THE RECEPTION:

We arrived at the reception hall where everyone was outside for the cocktail hour. We did a few more photos, ate some food, and then found our parents in order to have the receiving line as our guests moved from the outdoor cocktail hour to the indoor dinner. The receiving line did take a long time - but I enjoyed greeting everyone then! It was wonderful to see some people that I haven't seen in years, meet some new people from Ed's side (many of whom I had heard stories about from Ed's childhood), and happily hug my friends and family!

Once the guests were inside, we were introduced by our first names (it wasn't until the honeymoon that we finally decided we will both hyphenate our last names). We did our first dance, which felt dreamy - once we got into it. We had gotten dance lessons as a Christmas/Hanukkah present, and I had enjoyed the lessons (and practicing our dance in an empty classroom at UMD), as well as the feel of mostly gracefully moving around the floor on our wedding afternoon (with a great dip!). Our family & wedding party joined in after about 3 minutes of the 6 minute song "Take my Hand" by Dido.

Ed's father said grace, and my father said motzi over the challah. It was time for dinner.

Sometime during dinner we danced the Hora, Ed & I were plunked in chairs and hoisted up. I'm not sure how I stayed in the chair with all that crinoline under my tush, but it worked!! We danced the Hora a bit at the rehearsal so we would have a core of people who would be familiar with it at the wedding. Many many people were all dancing up a storm at the reception, and it was great!

The reception hall looked great. The large windows let in the sunlight and the views of the grounds and the lake outside. Ed's Aunt Debbie had made the table centerpieces (glass vases with marbles & water inside holding live plants (peace lilies and bamboo shoots). They turned out fabulously! Also, the one on our table had the ribbon around the vase secured by an alien head - just to be funny. (The rest had an elegant pearled brooch or button securing the ribbon). Ed & I had had made a large crossword puzzle about us, which was on an easel at the reception. It kept the kids (and many adults) occupied, and people seemed to be having fun with it.

We had a picture taken of us with our designed frisbee favors, and our frisbee friends started playing a bit on the field outside the reception hall later in the evening. (Most people got white frisbees, except the kids who got 'special colors' of green or black).

We did an anniversary dance, and my grandparents, Oma and Opa (I know, I know, Elli and Robert), turned out to be the longest marrieds, and we presented them with the bouquet :). Then, instead of a bouquet and garter toss, Ed & I did a "scrunchie toss" (since we both wear hair scrunchies most of the time to keep our long hair out of our faces). The people who caught the scrunchies got flowers that had been on the base of the chuppah. (They were supposed to get tree saplings, but these somehow got misplaced. We found them later of course). I think Jess and Rachel caught the scrunchies on my toss, and of the boyz, I think Paul caught one, and J quickly scooped up the second one that was falling to the floor.

We had dessert - 2 cakes! One that came with the catering package, and one mousse cake from a French bakery my parents insisted on - and I can't complain much about that, they were both yummy! Ed's cousin Scott had made the cake topper out of two superheroes we like to think of ourselves as resembling - Gambit & Rogue from the X-men comics. It was very cute. The mousse cake was delicious, but I only got two bites of it before some people began to leave, and after saying good-byes, I returned to my table only to find my cake had been cleared. No worries - we ate the top layer of one cake before and after our honeymoon, and the top of layer of the mousse cake on our 1 week anniversary!

We then had our last dance, and when the song finished, we were still standing on the dance floor, holding each other and looking deeply into each other's eyes. After a few moments, we decided we should probably say good-bye to everyone else.

After all the hugs, kisses, well wishes (and many envelopes being pressed into our hands), our wedding party also had to leave, as many had come from far away, and carpooled with other guests. Eventually, we were the last ones there with our parents.

We then drove off in Ed's car into the night. (We originally planned to drive off into the sunset, but missed it by 30 minutes since we decided to stay until the end instead of leaving earlier. We also planned to have used my freshly washed, cleaned, and vacuumed car, but that got mixed up the day before, and at this point, it just really didn't matter anyway). And Ed & I went back to our hotel suite for the night! (Where he very strongly & gracefully carried me over the threshold…)

...

On Monday morning we were joined at breakfast by the few people who had stayed overnight at the hotel. It was nice to see a few folx to add some continuity to the happy day, but not be overwhelming. There were about 10 of our friends, plus Nora, Joanne, and Abby (3 generations of my extended family) joining us at breakfast.

Then Ed & I took off for our fun, but way too short, honeymoonlette!!

In conclusion, it was absolutely wonderful! :)