we stand here today celebrating this momentous occasion. An occasion that I’ve seen coming since Emily, a bright-eyed teenager gushed about the boy of her dreams. Their love has not only withstood, but grown and blossomed under the test of time. Fraternity formals, date nights at d-hall, grad school, long distance, their first “baby” Duncan the schnauzer, wedding planning extravaganza and, well, tonight’s severe storm.

They’ve become to each other what everyone could hope for in a partner—a compliment and an inspiration. Emily with her infectious energy as a motivator and nurturer. Liam with his down to earth nature always keeping perspective. It’s been a privilege to watch your journey.

I was going to offer you some pearls of marriage advice based on my two whole months of wedded bliss, but just last night Emily shared with me something she wrote to Liam. As many of you know Emily is one of the famed Weddingbee bloggers. Her post yesterday was entitled ‘Because This Is All That Really Matters’. If it’s OK with Em, I’d like to share a bit of it with all of you now…

“Soon it will be official, but for a long time it’s been you and me. We go together, we just make sense. Living my life next to you makes my world richer, more full of adventure and bursting with so much love that it takes my breath away at times.”

They say life is not measured by the breaths that you take, but the moments that take your breath away. I hope that there are moments today and every day in your marriage that take your breath away.

A toast to the very lovely bride and her very lucky groom. To Emily and Liam.

I am so seriously lucky to have her in my life!

The band entertained for the rest of the dinner hour with beautiful acoustic music. I really couldn’t have imagined anything better. Everyone was in really high spirits now that the rain had stopped, and lots of our guests made their way out onto the lawn as they finished dinner.

At the last minute I had grabbed a croquet set from my parents’ garage, thinking maybe it might be fun to have it set up on the lawn to keep the kids entertained. It did the job:

We couldn’t resist either:



Next up: How about another wildly random song? My dad and I take it up a notch with a spontaneous A cappella father-daughter dance.

Previously:
1. The Pre-Game
2. We Practice the I Dos and the Party Part Too
3. The Day is Here!
4. Going to the Chapel
5. We Do
6. Sweet Little Details Part I, Part II
7. A Few Formal Pictures and An Uninvited Guest
8. Free Fireworks!
9. The Calm After the Storm