In no particular order…
1. Our rehearsal dinner
Our rehearsal dinner was amazing! We wanted something very different and distinctly Door County. After the rehearsal our most immediate family and friends drove about 20 minutes (being treated to the start of a phenomenal sunset over miles and miles of open farmlands along the way) to the Square Rigger Galley in Jacksonport for a traditional Dutch fish boil on the beach! We sipped cocktails while frolicking and squishing our shoes into the sandy beach of Lake Michigan, watched as gorgeous oranges, pinks, purples and reds streaked across the sky over the water as the sun set, warmed ourselves around the kettle of fire as our food cooked in it, enjoyed the “boil over” explosion to signal that our food was ready, ate a delicious fish boil meal (whole salty steamed white fish with butter and fresh lemon, whole fingerling potatoes, whole mini onions, carrots, and cherry pie), doled out gifts to our sweet wedding party, toasted our engagement and impending marriage, and watched the moon rise over the lake as the fire glowed on. It was so relaxing and exciting and fun. A perfect night with our dearest family and friends.
2. Getting ready
Getting ready for your wedding is so surreal! I opted only to have my mom, my sister and my sister-in-law with me to help. You’d honestly think I had no idea how to dress myself. I literally didn’t lift a single finger – someone put my petticoat, my dress, my bracelet, my necklace, each earring, my shoes, my cape and my veil on me. They zipped me in and fluffed me up. It was quick, quiet, peaceful, and uncomplicated. Kate told us about the first time Ted mentioned me, and my mom and sister shared their stories of when I first told them about Ted. We noshed on fruit and veggie trays to fill our bellies. I wasn’t giddy or nervous. It was just really nice to be totally catered to and to have those moments alone with these women to reflect on how far Ted and I had come.
3. Walking down the aisle
This moment is just as nifty as everyone says it will be. I walked down the aisle to our pianist playing the song “On the Lake” composed by Aaron Zigman for the movie The Notebook (you can listen to it here). I may be the biggest sap on this planet but I adore this movie and the music is truly, beautifully, passionate. I stepped into view and started my walk just as the music swelled right around the 33 second mark. I wasn’t nervous or anxious, just incredibly overjoyed. I had a huge grin plastered on my face and I literally could not stop smiling. I stared directly at Ted the entire way down the aisle. It was like no one else was in the room. Ted’s look was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever seen. He smiled a big toothy smile when he first saw me, then his eyes welled up with tears, and then he just simply smiled. There is nothing in the world quite like this moment and it is one I’ll always remember, even without pictures.
4. The ring bearer pumpkin
This moment was funny and unexpected, but such a great release in the middle of our wedding ceremony! When it was time to exchange our rings, Fr. Bob asked our best man for them. Barnie sheepishly stepped forward holding a pumpkin with our rings tied to it. Ted and I began to snicker, then Barnie started grinning from ear to ear, followed by our parents and the bridal party, and it just escalated from there. It was contagious. Soon everyone was chuckling because of the story behind the pumpkin and the looks on everyone’s faces. When we thought of the pumpkin ring bearer, we had no idea that anyone would find it funny. But looking back, I guess it was. What a happy memory!
5. A mid-day gelato break
After the ceremony we started in on the obligatory photo shoots. We took the family portraits and the wedding party pictures, then we headed out alone with our photographer and best man to get some newlywed shots. We started out in the tiny quaint Egg Harbor downtown. We walked by a delicious little homemade gelato & gourmet popcorn shop called Double Delites where we enjoyed a mouthwatering cherry gelato the previous summer. Ted stopped in and the owner congratulated him and gave us two free cups of gelato. We sat on a park bench in the middle of town surrounded by colorful, leafy trees and ate our gelato. To be so happy to begin with and then to have the savory flavor of the gelato on your tongue just when you’re getting hungry and want nothing more than to relax with your new spouse was so perfect. We got some adorable photos and we have the fond memory of us relaxing, sharing gelato in our wedding gear. I recommend that everyone eat ice cream on their wedding day!
6. Photo shoot fun
Our picture-taking time was so much more fun than I expected it to be! In addition to the giddy newlywed high, our photographer was excellent and fun, and our best man totally went above and beyond to get us phenomenal pictures. We wanted lakefront sunset photos and we had the perfect location in mind. However, balancing on sharp, jagged, uneven rocks in heels isn’t exactly easy. And I was covered in tiny black tick-like bugs. At one point Ted glanced at the back of my dress and my veil and said “holy shit, you don’t want to see the back of your dress right now.” When I asked why, he said “Because it’s totally black. With bugs.” Since the sun was setting, Barnie was given the assignment of balancing awkwardly on a rock and holding the photographer’s flash umbrella. He honestly looked like he was fishing. We had a light breeze and the idea to throw my veil into the wind for an airborne veil shot was born. Barnie held my veil in one hand and the flash in the other. On the count of three he threw my veil into the air and on the word “go” I snapped my head closer to Ted. It took many tries to achieve an awesome bunch of shots but between the bugs and the rocks and our high spirits we were all laughing and joking and having a great time, as evidenced by this playful picture above. Who knew photo shoots could be so fun?
7. My dad’s toast
My sister’s toast was creative and sweet. Our best man’s toast was funny. Ted’s dad’s toast was very nice too. But my dad’s toast just turned me into an absolute sobbing mess. He had thought about all the advice and quotes he had been given or found to be true about love and marriage over the years and wrote it all down and passed it onto us. Love is so universal that I think everyone at our reception was mesmerized and gripped by his words. He had almost completed his toast when I burst into tears and he wasn’t able to finish. He and I hugged tightly, then Ted hugged me as I tried to wipe away the snot and pull myself together. There was no awww’s or applause from our guests, just beautiful, stunned silence. Our photographer was so touched that even he asked if we would forward a copy of dad’s speech onto him. It was incredibly beautiful, wonderful, and memorable. A true gift that I treasure every day.
8. Our first dance
Our first dance song was called “Lucky As Me,” a sweet, very rare and practically unknown song from the play Escanaba in Love, a show Ted did a lighting design for. The first dance, I think, is always a little awkward. You’re aware that all eyes are locked on you, watching your every step. We’ve both had previous dance training and we took a two-hour swing dance brush-up course before the wedding, but when it came to our first dance, we just held each other and swayed, barely moving. We whispered and kissed and laughed and just held onto each other tightly. It wasn’t like we were in our own little world, since we were very aware of our guests gazes and presence, but it was romantic and loving, definitely a moment we’ll always remember, especially because the song’s lyrics were so perfect for us.
9. Dancing with my friends
The crazy singing, the carefree dancing….it was just fun. We danced to swing music and big band classics, and 80s, 90s and early 2000s hits. We twirled and skipped and leaped and flailed and ran around the room after most people had cleared out to the bonfire area – just like the high school hooligans we once were. It was a blast and there’s just something magical about acting like a kid again with your best friends on the day you get married.
10. The bonfire
We finished off the reception with a toasty bonfire. We roasted marshmallows, made s’mores, drank hot chocolate and hot apple cider, and played with glow sticks. It was a fun, and warm, and happy. Everyone gathered around and enjoyed the heat, the goodies, the conversation and each other as we burned glow sticks and pine cones, sipped steaming cider, and got sticky from the s’mores beneath the glow of a full moon on a chilly October night. I love weddings that provide entertainment and weddings that are just a little bit different and I’m so happy we were able to do this. It was one of my most favorite moments of the weekend.
Honorable Mentions:
1. Driving in the convertible
We drove a classic convertible 68′ Oldsmobile Cutlass that Ted’s family owns as our “getaway car” from the church to all our photo locations. Our photographer, Matt, climbed in the backseat and off we went – flying up and down the winding hills of Egg Harbor through the tree-lined paths. Matt literally hung out of the side of vehicle at all manner of wild angles – he was a superhero – to snap us some brilliant shots. It felt amazing to just be together, all dolled up in our wedding day finery, cruising in a snazzy car with the cool wind whipping against our faces and the smell of the fresh, clean country air. It was marvelous! I remember getting to the top of a hill and with a fantastic view of the lake and feeling absolutely on top of the world. Ted honked the car’s horn several times and we threw our hands in the air and shouted a hearty “wwooooo!” It was a rush!
2. Flaunting the Newlywed Status
The night after our wedding mostly everyone was still in town on vacation. We’d spent the cold, rainy day at the park, the pizza joint, and the theatre with our family and friends. That night Ted and I were going to meet his sister Kate and brother-in-law Tim at a nice restaurant to celebrate our joint anniversary (them – 6 years, us – 24 hours…their anniversary is the day after ours!) before heading back to the resort to finish off the wine and wedding cake at our friends and family night. We parked the car and started to dash across the street in the drizzle. I don’t remember exactly how it happened, but a sweet lady next to us commented on something – the rain, how nice Door County is in October, how happy we looked, I don’t know – something, and then she mentioned that she’d been happily married for X number of years. This was our first real opportunity to gloat, so we did :-) We proudly proclaimed that we’d been married for 24 hours as we held hands, laughed and darted across the street toward the bright lights of a restaurant, hoods covering our heads, pants rolled up, and rain splattered. She was happy for us, and we were happy. You only get to say you’ve been married for just 24 hours once in your life and it sure felt nice!
And that concludes my 10.22.10 wedding photo recap! Thanks for checking it out :-) Hope you have a lovely weekend!
