Detail posts are seriously one of my favorite recap posts when following the Weddingbee bloggers. After months of following a bride’s story, I love seeing everything come together at the end. Plus, when I first started wedding planning detail posts provided great inspiration for me! So get ready to start pinning, this will be my most photo heavy recap yet!
We’ll start off with attire.
I am still borderline obsessed with my Private Label by G dress and cathedral veil from Etsy seller Diamond Wedding Veil. Because of the gorgeous detailing on my dress I chose to add very few accessories to the rest of my look. Unfortunately, I don’t remember where I purchased my earrings or bracelet, but I do love that I can still wear them out to dinner occasionally and be instantly transported to our wedding day.
The rest of our evening went by in such a blur, sometimes it’s hard to believe it even happened. And although our photographers managed to catch some of the excitement before they left, the majority was documented by our videographer and our guests.
There were awkward love sandwiches:
Photo by Upstate Photographers
Stripping:
Read more…
Well hello there, hive! I apologize for my absence last week. As I’m sure many of you heard, Hurricane Sandy really threw us for a loop down here in Westchester County. Mr. Coyote and I are (thankfully) safe and sound and counting our blessings, but we were unfortunately out of work and out of Internet for the entire week. Everything is now running as smoothly as it can be after a disaster such as this, so in an attempt to return to a normal life, I am back to finishing up my recaps!
Today’s post is going to be a little bit different than all of my other recap posts. That’s because this particular entry is not really a recap, but a story and a group of photos that I felt really needed to be shared with the world. This is a story about Mrs. Coyote and her little brother.
(Personal photo)
My brother and I have a very interesting relationship. We’re not just siblings…we’re best buds. And when we’re together we are a serious force to be reckoned with. Some of our favorites past times include harassing our mother, stalking each other on Facebook…
You may or may not have noticed the giant green screen in the background of some of our photos:
Photo by Upstate Photographers
This was yet another last-minute decision that I did not get a chance to blog about before the wedding (good thing for recaps, eh?!). Mr. Coyote and I went back and forth and back and forth on whether or not we should have a photo booth at our wedding. Yes, we had been to weddings that had them, and yes, it was always a blast, but was it really worth the extra money? In the end, Mr. Coyote convinced me that we absolutely had to have one. Honestly, when your groom gets this passionate about something you just gotta let him do it.
After all of the formalities were over it was time to move on to the real party. As I mentioned before, Mr. Coyote and I wanted a rockin’ reception. We were not disappointed, and I am seriously amazed by how much time everyone spent on the dance floor.
Things started started out pretty calm:
Because our final guest count ended up smaller than planned, Franklin Plaza set up some high tops near the bar to fill out the space. It was a great spot for guests to grab a drink and watch the party that was unfolding.
After the speeches and blessing, we dug right into dinner. We served a four course meal, which I detailed for you here and here. (Oh, and for all those who were following our little Momzilla saga, Team Zucchini totally won!) Like many couples, Mr. Coyote and I barely touched the food on our wedding day. It wasn’t for a lack of time, though—our venue told us up front that they make it their mission serve the bride and groom first. Talk about service! The problem was, as we sat there staring at the amazing dishes laid out in front of us, we just weren’t hungry. And so, we spent a majority of our dinner making the rounds and greeting our guests. Every time a new course was served our coordinator would tap us on the shoulders to let us know. We would head back to our seats, push the food around a bit and then get up and continue visiting with everyone.
By the time our main entree came (which I was really looking forward to!) I was legitimately pissed at myself. I took about three bites of the filet and nibbled on a few pieces of zucchini before I threw in the towel. It was absolutely fantastic, but I just could not fit another morsel in my stomach. I still felt all twisted up inside from nerves and excitement. Mr. Coyote felt the same exact way and repeatedly bemoaned the fact that we were wasting such a fantastic meal.
I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again. Can someone PLEASE have a wedding at Franklin Plaza and invite me so I can eat their delicious, delicious food and enjoy it?!
After the plates were cleared and guests had been greeted, we jumped right into our cake cutting. Ohmigosh, you guys. This cake. It may have actually been the highlight of our wedding. It was seriously the most magnificent cake I have ever seen. Huge props to Villa Italia for this beauty:
Oh and let’s take a better look at that cake topper, shall we?
I spent way too much time worrying about Best Man M’s speech when I really should have been worrying about the ladies’ speech. When I asked MOH A and MOH D to be my maids of honor, I told them they were welcome to approach the speech in whatever way made them comfortable. If they each wanted to give a short speech, that was fine. If they wanted to give a speech together, that was also fine. If one wanted to give a speech and the other didn’t? A-Okay! I really just wanted them to be comfortable and not feel pressured.
Because MOH A, MOH D and I all grew up together, they decided to give a combined speech. MOH D even typed it all up and noted who would say what. When we were getting ready in the morning they commented multiple times on how great their speech was and how excited they were to read it to everyone.
(MOH D on the left and MOH A on the right.)
Of course, that was before MOH A had a few too many at the cocktail hour. Granted that’s what it’s there for, but when you know you’re giving a speech don’t ya think you would show a little restraint?! In MOH A’s defense it was an open bar. I’d have a hard time saying no, too. 
MOH D tried her best to save the speech, but it just wasn’t happening. MOH A had taken complete control. She was reading MOH D’s lines instead of her own, she was making things up as she went along…it was just a general disaster!
Hive, I was terrified of what our best man was going to say during his speech. I love Best Man M, but he has an interesting (though hilarious) way of storytelling. He often breaks off into tangents of five or more stories until you no longer remember what exactly he was talking about in the first place. He also suffers from foot-in-mouth syndrome and can often say offensive things without even realizing he’s being offensive. Many of our guests had never met our best man before, and we feared that our guests might not quite understand or appreciate his sense of humor. Despite all of this, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed our DJ to hand over the microphone.
Apparently some of our mutual friends were also curious about how Best Man M’s speech would play out, because just before he started speaking a few of these were handed around to our guests:
(Guest photo)
Yes, that’s right. We played Best Man Bingo at our wedding.
Fortunately (or unfortunately for the bingo players) Best Man M gave the most perfect and appropriate wedding speech I have heard in a long time, so I am going to stop here and let him do the rest of the talking.
As soon as our first dance was over, Mr. Coyote led me to Poppa Coyote and we went straight into the parent dances. Poppa Coyote had chosen “I Loved Her First” by Heartland and in the days leading up to the wedding, every single time I heard the song, I cried. After all of the crying I did on our wedding day, I was actually shocked that I did not shed a tear during my dance with my father.
I know that we talked a lot, but for the life of me I can’t remember what was said! At one point Poppa Coyote messed up one of our twirls, so I did take some time to mock him mercilessly. (Sorry Dad, that’s just how I roll when I’m nervous!)
I owe you an apology, hive.
I never shared our first dance song with you! It’s not that I didn’t want to, it’s just that Mr. Coyote and I had such a hard time picking one out, and by the time we finally decided on one, I didn’t have time before the wedding to squeeze another post in!
Mr. Coyote and I mulled over so many song choices when trying to decide on a first dance song. Nothing seemed to fit. Some were too long, too upbeat, the lyrics weren’t right…Oh, I could go on forever. Finally, I suggested a meaningful, but very offbeat, song. I initially introduced it as a joke, but we kept coming back to it. Could we really have a song by Adam Sandler as our first dance? Seeing as we had already chosen “500 Miles” for our recessional song, I didn’t see why we couldn’t.
And, so, Mr. Coyote and I had our first dance as husband and wife to “I Wanna Grow Old With You” by Adam Sandler. It was perfect! Short and sweet, with lyrics that are guaranteed to warm your heart. Even though I was a tad nervous about nailing our dance steps, Mr. Coyote did such a great job, so I just relaxed, followed his lead and enjoyed this special moment with my new husband.
“I wanna make you smile when you’re feelin’ sad,
Carry you around when your arthritis is bad.
All I wanna do is grow old with you.
“I’ll get your medicine when your tummy aches,
Build you a fire when the furnace breaks.
Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you.
It was finally time for us to make our grand entrance as the new Mr. and Mrs. Coyote! We reunited with our wedding party downstairs and got ready to rock out.
This is my excited face.
(Guest photo)
As a tribute to our love of classic rock, we decided to use some oldies but goodies to get our party started.
“Thunderstruck” by AC/DC was an obvious choice not only because AC/DC is freakin’ awesome, but because Mr. Coyote and Best Man M actually used to play in an AC/DC cover band together!
Our DJ introduced the grandparents from their seats. Then my parents entered the room:
Talking about our cocktail hour really upsets me. Not because we didn’t enjoy it—we had a great time visiting with all of our friends and family who had traveled so far to be with us on our wedding day. It upsets me because there was SO MUCH delicious, amazing food and I barely got to touch any of it! While our coordinator, Dom, did make sure our glasses were always full and that we were able to try all of the passed hors d’oeuvres (which were all fantastic, by the way!), we did not sample anything from the spreads or carving station.
By the time our formals were finished my feet were freaking killing me, so I swapped my cute (but painful) heels for my sexy platforms. That’s right. I totally wore Playboy bunny flips flops at my wedding. And you know what?! They were comfy as hell!
Image via Shaw Video Productions
Just outside of our private room, the cocktail hour was in full swing and slowly our friends and family trickled out to join the party. Our photographers and videographer soon followed suit in order to take some footage of our reception space. For the first time that day, Mr. Coyote and I found ourselves completely alone. No family members, no coordinators, no photographers. Just us.
If you’ll remember, Mr. Coyote and I took a dance lesson a few days before the wedding. I clearly underestimated how much my feet would hurt that day and practiced our dance in my wedding heels. Because I had just switched into gigantic flip flops, I was super nervous and convinced myself that I would be slipping and sliding all over the dance floor. I begged Mr. Coyote to practice with me a few times to make sure that I could, so we technically had our first dance as husband and wife alone.
It’s time for the most boring part of my recaps…Formals!
Our formals were fairly painless, but I realized after the fact that we missed a ton of photos with family members that I really wanted. I truly treasure the photos I have, but my advice to future brides is this: Make a list and give it to a designated point person who knows your family. Even though our photographers had a list, a chunk of photos were missed and looking back, I really should have had a back-up plan to make sure all the important photos were taken.
Okay, now that my lecture is over, let’s move on to the fun stuff! The great part about digital photography is that your photographer can just snap away without having to worry about wasting film. And although our photographers took some excellent photos, there were also multiple “bloopers” that are just too good not to share. And so, I’ll be sneaking some in with the regular portraits to make this a little more entertaining for ya.
We took a lot of individual shots—you know, bride with parents, bride and groom with his side, her side, etc., but I’m just gonna skip over all that and show you one group shot:
Mr. Coyote and I with our parents and siblings. I love how all the different dress colors look together!
Okay, okay, I’ll show you a few individual shots too:
As soon as Mr. Coyote kissed me I could hear the beat of our recessional song starting to play. Our ceremony had ended, and it actually felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. (Although it’s difficult to tell from our photos, I was a nervous wreck during our ceremony. The entire 20 minutes I alternated between nervous giggling, sobbing, and staring at my hands.) All of my fears dissipated as we walked back up the aisle together.
The stress, the planning, the tears…it was finally over. We had done it. We were married! I looked at Mr. Coyote and laughed. Truly, truly laughed for the first time that day. This wasn’t the nervous laughter meant to keep tears away. No, this was what pure joy felt like.
Mrs. Coyote, Westchester, NY Age and Occupation: 26, Administrative Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Computer Programmer Engagement Date: August 2010 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Franklin Plaza About Me: I am an overly-caffeinated, sports-obsessed history nerd who loves a good book and hates bananas. Originally from a small town in Upstate NY, I made the move to Westchester County and never looked back! My loves include NBC Thursdays, red wine, fleece pajamas, and my amazing fiancé. Together we are planning a formal evening affair for 175 guests with a mix of new and old traditions and plenty of personal touches.
