May 9, 2009: Party Time!

I was really really nervous about the reception set-up. I think, reading so many past bride's experiences was the main culprit. Maybe many of these past brides did not convey their vision properly, or maybe they were just TOO focused on every single detail, I don't know. But I felt that Chandlyn, Nikki and the rest of the RIU staff did an exceptional job. At one point, I went out on my balcony for some air and I saw them setting up our poolside reception. That is when it really set in that everything was going alright. A few days ago, practically the entire family met with Chandlyn to go over the details. Everything we requested was "No Problem, mon!" and they really meant it! I did have Kelly (and her friends) and Jeannie on stand-by for assistance, and they did assist!

We wanted things to be a bit more unique than the average wedding. Our first idea was our guestbook, which consisted of postcards to be placed in a wooden chest. At first we were going to have people mail them to us, but we were so worried that they would not make it back to us that we canned that idea. For the record - we still haven't read our postcards!!! Our plan is to scrapbook them though.

Next, we really wanted to honor those who are no longer with us. We felt that this was a special tribute to the important people in our lives.


Actual set-up of the reception was perfect for us and our party size. We had hanging lanterns (whose batteries died about 2 hours in. Don't buy dollar store batteries!!). We also did not want to pay a ton for centerpieces that we would never see again, so Jim and I found some nice cylinder lanterns as well as hanging metal lanterns that we were able take home with us and give to family and friends. The setup was beautiful and was so much more perfect once the sun went down.




We were lucky that our travel agent had recently been to Jamaica and went cake-testing. She found one of the best! Sheila's bakery provided us with a fantastic 2-tier vanilla cake with strawberry filling and butter cream frosting. Jim and I spiced it up with gum paste seashells and some brown sugar, which Kelly was kind enough to assemble.
Before


During


After!


I found these paper luminaries through Martha Stewart online. For most people, crafts - especially crafts as easy as these - would not be a problem. For me, well, I just could not get the hang of gluing in a paper bag. Jim, hes crafty!!! So my sweet Jim made 35 of these. They looked amazing, and we only lost one to fire!



So, that was the set-up. We had our own personal bar with awesome bartenders, 2 great servers, and yummy BBQ food!

We also had a great DJ! Jim and I asked Ayal to DJ, considering his great personality. We set up our Bose Sound Dock and attached our IPod complete with playlists and just told him what to do.

First up - First Dance: We did have a little trouble getting people to settle down, but they did eventually.
"Steady as We Go" by Dave Matthews Band






Next up - Father-daughter dance: Dad tried to "real" dance with me, but I cannot "real" dance. There was a little tripping in the beginning, but we worked it out!
"My Girl" by The Temptations






Then the longest mother-son dance ever! It was nice for Jim to dance with his mom though.
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamkawiwo





And finally, the sister-bother dance. We debated adding this, since I really like the song and wanted to make sure that we had our siblings dancing with us for it.
"Sister" by Dave Matthews Band




Whew! All the formalities were done and it was about time to EAT!! The food was so good! I had a really hard time accepting the fact that we were having a "BBQ" menu. I don't know why, it just sounded so picnic to me. But it was perfect! The food was cooked on a grill right there, and the buffet ensured that we could all eat at basically the same time (unlike the rehearsal dinner!!), leaving lots of time for dancing and drinking.






It was so beyond hot once the sun went down. Earlier in the day, there was a nice breeze, which cut the heat nicely, and at least allowed some under-dress airflow! But once that sun went down and the wind died out...well there was really only one way to cool off!! Thankfully there was a pool there! It took a lot for me to not just jump right in...



I am a very bad influence on my niece, who obviously thought it was swimming time!



It seems like you have to go through a lot of formality before you can just get down to the party. In going through my photos, it was formal dance, formal dance....eat...then cake and speeches. I guess that is just the way it is, although it didn't feel like it...

So anyways, next up was the yummy cake cutting!! That cake was just fantastic. There was so much left too - we forced everyone to eat a slice on Sunday night at the Michael Jackson show (was that Sunday or Monday night?!?!?)

Jim had to focus on the task at hand:


Yum!



So Brian decided that since we are in Jamaica, we should do the cake eating the Jamaican way...not for the germ-o-phobe!:




And a little American formality...






Ok, I really really REALLY love this pic of Jim. Apparently dad said something so funny that Jim lost his eyes!!


Dad was up first and his speech to us was great and heartfelt, with some humor added in.





Next up - "BM" Jeremy, who really should have gone with his gut and started with "Fornication...I mean, For an Occasion..."
(Notice the pin)



The last time Jim would ever have the upper hand:


Almost there!! Next up, MOH Felicia:





Just when you think that its finally time to party...nope, Jim wanted to say something. When asked if I wanted to add anything - nope, what he said!!




Is it party time??? YES!!
So in no special order, the slow downfall of our guests! The music was great, the drinks were flowing, and it was HOT!

Yes, I am plugging my nose here. Brian was pretty amused by this. Warm Appleton run just does not flow that easily...

Felicia and I:


Marta and Erik:

The new "it" couple??? Nah, just Ed and Jeremy:

Jim with Aunt Colleen:

Aunt Susan and Ayal:
Ed and Dana...all the way from Vegas!






Dad was wildly impressed by the gorgeous full moon. Figures our wedding was on the night of a full moon. Anyone see the moon???


Kasia loves Shrek. So we added a very special song just for her, and she realized it right away!




We are so lucky that our very good friend "Crazy Ed" was able to make it out to Jamaica with his beautiful girlfriend Jeannie (hope I'm spelling that right!!) We had a ton of fun with them!


Our 2 favorite wedding crashers! Well, they are friends of Kelly's so they didn't really "crash". But we were glad to have them there!


And more dancing...






Jim and I were pretty careful not to add religious elements to our wedding. We wanted to keep it pretty neutral. The flying hora did make an appearance!




And more shots...




And the final professional shots of the night...I mean by Brian of course!! He was getting ready to leave, but not without making us take a "Flaming Bob Marley." Its not as bad as my face makes it look BUT it was huge!




And with that, our reception was coming to an end. We all headed over to catch the last minutes of the beach party before going over to the disco for some more booty shaking (well, Jim and Felicia at least!!).

Jim and I went in our wedding gear, and got a lot of attention from that! But it was hot in there, so we went to change. The night ended quickly for us after that, as we were exhausted. All in all - Best. Wedding. Ever.

Stay tuned for all the after-wedding fun!