Once our ceremony was all over, the memories (obviously) did not end there. It was such an amazing evening from beginning to end! Below are some post ceremony and reception/post reception memories.
When we returned, it was time for pictures. We took a bunch of pictures in just about every combination. During this time, my nephew Aidan who is four, decided it would be more exciting to hoard every last container of bubbles he could fit in his little hands. It was le cute, and did keep him content as well. Having both of my nephews (adorable, sweet, handsome, CUTE nephews I might add) there was such a blessing!Once all the pictures were done, and we were going into the reception, it became quite nerve wracking for me to be feeling on display. I just remember not being able to eat or drink anything because my stomach was doing flips. Ross took my hand, and scooted his chair close to mine, and I began feeling SO much better. Once the two of us got up, and went back to where the food was being served to talk with people while they were in line, it felt even better. We were in our element, talking to people we love... and we were together (and not feeling so on display).
One funny thing from when we cut the cake... we forgot to take the ribbon off the cake, so we had to cut around it! I guess we were nervous and forgot?! It still tasted delicious! I would definitely recommend the New Haven Bakery to those getting married in or near Fort Wayne. The cake the day of the wedding was even better than the sample cake.
The first thing we took care of while people were finishing up their dinners was the dances (one with my dad and I, one with Ross and Jerri, and then our first dance)
I danced with my dad to the Richie Havens Song, "Follow." He picked it out, and the morning before the wedding, while listening to it alone, I bawled my eyes out. Ross came in and asked me what was wrong. I told him I was listening to the song, and his solution? "Well, you should probably stop listening to it!" I love my dad so much, and for him to pick out such a sweet song was so incredibly special to me.
While Ross danced with his mom, I ran back to a room in the courthouse and FRANTICALLY changed out of my wedding dress, and into my special dress for our first dance.
For a couple months, Ross and I had been practicing for our very first dance as a married couple. We had gone through lists of songs, trying to find just the right one, but nothing ever seemed exactly what we wanted. One day, Ross came to me with an idea. "Check this out. Let's dance to the final song in the Dirty Dancing movie" .... and so we did. It wasn't perfect (especially from my end) but boy was it fun learning it together. I'm so lucky to have such a talented husband! Thank you Jerri and Steve for putting him in lessons from an early age! It sure paid off and was definitely one thing that won my heart.
One funny memory that melted my heart for the way that young minds think, was when my cousin, Chloe caught the bouquet. I was upstairs on the second floor balcony throwing the bouquet down to the ladies on the first floor. My cousin, being ten years old and also single, was right out there to try to catch it. Sure enough, she went for it (and so did our friend, Lauren) and Chloe caught it. She tried to offer it to Lauren once it all went down, but Lauren was gracious and turned her down. This is about when Chloe's smile went to a "deer in the headlights" look. My other cousin Emily said "Chloe, you will have to dance with whoever catches Julie's garter." To a ten year old, this must have been the worst thing that could have come from catching that dang bouquet. She sat to the side while others continued to enjoy themselves on the dancefloor, dreading the moment she would have to dance with some random guy (who was probably sweaty and smelly from dancing on that said dance floor) I'm not sure how much time elapsed, but I was dancing with Emily and she brought up Chloe's distaste for this dance that she thought was coming up. I, in fact, had no garter to be taken off and tossed to some random smelly guy that Chloe didn't know, so I had to let her know. I walked over to where to she was sitting with sheer terror upon her face and said "Chloe! I don't have a garter, you don't have to dance with anyone!" You should have seen the fear slide right off her face. I encouraged her, and she got right back on the dance floor and got back to having fun!
Another great memory was in memory of a loved one who was not able to be there. 12 years ago, my cousin Josh was up at Macinac Island, and I came up there for my birthday. He made me feel so incredible special by getting all the guys to sing "You've lost that loving feeling" .... You know, the part that goes "Baby, Baby, I get down on my knees for you..." Josh passed away a little over 10 years ago, and although he was missed at our wedding, he was there in spirit when we honored my favorite memory with him. With Peggy and Jen (Josh's mom and sister) standing there with me tons of guys reinacted the moment, and got down on their knees and belted out the song to us. Such a special memory!
We ended the reception at the courthouse in true Purdue/Fort Wayne style. Late night hot dogs is a Purdue thing, and Coney Island hot dogs are a Fort Wayne tradition. We put the two together, and had a great late night snack for everyone!
Once the night was over at the reception, Ross and I led the way to our after party place. With such a great day behind us, we just weren't ready to say good night and good bye to all our friends who had come so far to be with us. Just a little more dancing was in order at "The Thirsty Camel."
Quite a few of our friends, and even both sets of parents came out for one last hurrah! It was such a fun way to end an incredible day.
We were the only bride are groom that came out and were at the bar that night (some other bridal parties were present). We had such a great time dancing more with our friends, and there was a live dj there that was having a lot of fun with our group there.
One special thing that we weren't expecting was when the dj played a special song for Ross and I - "Time of my life" the dirty dancing song we danced to for our first dance. The only part that we weren't expecting, was that we danced to the movie length version of the song (in fact, Ross had to make a movie version of his own, adding in an extra chorus, because we were unable to find the movie length version anywhere) It was still so much fun, and we loved that we got to do it again.
One thing I wasn't expecting was to get such great use out of my dress. I wore it until the bustle literal fell apart (people kept stepping on it and it ending up breaking away) But really, when will I wear it again? I had such an amazing day, and at the end of the night... got to leave with my husband, the man I prayed for, before I even knew what I needed. What a great start to our lives. (God is so good!)
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