Weddingbee Blog

With the vows spoken, photos taken, first dance completed, glasses lifted and desserts devoured, it was clear that the night was coming to an end. A lot of our older guests had exited by this point, so it was our closest friends and family members that were on the dance floor for the last dance. We thought we’d bring a little New York City to the state of Texas, so we chose Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys for the last song of the evening.

Somehow, the last dance ended up as less of a “Yay! We all had so much fun let’s get out and bust a move one last time!” and more of a “Yay! Let’s stand around in a circle and watch the bride and groom dance together one more time while we sing along!” I’m not sure how that happened, to be honest, and I remember thinking, “Huh. This is kind of awkward.” Luckily, King Hippo and I love to dance so we just went with it.

With the final song coming to an end, King Hippo and I had the best embrace of all time, accompanied by the cheers of our closest friends and family. To say it was the best day ever is 100% accurate, but also seems like such an understatement at the same time. I can’t even begin to explain how happy of a day it was, filled with love and pure joy.

I was worried that the day would go by too quickly, and even considered adding some time on to our four hour reception that came standard with the venue. When I consulted with the venue manager about it, she recommended against it. Her opinion was that it wasn’t worth the cost to extend the reception when in her experience, it was only the die-hards that were left at the end of the reception. She basically said if we really wanted to continue the party, it made more sense to go somewhere else after the reception with our die-hard guests as opposed to paying for extra time at the venue, especially when the extra charge would be based on the full head count, regardless of how many people stayed. By this time in our planning, spending extra cash wasn’t really in the cards. I had also come to really like and trust our venue manager, so I took her advice. I’m glad I did ’cause she was totally right. While the four hours went by fairly quickly, it definitely didn’t feel like it was too short of a reception.

There was time for one final pose with my besties, and then we all headed back to the hotel on our shuttle bus.

I mentioned our decision to not have a formal send off here, and now that I’m on the other side, I do not regret it one bit. King Hippo and I literally hopped on the bus with our friends (and an extra helping of donuts) and went back to the hotel. We kept the suite the ladies got ready in overnight, so a big group of our friends headed back that way to have a little after party with the leftover wine from the art gallery. King Hippo and I popped in to say hello, but quickly left to finally have some time alone after what was a long but amazing day.

Miss Any of the Hippo Wedding?

• We finished up our last minute projects and hung out with the family.
• The ladies met up for lunch.
• We rehearsed for the big show.
• We had an amazing rehearsal dinner.
• The girls got their hair did, and I put on my face.
• I get all bridal.
• I take bridal portraits and pictures with the ladies.
• The guys get ready and take photos.
• We get a sneak peek of the reception venue.
• The wedding party warms the rings.
• Our guests warm the rings.
• The wedding party makes their grand entrance.
• We get hitched (part 1) and (part 2).
• We take photos together for the first time.
• The wedding party joins the celebration.
• We dance as husband and wife
• We eat, drink and toast.
• We get our groove on.
• We cut the cake and taste deliciousness.
• We have second dessert.