Laura's Wedding: Reception & Dance

We just got back from DC, and I haven't even begun to go through all the photos. We had a fun but wet trip. It rained every.single.day. I still have photos from Laura's wedding to share, so that will be the next few posts.

Following the ceremony, we headed back to the hotel where we met up with my parents. Then we all headed down to the Cocktail Hour. There were lots of snacks like Gardetto's, popcorn, nuts, and Swedish Fish. But I was most excited about the Hard Cider on tap!

I also took the opportunity to snap a few photos of the ballroom all set up. Laura spent a lot of time planning this wedding and it was evident in all the pretty details.

There were three different table set-ups.

Along with the head table.

When the bride and groom arrived, I made sure to grab Laura for a few photos!

Then it was time to go in for dinner at the head table.

 I went for the stuffed chicken.

Laura's sister had a really sweet Maid of Honor speech.

And I enjoyed the cake, even though I'm not really a cake person!

After dinner, there was the Grand March. It was kind of awkward at first, but fun.

The First Dance - wish I remembered what song it was!

Father - Daughter dance to "Brown-Eyed Girl"

Mother - Son dance to "In My Life"

Step-Dad - Daughter dance to "Imagine"

Then the dance floor opened up to everyone. We were dancing machines for a while.

Around 9:30, they did the garter toss

 and bouquet toss.

My fam left around then, but we stayed to dance some more. I planned to shut the reception down, but Adam was exhausted and left around 11, and I didn't stay much longer. Dancing by yourself is no fun and it had been a long day! Plus my feet were throbbing. It was hard to call it a night because I didn't want the fun to end, but it was time.

It was a beautiful wedding and I am just so happy for Laura and Ethan!

Laura's Wedding: Getting Ready & Ceremony

Saturday was wedding day! I got up extra early to take a shower and blow dry my hair since it needed to be dry and NOT flat-ironed/straightened for the 8:45 bridesmaid hair appointments. It took 40 minutes to dry my hair. It was ridiculous!

When I got there, Laura's hair was getting finished up as was her sister Kristin's.

Then Laura had her make-up started while Caitlin got her hair started.

Laura's mom brought the veil by, so the hairdresser put it in and then had us practice hugging Laura and pulling on the veil to make sure it was secure.

When Laura's make-up was done, Destiny got her hair started. I was last. I like how my hair turned out, but it was not at all like the inspiration photo I showed her. Oh well. I didn't want curls but they turned out fine. I think I had so much hair (because it wasn't straightened), that she just didn't know what to do with it!

 It was almost 10:30 by the time I got out of there. So I went next door to the church to see what was going on. Laura was about to get ready. I had brought all my stuff with, so decided to just get ready at the church as well. It was fun to help Laura into her dress and see her getting ready.

Then her and Ethan left for photos, while Caitlin and I hung out at the Church for a bit. Bridal Party photos were going to be taken at the Hormel Nature Center, so we loaded up all the bridesmaid bouquets + flower girl bouquet (luckily Caitlin had big cup holders!) and headed over there. We got a little lost on the way thanks to GoogleMaps redirecting us, and ended up way out of town. Good thing for us photos were running long so we weren't even missed by the time we arrived.

After photos, we headed back to the Church to have sandwiches for lunch and wait for the ceremony to start at 3. Laura was so beautiful in her dress. She looked like Cinderella!

The ceremony was lovely. I thought it was funny they happened to have a few of the same readings we did, and actually got a little teary eyed up there. I was surprised when the pastor remarked that a couple hasn't picked the Song of Songs reading (same as we had) in over 20 years! I love that reading so couldn't believe it.
An excerpt -

Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; 
For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is devotion; 
its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, 
nor floods sweep it away.

The vows -

Lighting of the Unity Candle - 

Announcement of the Couple -

And then it was over so quickly and it was time for the recessional.

I was proud of myself for smiling, walking slowly, and not tripping. Haha!

I was glad my Mom, Dad, Christine and Adam were all there.

After the receiving line was done, Laura and Ethan made their Grand Exit. It was really cute!

Bonus photo - how my hair looked in back