Our Wedding: The Reception

(if you missed part one, check it out here)

Following the ceremony, the wedding party piled on a bus to head downtown to take some photos at our beloved St. Louis locations (the Arch, Busch Stadium, and Washington Avenue).  Our guests were invited back to a family member's house for light appetizers and drinks for a few hours until it was time for the reception.

This photo cracks me up because the three on the left are obviously the goofiest people ever, and it truly shows in this photo

I love candid shots

This photo and the one below are 100% candid as we were walking to our next location.  I just love the candid shots!

We stopped traffic to take a photo in the middle of Washington Avenue

having a dance party at Busch Stadium

Their signature photo pose

totally candid and in the moment

Our reception was exactly as I wanted.  We had a vision of no natural light, dark linens, with pink and white accents, feathers, lilies, and candle light everywhere.  And we achieved just that.  The compliments we received on our reception made all the stress worth it.  In addition, we wanted our reception to be more of a party than a formal event.  We are very laid-back, fun people and we wanted our reception to reflect that.  Thankfully, we successfully achieved that.

We started out with an introduction that had our guests laughing and ready to party!!!

Toasts, followed by dinner, lead to the first dances, and cake cutting.

Now we prayed over our guests (as they prayed over us at our ceremony)

 Our First Dance

Father-Daughter Dance

(I love how Nick is in the background, watching us)

Traditionally it's the Mother-Son Dance, but for our wedding, it was the Aunt-Nephew Dance (she's his second mother so it was just as special)

 

Cake Time!
We went with a very non-traditional cake.  We are fun personalities and as I mentioned early, we wanted a fun party atmosphere.  This was a cake Nick and I completely designed and felt very fitting!

Nick isn't a huge cake fan but his favorite dessert is Rice Krispie Treats (he's a simple man).
I had a family friend make him a giant Wings of Gold Rice Krispie Treat, (covered in fondant) as his Groom's "Cake:

Keeping with Navy wedding traditions, we cut the cake with his sword!

The moment the dance floor was open to the guests, it was packed until the last song.  {I'm coming back to comment on this post almost two years later, and we are STILL having people tell us our wedding was the most fun wedding they have ever been to and we certainly know how to throw a party!}

We are all either singing "Sweet Caroline", "Don't Stop Believing", or the Fresh Prince of Bel Air Theme Song...all classics for my family and friends 

And we can't forget the bouquet toss!!!

Another one of my favorite parts of our wedding was when I was called out on the dance floor for what I thought was the garter toss.  The DJ set out a chair for me to sit in and then the next thing I know, Nick comes up to me, with his Navy boys, singing "You've Lost That Loving Feeling", ya know, Top Gun style.  It's one of Nick's favorite movies and he's obviously in Naval Aviation so it was more than fitting.

I've never been a wedding where the large group of single men truly wanted the garter...I'm talking throwing elbows and stuff!!!  It was great!!!

Look at the fight and determination!

As luck would have it, the one that didn't really care, my brother, it happened to fall into his hands.
(Nick's reaction is priceless)

Of course my brother and his partner were excited!  And they just got engaged so it's their turn next!!!!

That's our wedding in a nutshell, which was hard for me to do.  It was the most magical day and I wish I could relive it every single day.  These words and accompanying picture truly do not do it justice!!!!

Nicholas and I are so blessed to have over 240 of our friends and family come help us (especially all of the out-of-towners!) celebrate and you all are a large part of the reason that we had a gorgeous day, a kick ass party, and a beautiful marriage.

All photos seen on this blog page are copyright of i Kandi Photography {unless otherwise noted below the photo}

To view more photos from our wedding, click HERE