Monday, August 17, 2009

Love Again: The Reception, Part 2

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits, Loved Always, Pre-Ceremony, I Thee Wed, Post-Ceremony Hugs, Cocktail Hour, The Reception - part 1

After dinner it was time to dance and eat candy! What could be better than that, really?

The candy buffet is definitely my favorite wedding trend. It is the single most talked about detail from our wedding, to this day. Plus, it made for some great memories! (And interesting cocktails, later on in the evening a table of friends were drinking champagne flavored and dyed with rock candy, delicious... or something.)

Mr. Pineapple was worried that people would eat the candy necklaces off one another and it would turn into a fraternity mixer. I mean really, doesn't he know I come from a classy family?


Sister Pineapple and I know that sharing a candy necklace fulfills its one and only purpose. (If they were meant to be eaten solely by the wearer they would taste better and probably be wrapped in bacon.)

Groomsman Phil was in attendance to represent the Lollipop Guild.


Mike was upset that no one was sharing with him so he took matters into his own hands... or rather teeth.


Mike did a wonderful job as emcee and DJ. Having a laptop and sound system set-up was definitely the right choice for our wedding. I don't really come from a family of dancers and the crowd was small to begin with so music wasn't at the top of our budget priority list. After the announcements and official wedding stuff was done, Mike was able to pretty much let the computer do the hard work, with a few adjustments when needed.

He even got some of the employees from the River's Club line dancing, good times.

I spent a lot of the night exposing the nether regions of my wedding gown. Man, was that dress heavy! My hips hurt by the end of the night from so much weight pushing down on them. As you can see my wine colored crinoline was long gone. It was much too much fabric, I was too hot and too poofy to really dance.

One of my favorite photos, my nana and aunt Laurie dancing.

I love this one of my mom and sister too. Krissy thinks she doesn't look like our mom, ha!

The Pineapples-in-law, I am so lucky to be a part of their family.

I was a tired, hot mess by the end of the night. I could have fallen asleep in Mr. Pineapple's arms.

Next up a look back at the details.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Love Again: The Reception, Part 1

I did something today that I have not done in a very long time. I continued writing my re-caps. It has been almost a year since Mr. Pineapple and I first married in a small cinder-block building in Clymer, PA.

When I last posted several months ago cocktail hour was over and the party was just about to begin...

The Rehearsal, Rehearsal Dinner, Rehearsal Dinner Gifts, Getting Ready, First Glance, Portraits, Loved Always, Pre-Ceremony, I Thee Wed, Post-Ceremony Hugs, Cocktail Hour

After the introduction of the parents, bridal party and Mr. Pineapple and I, began the speeches from Sister Pineapple, Krissy and the Best Man, Erik.


Erik and Mr. P. were roommates throughout college and beyond. There were a few months when the three of us all lived together in a house with five cats. (In case you are wondering, five cats is way too many.) If there was anyone who could embarrass Mr. P. it was Erik. So, I have to admit I was a bit worried what Erik would have to say in his speech. In the end it was lovely and endearing.


My sister and I were almost always at odds growing up. We were both very much into the arts, attending the same magnet school. We had all of the same classes and same teachers, but thought we could not be more different. She went off to Carnegie Mellon's school of design for college and I almost immediately crossed it off my list of colleges. I thought I had spent enough time following in my sister's footsteps. Well, some how I find myself in a pool of orange-brown Jell-o, wrestling my sister, at a CMU frathouse a couple years later during the week of my freshman orientation. I won the match and things changed.

My sister talks about hour our relationship took a turn when I started taking her out to lunch on my meal plan. We learned that we were not so different after all, in fact, it was probably because we were so much alike that we butted heads so often growing up. Now we are both graphic designers (I still claim she followed in my footsteps on that one) and we talk everyday. My sister's speech was so sweet and it made me glad to be, as she phrased it, her twin born three years late.


Next, it was time for free-J Mike to cue the first dance music.


Mr. Pineapple and I had been dating for just a few months and we were at our regular spot (and rehearsal dinner location) Smokin' Joe's. Mr. P. disappeared few a few moments. When he returned Howie Day's Brace Yourself starting playing from the juke box and he whispered into my ear, "I want to play this song at out wedding." And so was chosen the song for our first dance.



A few weeks before our wedding my parents were visiting from Florida. I had spent almost every waking hour painting and repainting our home. I was stuck on the wall along the staircase. I had peeled layers of wallpaper off the wall, paper that had been there for decades. It wasn't going so well. No matter what I tried I couldn't get all the little pieces off the plaster. So my Dad and I got to work hanging drywall. As we measured and drilled I asked him what song he would like for the father daughter dance. "Country. Anything but that woman, I don't like her." I guessed he was referring to Sugarland, "Yeah her, not her." So I picked My Little Girl by Tim Mcgraw, country, simple, sweet and not Sugarland.



We decided to cut our cake right after the dances and before dinner. This allowed for the rest of the night to just happen, uninterrupted. We cut the cake without too much trouble - after we got the knife into the layer. Did you know they sometimes put a layer of board on top of the layers for support? We didn't. Turns out you cannot really cut through the board...


As you can see, there was no cake smashing for us. Which really disappointed my normally shy father. So much so that he requested a do-over:
Sorry Dad, that's not happening. :)

Next it was time for dinner and merriment...