Weddingbee Blog

After stuffing ourselves silly at the cocktail hour, our guests were seated and we were ready to make our entrance. I was a little nervous about going down stairs in my dress; I’m quite klutzy, and stairs and I aren’t the best of friends. But luckily I made it down those three steps without mishap:

And we were greeted by our cheering family and friends! Now came the moment that I think Mr. Hamster was most nervous about - more than the vows, were we going to make fools of ourselves at the first dance?

We had chosen our first dance song way back - in the spirit of full disclosure, I *knew* this would be our first dance before we were even engaged, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that Mr. Hamster would be on the same page. Lucky for me, he was - but how can you not be with lyrics such as these? (Just push play!)

I don’t get many things right the first time

In fact, I am told that a lot

Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls

Brought me here

And where was I before the day

That I first saw your lovely face?

Now I see it everyday

And I know

That I am

I am

I am

The luckiest

What if I’d been born fifty years before you

In a house on a street where you lived?

Maybe I’d be outside as you passed on your bike

Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes

I see one pair that I recognize

And I know

That I am

I am

I am

The luckiest

I love you more than

I have ever found a way

to say

to you

Next door there’s an old man who lived to his nineties

And one day passed away in his sleep

And his wife; she stayed for a couple of days

And passed away

I’m sorry, I know that’s a strange way to tell you

that I know

we belong

That I know

That I am

I am

I am

The luckiest

During all those stressful moments of planning, when I was just *done* looking at flower inspiration pictures or printing out Zappos return labels, I would play this song on my laptop, and Mr. Hamster and I would practice. We’re not the most graceful people in the world, so some toes were literally stepped on. But we had fun, together. And it looks like at least one of our guests was impressed:

After our dance, we settled into our seats for the first course:

and I conferred with Daddy and Mom Hamster about very important things:

Mom Hamster: “I think I’m going to have the fish. You?”

I looked around at our guests mingling with each other and enjoying the food, and I was so happy! We had done the first dance, gotten through the parts of the day that I was concerned about, timeline-wise. I could now just sit back and relax, and see the results of my 15 months of planning. And it was good.

Then came time for the toasts. Best Man BIL Hamster started things off, speaking fondly of growing up with older brother Mr. Hamster, as well as his memory of when he first met me. It was really sweet, and I know he was nervous about it - but you really couldn’t tell and he did a great job!

MOH Sister Hamster spoke next, talking about her younger sister (me!) and how she had hoped I would find someone who would be kind to my sensitive nature. She spoke of how she knew Mr. Hamster was that person when she met him, and despite wanting to name our first child Elvis, he was still welcomed with open arms into our family. MOH Hamster is a natural public speaker and did great!

Daddy Hamster and FIL Hamster then spoke briefly, toasting and welcoming each of us into the families. Both dads, usually on the more soft-spoken side, really shined in the spotlight.

Mr. Hamster and I greatly enjoyed all of the speeches. The words that our families spoke were genuine and from-the-heart.

All photos by Erica Lyn

What have we done so far?

• Poured tea
• Bumbled our way through a rehearsal.
• Rewarded ourselves surviving the rehearsal with some food.
• I teased you.
• The ladies got beauteous.
• We put on our party clothes.
• We had our first look.
• We sweated it out in the park.
• The bridal party set the stage.
• I made Mr. Hamster cry.
• We stuffed ourselves silly at the cocktail hour.

What is your first dance song?