Wed Recap: What are we really here for?

Okay, okay.  So the flowers were amazing (post to follow).

The favors were all a huge hit with the guests.  The video made everyone laugh and was executed just as I had hoped for. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

The food was good.  The guests kept the dance floor alive and we heard nothing but compliments and thank you's for how amazing the wedding was and how much fun everyone had.  But what was the real reason we were supposed to be there all about?  Wasn't this whole day, this whole event really about the 30 minutes that we spent standing on an altar holding hands with our closest family and friends flanked on either side of us or lovingly gazing upon us with their approval?

Ah yes, the ceremony is indeed what this day was about.  For it was Mr Fix It's desire to make me his wife and love me forever that brought us to this point.  It was the holy desire of our Creator that we live together under an eternal vow of monogamy and respect and hard work and commitment that brought us to this mutual decision to become husband and wife. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

And so the next several recaps I give you will be all about our ceremony.  I promise they won't be mundane...because our ceremony was pretty funny at some points.  I already shared about our ring bearer carrying the sign that said "Run, John, Run" last week.  And when I finally made it to the top of the stairs on the altar I was anything but timid and shy and 'proper.'  I interrupted our officiant, my old high school pastor, Lyle right before he could really even say anything.

And Lyle did a wonderful job of making our ceremony very personal and unique to us.  Unfortunately, I did not remember any of it!  I swear!  The next days and weeks on our honeymoon were a blur to me when I tried to remember what was said and done at our ceremony.  So thank goodness we have the video!  Because as fabulous as the photos are to look at, they don't remind you of what your first kiss was really like or how long it lasted.  They don't remind you of how you threatened the guests who RSVP'd and then didn't show up on the wedding day like I did :)  They certainly won't help translate how you tried to show your groom how to put together your unity cross when he couldn't make it work.  Oh yes, our ceremony was definitely us to a tee.  Right down to the random conversations we had with each other while the soloist was singing and the way we interacted as we walked out of the ceremony into our private room. 

So stay tuned because I have some of my favorite little posts this week filled with strange and fun videos and photos.  For today, I'll share the very beginning of our ceremony with a few pieced together clips of our first words to each other at the end of the aisle and our pastor's introduction:

Yes, I wanted to take it all in for sure.  So I tried to turn around and look out at everyone who was there...even if for just a brief moment.  I mean, all of my bridesmaids and family and friends had been mingling together before the ceremony began.  I was the only one who didn't get to greet them or say hi.  So I tried to scan their faces.  You can see here that I waved at a few of them.  I specifically remember my friend, Kristin waving back at me.

And I have to admit, I really didn't like how the bridesmaids were staggered on the altar stairs...I wish I would have looked at that better during our rehearsal and told my coordinator I wanted them in a straight line as I had originally intended.  But I just wasn't thinking straight.  I really was not myself for my own wedding day as you'll see.  You'll notice in this little video clip during our getting ready time that I had truly 'checked out' at different points during the day:

But oh well.  It is what it is.  And what it was, was a wonderful day and a great ceremony thanks to my hubby and our pastor, Lyle. 

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos by Robert Mullins Photography
Raw video footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills

Wed Recap: The party's over

We didn't get a grand exit.**  There were no sparklers waving, no bubbles being blown, no leis being placed around our neck or loud cheers and clapping as we made our way out of the room and out into a cool car to speed away in.  In fact, there was no car there to be decorated or anything.  But we knew this was going to be the case.  I had told Mr Fix It all along that if I was spending all this money and I was planning all these things, that there was no way I was going to miss out on anything.  I wanted to party with my guests until the last one left the building.  And that's just what we did.

It was just about midnight and the only people left in the reception room were me, my mom, my sister, my daughter and my now husband, Mr Fix It.  The coordinators and catering company were scampering around trying to pack things up.  The tables were almost bare and the DJ was packing up so no music was playing.

We went ahead and headed over to the bridal cottage area and started packing up my gown, bouquet and all the other little things I had brought with me.  Mr Fix It and I had each arrived at different times during the day.  I got to the venue at 8 am and was there until midnight that night.  I had to drive my own car because I had my gown, gifts and lots of other little things to bring with me.  Mr Fix It arrived around 2 pm by himself (all his family and groomsmen had to be there an hour earlier for pictures).  So we had each come in our own cars.  And we didn't want to spend the money to rent a getaway car because we knew it would not really be driven at all...our hotel was literally 5 minutes from the venue.

So after we packed everything into my car, we stood there just confirming what time everyone was going to be at our house the next day for the lunch.  I hugged my mom and sister and daughter good-bye, told them I'd see them in the morning, and jumped in my car.  Mr Fix It jumped in his car and we followed each other out of the venue past the tigers and onto the street until we reached the hotel. 

We checked in (Mr Fix It was supposed to do this on his way to the venue but of course it didn't get done).  It was after midnight and the lady at the counter was so sweet.  We got into a full on conversation with her about marriage and our wedding and our faith and turns out she was a Christian who just wanted to chat it up with us.  She was really nice but we were so exhausted.

We got into our room and jumped out of our clothes.  We were both so tired but Mr Fix It said there was no way we were going to sleep on our wedding night without gettin' busy briefly :) 

When we woke up in the morning we headed down to the hotel restaurant for our buffet breakfast.  Several of our wedding guests (actually our neighbors who had rented rooms because they didn't want to make the 30 minute drive home drunk) were checking out and said hello.  Some friends who had come to the wedding from San Jose stopped to say goodbye on their way out.  And then we ran into one of Mr Fix It's oldest friends and his girlfriend.  They were getting breakfast, too so we invited them to sit with us.  We sat there for a good two hours just chatting with them and having so much fun talking about lots of stuff.  His friend even offered to stay at our place while we were on our honeymoon so our dog would not have to be by himself.  And then we said our goodbyes and headed home to a house full of people and food!

It was a great day before, a wonderful night and a fabulous breakfast with friends.  But it seriously did just go by way too stinkin' fast!  :( 

Our videographer ends his wedding videos with a message from the bride and groom to their guests...we didn't really know about this so when he pulled us aside, I just gave the mic to Mr Fix It.  So here is our final goodbye from the end of our reception:

**  I told you I was going to jump around and just blog about whatever video clips I came across or whatever was fresh in my memory during my recaps.  So don't think just because this post is about the very end of the night that the recaps are over...far from it.  There's still a lot more to come :)

Wedding Recap: Photobooth fun!

I don't care what you do, if it all possible, the one thing I highly encourage you to have at your wedding is a photobooth.  I know it's trendy and overdone nowadays but it is only because your guests absolutely LOVE it!  Whether you make your own 'faux-to-booth' or rent one like we did from a company like Cheesy Photobooths, it is the best investment you'll make for entertaining your guests.  And it also serves as a great favor for them to remember your special day by.  I personally loved it because it also served dual purpose as part of our guestbook so we'd have a pic of all of our guests from our special day. 

But seriously, the entertainment value alone is phenomenal and ours was packed all night long.  So without further ado, here are just some of the many, many different types and styles of people and photos we discovered after browsing through our photobooth photos:

You'll get people of all ages:

 20 Somethings:

 Teens:

 

Moms (mine and my sister's mother-in-law):

Parents (of the groom and their friend):

Families:

Even sleeping babies!

By the way, how freaking cute is our banner at the bottom of the pictures?

And of course, you'll get the silly photos and crazy shots:

Little Miss and her dad:

The kids were in that thing all night long - like 20 times each! 

(Our Junior Groomsmen, Mr Fix It's nephew)

My crazy cousin, the flower girl

My best friend from high school who I invited 5 days before the wedding!

I love this pic in the top left of my cousins with the afro - so genius!

And you'll get the pics to see how many people you can fit inside for one picture:

This one is me and my bible study girls I lead:

Me and all my bridesmaids (and my cousin jumped in at the very end)!

My team of coordinators even jumped in at the end of the night:

For some reason, everyone thinks it's necessary to kiss and/or stick your tongue out in photobooths:

Truly disgusting...I don't need to see that!

You'll get sweet shots:

Me and Little Miss

And of course there's "What the hell is going on in this photo" shots:

Mr Fix It thought we were gonna get busy in there...silly boy!

And then finally, the "They were obviously hammered by this point" shots:

And then there's the random "Why are there totally different people in each one of these?" shots

I felt horrible about this one.  These are Mr Fix It's friends.  I didn't see anyone in line and didn't know they were inside and I barged in on them to take the pic of me and my girls right when they were kissing.  What a horrible selfish bride!  I apologized profusely and they were totally cool about it :)

Mr Fix It likes to think that he can raise his 'pimp hand' to me.  He thinks it's hilarious...not really:

But my favorite of the entire night was my wedding coordinator's husband,

 who brilliantly came up with this little beauty:

Now granted, not every single guest got in the photobooth which was a bummer.  Some left early because of kids or early mornings the next day.  Some said they were in line or on their way to the booth and then got sidetracked or ended up having to come in for the grand entrance, dinner, cake cutting, etc.  To try to offset this, we had our company set up the booth and split our hours.  We had the booth open at 4:30 and the ceremony was at 5 or 5:30 pm.  They shut down for an hour during the ceremony and then reopened from 6:30 to 11:30 during cocktails, dinner and dancing.  We booked them for a total of 6 hours and it was packed the whole time! 

I only wish I would have taken more advantage of the booth myself :(  Like much that was going on that day, I just never found enough time to focus on what I wanted and do all I wanted to.  (sigh)

So, what are your thoughts?  Did/Are you having a photobooth?  When/How do you plan to incorporate it?

Today's Tip:   Be sure to have lots of props on hand for a photobooth and set them out clearly and obviously. (I bought most of mine the day after Halloween at a costume store for a huge discount.)  I also had a dry erase board (couldn't find a chalk board I liked) and markers for people to write messages on and somehow it did not get used in any photos!  I think it ended up in the kids' play area or someone used the wrong pen on it and ruined it.  Have a photobooth attendant there all night instructing guests on what to do, encouraging them to use props, etc.  And tell them in advance about things like a chalk board or whatever.  Be sure to have your DJ or emcee announce the booth is open as well and remind guests to go use it!

(We did have an attendant who came from the rental company but I don't think that I told him about the dry erase board and I was too caught up in everything else to realize it until later.)