Weddingbee Blog

“Dance first. Think later. It’s the natural order.”

-Samuel Beckett

After being introduced for the first time as “husband and wife,” Mr. Tartlet and I made our way down the aisle to the tune of Bruno Mars’ Marry You. My feet started striding to the beat, and before I knew it my shoulders were shimmying, Mr. Tartlet gave his hips a little Ricky Martin shake, and we were prancing and singing down the aisle.

{Photo by Aruna B. Photography}

Blissfully unaware of anyone but each other at the time, we later found out that our guests (allegedly) did not think we were insane, and that our brilliant bridal party—in all likelihood bewildered and wondering whether they missed the memo—followed suit in fine form.

Still in a daze, my bridesmaids swept me away to the restroom, and thanks to the run through earlier in the day briskly bustled up my dress:

While the staff at the Royal Park Hotel and the Twofoot Creative team flipped the Conservatory for our reception, our families were herded outside for formal portraits and the remaining guests were treated to strawberry lemonade, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres in the hedge-enclosed garden.

Our families together

Despite having carefully organized groupings of family members to expedite the process, our formal portraits fell into spectacular disarray from the get go. We kept dancing on the shifting carpet, though, thanks to invaluable help from BM Laura and Tanya, who scurried off to bugle for missing family members. In the end, we had all the photos we wanted and more thanks to the unexpected turn of events.

My incredible family

Mr. Tartlet’s family (I lurrrrrve his sister’s dress!)

Mr. Tartlet’s grandparents; for many years now, his Grandma Vu (on the left) has made the voyage home to Vietnam in order to aid the village she grew up in. A couple of her philanthropic deeds include constructing a road to a nearby water source as well as building a school.

Mr. Tartlet with his siblings

Yarrrrrgghhhhhh!

While Mr. Tartlet was hamming it up with his brothers and sister, I was off being distracted by a princess in pink:

As the formal photos drew to a close, our gracious Reverend—who had patiently waited through the chaos—brought out our marriage licenses so we could truly make it official.

Inside, the converted Conservatory was ringing with the laughter of our guests mingling over good food and drinks aplenty:

Everyone was encouraged to take a seat as our cocktail hour drew to a close…

…because outside in the hallway, Mr. Tartlet and I were ready for our grand entrance and first dance.

*All photos by Aruna B. Photography

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