The Good Stuff

This post is photo heavy because these are the happiest photos, free of nerves and any "looming" activities. When you scroll through other people's photos of dancing friends, it means very little to you. When you know all the grinning faces in the pictures, they really warm your heart.

Wait! Before I get started.
After the ceremony, I noticed that Ms. Pigglesworth had made it to the party. I'm glad I didn't notice her while Don was talking. I caught Will Hon moving Wilhelmina many times throughout the day and was shocked and slightly frightened to find her on the front porch when Brett and I finally went home that night.

Alright. I'm ready.
Post ceremony was a short little cocktail chunk. During this time, Brett and I ambled out to the dock for more photos while our favorite folks mingled and snacked. We booted Will and Katie off the dock for sunset photos (which I felt badly about) but somehow one of our favorites, Drew, wound up out there with us and then got trapped and had to hide behind columns to stay out of the pictures. After while he took it upon himself to make sure we were fed and he reappeared with "carefully curated plates."

During the planning process, Brett opted out of helpful opinions and encouraged a "steampunk" themed wedding day.
"I'll wear a top hat and use a cane. You can wear goggles."
I'd ask for thoughts on linen colors and he'd suggest velvet with a ruffled trim.
"How can we incorporate light-machinery?"
As a little surprise, I tied some tiny gears to his boutonnière. He was not as amused as I thought he'd be.

Meanwhile, back in the yard...

Brett and I came in to eat our curated meals around the same time speeches started. I sat with sweaty palms while Brett was red in the face and we listened to nice words from our family members. Landon, Brett's best friend and the other half of his college Avett Brothers cover band, sang our first dance song... an Avett Brothers tune. Dad really tickled himself while we were dancing. Weeks back when I told Dad we were going to cram our first dance and the father-daughter and the mother-son dance all into one song, Dad objected and said that a two minute tune for all of that was too short. I disagreed. Watching other people slow dance take ages but I compromised by having Landon sing all the verses of the song instead of skipping a few like I had planned.
Dad hadn't been up there dancing with me for thirty seconds when he said, "We've been up here forever. When does this song ever end?"
I reminded him that he's the reason we still have two minutes of dancing time left and when he realized this was all his fault, he let out a very loud guffaw and then we both got the giggles. Folks thought we were having a tender moment but we were just hold back belly laughs.

After this, the dancing started,

We cut our perfect, little cake,

and then there were wigs.

 What tickled me most was how readily the wigs were accepted by everyone. I figured a small percentage of folks would partake in the silliness and I was so delighted to see serious old-folks dancing with their new dos. I did worry about the afros appearing slightly racist to the band. I thought about that a lot actually and was very hopeful that they took note of the many caucasian hairstyles that were also up for grabs. Someone put a wig on Wilhelmina and I saw the singer girl give a strange look to no one. I wondered what the band thought about us.

The dancing reception is a whirlwind of hugs and sweaty, smiling faces. It was awfully humid but I saw the sweatiness factor as a great thing. When everyone is sweaty, you don't feel so bad about being sweaty yourself. I held sweaty hands and kissed sweaty faces. I hugged drenched people goodbye and I loved it. This was the BEST day and I'd like to go again please.

Brett and I stayed until the very end, when the remaining people were Unions, Guys, Honbarriers and members of The Crew. I didn't want to go home but oh how I wanted to go to sleep. I was exhausted. The most happy kind of exhausted.

Taylor Rae Photography