Awesome Wedding Reception

After the ceremony, Ryan and I rushed off to take pics together on the beach before it got too dark.  We were on the beach taking photos and the tide was slowly coming in.  Ryan and I were facing away from the ocean and the photographer Rachel was looking a little nervous that a wave might surprise us.  I half jokingly told her "well if you see a wave that's going to get us, just yell 'water!' ".  A few shots later, she gets a panicked look on her face and yells "WATER WATER WATER WATER!!!!" so I instantly picked up my dress and ran forward.  Ryan also jumped forward.  I think the water missed us by only a few inches, LOL.  I wasn't quite ready to do "trash the dress" photos BEFORE the reception so I was glad we didn't get all wet.  I think she got some really creative shots and they should come out great.  We took a few formal shots with the family but it was hard to squeeze them all in.  I think we were hoping to get a few more with both Ryan and I with the family and also some fun ones with the bridal party but cocktail hour just went by way too fast and we didn't want to delay the start of the reception.

For our entrance to the reception, the DJ was playing "Footloose" so the energy was high.  I wish we could have seen the bridesmaid entrances because I'm sure they were awesome!  The coordinators kept us hidden from sight until it was time for our introduction.  We danced in like crazy too and I even knocked some flowers out of my bouquet at the end of the entrance on accident, LOL.

For our first dance, we chose "Love your Love the most" by Eric Church.  It may not be a traditional first dance song but it really was perfect for us.  We had also considered "Time is Love" by Josh Turner but in the end we wanted something a little slower and the Eric Church song really fit best.

After our first dance, salad was served and my stepdad Joe gave a groom's toast and welcome speech.  Then Ashley H and Greg gave the bridal party toasts and all of them were so great.  I couldn't have thought of anything more perfect to say than what the three of them came up with to say about and to us.  We are so blessed to have such loving and wonderful friends and family there to support us on our wedding day.  It wouldn't have been the same without them.  I don't have a pic now but my mom and Joe got us some beautiful Waterford Crystal champagne flutes for the wedding toasts and it just added to the special occasion and toasts.  Next came our delicious Mahi Mahi, green beans and mashed potatoes.  Ryan and I ate and then started making rounds to try to see all the guests.  We started with the guests who we hadn't gotten to see at the bbq and rehearsal which was good because we only made it to about half the tables.  I'm sorry to anyone we didn't get to talk to as much because it was so hard to get around to everyone.

Then came the father-daughter dances.  First my dad and I danced to "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts and then my stepdad Joe and I danced to "I loved her first" by Heartland.  I don't have any pics yet of the father daughter and mother son dances but they were lovely :)  As soon as we were done with that, DJ Michael Paul invited everyone out on the dance floor and boy they did not disappoint, LOL

There was so much fun dancing and having a few beers and partying it up!  For the cake cutting, we played "Hit me with your best shot" by Pat Benetar and we both smashed cake in each other's faces, LOL. I may have accidentally shoved some up Ryan's nose and he dropped a bunch down my dress, haha.

After cake cutting was some more partying...

Then came the garter toss and bouquet toss

Oh...I almost forgot.  At some point during the reception, all of the Alpha Phi's gathered around us and sang

Lovely Girl, your pin of Alpha Phi
Shows to all the best fraternity
Many honors you will take
Sacred vows you'll never break
And when all your college days are through
To Alpha Phi you'll e'er be true
Forget Me Not's will still be blue
And Alpha Phi's are true
And Alpha Phi's are true

We didn't really have a formal "Grand Exit" from the wedding.  I had bought ribbon wands for people to make a tunnel for us to go through as we exit but they got forgotten about, oh well.  So then anyone who wasn't too exhausted from all the dancing followed us down the street to a bar called Waldo's for another hour or so of drinking and chatting.  It really was the most fun wedding reception ever!!

Pretty much as soon as Waldo's announced "last call" Ryan and I headed back to our hotel room for our wedding night and the bridesmaids had spread rose petals all over the room for us.  Lets just say we had a perfect ending to a magical day :)  Thanks so much to everyone that traveled from far and near to be there to celebrate with us and for those of you who couldn't make it, you were in our thoughts and I hope you enjoyed the recap!!  Later, I'll post more on the overall wedding planning, vendor reviews and final wedding photos.  Ok I'm off to go snorkeling in Aruba :) :)