our wedding: reception

The reception is always the part of the wedding that the most work goes toward, so I was especially happy to see it all come together so perfectly! I did all the decorations according to a very specific vision that I had (more on that on the details post ;)) but the vision of the cozy, fall wedding came perfectly together!

 after our entrance, we went straight into our first dance. We chose "forever like that" by ben rector. We joke that Ben Rector (and Ben Stuart) got us to start dating because the majority of our first conversations were concerning those two. Ben Rector was the first concert we went to together, on our 2nd date. The song was pretty "underground" at the time, but Cody knew it. When we got engaged we chose it, not knowing it would come out on an album a month before our wedding. The song has cutesy lyrics about two people being that perfect match for one another, forever. And the first line is "i'll be your rainy day lover", which is fitting concerning our wedding day weather ;)

also, my father also built this 16 foot wood fence backdrop with the lights! Thank you Dad! I wanted some sort of decor and then decided on this and he made it exactly to my vision!

 In the middle of our song, the DJ (who was my MOH's dad-HUGE help!! we appreciate him and his wife, who was my wedding day coordinator, beyond words!!) asked for other couples to come out to the dance floor. So, here were are with my parents and Cody's parents as well. 

 my father/daughter dance song was "what a wonderful world". We did the same thing with this, halfway through asking other fathers and daughters to join...and same with the mother/son. This allowed other people to get to dance (and took some pressure away from the only two people dancing ;))

 Here is our cake table. I choose a "naked" cake pretty last minute. I couldn't find the typical white frosting bridal cake that I LOVED, but I did love the uniqueness of this cake. And I thought it went with my cozy theme, yeah!? I put pumpkins (white and grey) on the table to go with Cody and I's cakes. The bridal portrait of me is the only picture of just me, I wanted more pictures of Cody AND I, not just me everywhere. Our drink to toast with? Sparkling apple cidar for the fall, of course!

 Cody's best man speech had us cracking up! Gotta love inside jokes!

We did the dollar dance or honeymoon dance. I think this is more of a modern idea (so the traditional folks may disapprove ;)). But, you have your MOH and best man collect $1 (or more) that the guests pay to dance with either the bride or groom. These pictures look like Cody got all the love, but I had a few dance partners too ;) This money was greatly appreciated as we purchased a couples massage on our honeymoon with it!

The concerned face is due to the fact that I kept hitting the cardboard with the knife and was so confused why it wasn't working, ha!

 We did the Texas Tech Fight Song, which was so fun. Most of our friends go to/went to Tech with us, so did most of Cody's family, but also many of our guests did which I forgot about, so it was cool to see everyone out there with us!

 Another thing Cody and I did was have one last dance, just us. Everyone else was outside getting their exit sparklers ready, so we had one last moment to savor our reception :)

 Everyone had to scrunch together due to the thunderstorm, but it worked out just fine! 

**my advice: have someone (wedding day coordinator, family friends, etc.) think about the tiny details that you forget about. Aka. see that outdoor candle on that post? That was to light the sparklers. Things that like tend to slip a brides mind in the midst of everything else, so have someone else check behind you ;)

 Cody completely surprised me and rented a limo to take us to Dallas! I had no idea! He kept leaving our post wedding plans pretty vague, but I trusted him. I left it up to him early on in our engagement.

**my advice: give the groom some tasks to do on his own! Cody surprised me with so many things, my gift.. the vows.. the limo... and he took all of those things into his OWN hands and we were both so surprised and happy with it all.