Fleur de Lips: Monumental Love: You, You, You

While we were taking photos at the church, the guests were making their way over to the reception at the Board of Trade. They entered in through the candlelit courtyard, put their mark on our guestbook print, grabbed a drink at either the outdoor or indoor bar, and started to dig in to our passed appetizers and food stations.

Chandeliers. Candles. Fountain. Once I saw everything come together, I was able to breath a bit easier./Unless noted, all photos by Eau Claire Photographics

Sphinx and I entered through the side of the venue, so that we could have a few minutes of down time before heading out and getting the party started. Technically, we told all the bridal party and family that they could come in the suite if they wanted to, but we just ended up with MOH Curls and BM Perk. So they bustled my dress and helped to remove my long veil, and in return they were rewarded with some private drink service and access to our trays of reception food.

And now I've just got to share this bit of loveliness, because it is one of the pictures I am the MOST proud of from our entire wedding day:

You had better hope this blurriness is a personal photo.

Yep, that's me EATING. Score. Slam dunk. High five. Wedding day success.

Truthfully, if I'd gone straight out into the ballroom, I probably would have skipped over the eating (or gotten around to it way later) but that's why I worked the suite time into our schedule. I think it was only about 20 minutes but it was perfect. The Board of Trade staff brought some of the passed appetizers first (I think I'm double-fisting a crab cake slider and a crawfish popper up there) and then we got large plates from each of the stations. As the servers brought us the dishes, they explained what each item was. Of course, being the neurotic bride that I was, I knew everything we had selected by heart. Except for a dish of orange stuff...

"That's the mashed sweet potatoes, with crumbled bacon, Trust me, it's the best way to eat it," our server told us.

I think I yelled "Seriously?!?" Our contract had stated a mashed potato bar with regular potatoes OR sweet potatoes, and we chose the regular. Turns out we got BOTH. That deserves another score, slam dunk, etc., etc. Honest to goodness, it's been eight months since our wedding and someone complimented that mashed potato bar last week. People love the spuds, man. (I'll try to mention it again later on, but for now if you're interested in the rest of our menu, it was pretty much just as I shared from our tasting. Minus the soup and crepe. Plus the mashed sweet potatoes.)

A little peek of the ballroom decor, all packed with people enjoying some food and drinks.

So after eating a decent amount of food, we headed back around to the front of the venue to make our grand entrance. We opted out of a big bridal party entrance, and just walked in together when the band announced the new Mr. and Mrs. Sphinx!

We worked our way over to the dance floor...

And "our song" started playing over the speakers.

We stuck with the decision to use the recording of The Beatles' song "P.S. I Love You" (listen along) instead of having the band play it, and I think it worked out great. If you recall, this has been a song that was special to us for a long time because it's about a couple in a long distance relationship, plus it was upbeat and only two minutes long. If you're having first-dance anxiety, pick a song that's short - our dance flew by!

"Take some dance lessons" sat on the wedding to-do list for the entire 18 months we were engaged and I never found a class or studio in our area. When we were down to weeks or days left, I figured we should at least do a little run through at home to feel comfortable, but that never happened either. So we winged it! The whole time we were whispering to each other "Okay, so I should spin you now?" "You think we can end with the dip?" "Yea, let's do it!"

As much as I loved my train, I really dig how the bustle looked too!

And our friends and family didn't realize we were making it up the whole time. One of Sphinx's friends was convinced we had spent a lot of time practicing! I'm not sure if we were all that good, but the pictures look like we know what we're doing. Or maybe that newlywed, so-in-love glow is really powerful stuff.