Weddingbee Blog

After cocktail hour, we reconvened outside the now-reception room for our grand entrances. Full glasses in hand, we waited for our friend/DJ to announce the bridal party, then us. About the DJ/emcee: he’s a pal and he doesn’t do this for a living. Given our “meh” on wedding DJs (mentioned in a previous post about playlist scuffles), we opted instead for a laptop and a friend who’s done it before. He controlled our ceremony music, too. Thanks, Chris! <3 More on him and dancing hours later.

Everyone knew where to sit thanks to this handy-dandy seating chart, designed in the same style as our invites by stationery maven Good on Paper. No place cards; we didn’t have any bright ideas for what to do, and we didn’t want to put them together, having already poked plenty of holes and tied ribbons for the programs. People sat wherever they wanted once at their tables, all of which were named after SF streets. Details on those in the details post, coming soon.

Pics by Ashley Forrette and Gem Photo unless otherwise noted.

A lot of movement (cattle-prod-like ushering of 160 people) started to happen around now, so this was another point at which a padded schedule and good coordinators came in handy. Tip: people at weddings won’t move of their own accord, so cue everything. Dimming lights, closing or opening certain doors, or having ushers move things along all help.

Here’s the reception right after all was set up. I never got to see it in person (pre-ceremony or pre-reception) before it was full. Pic by Miraglia Catering.

Maybe this is that point in the wedding where, before dinner and after stalking the appetizers, everyone is starving and ready to eat their table mates. More on those centerpieces in the details post, too. Oh, and meet Carl, the one staring at the camera.

So, entrance songs. We spent a lot of time chatting about music choices, and this was no exception. We considered a song for every member of the bridal party, but a) that would take too long, b) we wanted them to come out in pairs. That would become a problem, then, if Groomsman 3 ended up with Bridesmaid 3’s special-meaning song, for example. Yadda yadda; one song it is for all 10 of them. We thought TLC’s “What About Your Friends” would be a good one, but, even after we settled on it, it was somehow not classic enough. Lisa “Left-Eye” Lopes is turning in her grave as I write this, and, as a TLC fan, I still feel a little bad for axing it.

We settled on “With a Little Help From My Friends,” by The Beatles. It’s very…friendly, for lack of a better word, and it’s definitely a classic. Done.

Bridesmaid AR and my BIL were first (I see good-luck fairies!), and Bridesmaid JB and one of our twins rounded things out.

They formed a receiving line and we listened from behind that pillar on the left.

What about us? We went with Misty Mountain Hop, by Led Zeppelin. We both love LZ, and this song always, especially now, gets me really jazzed up.

I don’t know think I touched on this yet, but my bouquet was really heavy. This pic reminds me of that.

Pic by Kevin Wong/Right Angle Images

Everyone seems really happy again! These are more angles I never saw.

Speaking of the buffet: we’re going through the line first and nabbing tri-tip au jus, vintner’s chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables. Sit-down dinner would have been more expensive, and the meal format wasn’t that important to us, anyway, especially after tasting our options. With some planning, lining up for food worked out fine, too; the caterer’s wait staff excused tables one-by-one to avoid a clusterfuck. Pic by Miraglia Catering.

Grilled veggies

I used this in my best-of-the-phone-cameras post, but I had to use it again because it still makes me laugh. You can kinda see the delicious plate of food in front of me. Guest pic.

After we picked (still tough to eat) at our delicious meal and said hi to people as they came up to visit, we made the rounds. I was very glad we made time to do this. We ran a little long, pushing toasts and everything back, but it felt great to hug and thank everyone personally for coming to our little party.

I don’t know why he looks so concerned, but I think it’s adorable. Pics above by Kevin Wong/Right Angle Images.

Evidence of tired feet and an ever-dirtying train.

Guest pic during hellos. Everyone loves my mister in this one, for good reason.

Guest pic

Next up: Toasts, first dance, and the room gets romantical as the sun goes down.

Catch up on our journey from regular to supreme:

• Cocktail hour, portraits of us all married and stuff, oh, and life-size cutouts.
• Ceremony: “comedy hour,” not falling, and a Boston terrier.
• First look, bridal-party portraits and tourist buses say hello.
• Getting ready for showtime.