Weddingbee Blog

Being announced into the reception was another one of those “wow, is this really happening?” moments on our wedding day. Kind of like, “AAAHH! It is time for our reception! The thing I’ve been looking forward to more than anything in the world for months and months is HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!”

First up were my parents and Mr. Octo’s dad.

(All photos courtesy of Corey Ann Photography)

Next up were Bridesmaid Clara and Groomsman John. I always tease Clara for being the least whimsical person I’ve ever met in my entire life. She continued her unbroken streak of stone-faced straightforwardness with this completely uninspired reception entrance (aka just walking straight in). Hahaha!

Here’s my brother Adam twirling Bridesmaid Hannah into the room. This pairing is so cute—Adam and Hannah have known each other since he was two.

My brother is also the only groomsman who looked like a total boozehound by entering the room with drink in hand. Nice.

Groomsman Adam and Bridesmaid Leigha were up next…

…followed by Bridesmaid Katie and Groomsman Nick’s chest bump/shimmy maneuver. This photo makes me laugh.

Bridesmaid Erica and Groomsman Ben performed a conceptual/interpretive dance move (not caught on camera)…

…and then it was our turn. Triumphant!

One of the guests at the table below is a Pittsburgh native, and instructed his tablemates to twirl their napkins like that as we entered, assuring them we would understand what it meant. Terrible Napkins at our wedding! FUN! (Also, we two Steelers fans were cackling in glee from our home deep in Patriots country Sunday night. Who’s with me?)

Check out that sassy entrance onto the dance floor. Oh, HEY there, handsome! Fancy seeing YOU here!

We cut our cake as soon as we entered. Our entire cake situation is the product of my being utterly burnt out on spending money as the wedding approached. I had always planned on having an actual wedding cake rather than cupcakes, but then our baker let us know that we could have more flavor choices with cupcakes, and it would cost $150 less. One hundred and fifty dollars I DON’T have to spend? Sure, sign me up!

Same for a cake topper. “Find cake topper” kept falling farther and farther down the to-do list, and they seemed so expensive and I never saw anything that spoke to me, and I finally just ended up sticking it on the Eff-It List. We didn’t have one, and I don’t regret it AT ALL.

Aaaand same for a fancy cake cutting set. The random knife found in the kitchen of the Children’s Museum two minutes beforehand will do just fine, thanks.

We prepared for a nice hearty bite of red velvet cake with cream cheese filling (MMMM!), and I remembered exactly what I was saying in this picture: “I paid eighty dollars for this makeup job. Don’t you dare screw it up by putting cake on my face.”

Also, tip: you might want to inform your groom exactly how this cake-cutting ritual is supposed to go. I just assumed that he knew how it worked, but I was wrong. Mr. Octo was juuuust about to stuff his bite of cake into his own mouth when I lovingly squealed, “NO, DUMMY! We’re supposed to feed the cake to each other!”

Luckily, we managed to get it right.

Victory over the cake-cutting ceremony! I am such a badass at eating cake I had to double fist pump.

Aaaand a post-cake smooch.

MMMMMMM!!!!

After our pre-dinner dessert (my favorite way to start any dinner), it was time for our first dance. That’s up next!

Previously, in the Octopus wedding…

• We did errands all the live-long day.
• We ran late, we got stressed, and we argued.
• We rehearsed and had dinner, and had a great time doing it.
• We got fancy with hair and makeup.
• I got bridal.
• I waited and soaked up the moment in Heinz Chapel.
• We processed up the aisle.
• We made it official.
• We posed our way through our family portraits.
• I had, then recovered from, a minor freak-out.
• We took portraits with our bridal party.
• We took some smoochy pictures.
• We posed for some skyline shots.
• I showed you how it all came together.
• We had just a few minutes to enjoy the end of our cocktail hour.