After
saying "I Do" and taking photos with our fabulous
wedding party, it was time to party! We sent all of our friends and guests down the elevator for the reception, and Mike and I got to sneak away and have a private dinner for two (well, almost. Our wedding coordinator joined us- which was slightly awkward. Fum memory...?). Despite that, it was a sweet time for us to catch our breath and process the fact that we were
married and before we headed into the reception, where we were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. McCullough! :)
For our first dance, we danced to
A Love That Will Last by Renee Olstead. Love. I wish I could take credit for the timing, but I had nothing to do with planning our first dance
right as the sun set over the city. But it was perfect timing, and I just see it as a sweet blessing from the Lord...a nice extra touch, if you will :)
Even the iPhone photos from sweet friends just seem to take your breath away. Yay God!
We then had the opportunity to say hello to our guests by making our rounds to each table. It was a little overwhelming to try to see everyone, and I wish that we were able to spend more time with people, but this was a fun blessing to be able to see a lot of people we love.
A few snapshots I stole borrowed from friends :)
And then I got to dance with my dad. We chose
My Little Girl by Tim McGraw for our special dance...
Just a dad and his little girl...
Mike and his mom chose
Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce for their special dance...
So sweet...
We had a number of kids who attended our wedding, so we decided to have a little fun for them. For the kiddos, we had a teddy bear toss!
Another fun part of our reception? The money dance. Yes, I am publicly admitting it. I actually went into the idea dragging my feet, mostly because I am not a huge fan of dancing. Don't ask me what happened to me, because the rest of my family are big dancers. Anyway, I am so glad that we did the money dance! It gave us some one-on-one time (even though brief) with sweet friends and family.
People were incredibly generous!
And then there was cake :) Ginny Stewart made our cakes, and they were SO beautiful!
Bride's cake- 4-tier french vanilla wedding cake
Groom's cake- chocolate with dark chocolate drips/shavings, raspberries, and strawberries
And they tasted SO good! The sad part was that we only got to taste our cake when we did the formal cake-cutting; there just wasn't time for us to enjoy a full piece. But thankfully, there was leftover cake that someone snagged for us and so we were able to enjoy some more at the hotel the following night after the 2nd reception (more on that to come!)
Our sweet parents gave toasts, as did my maid of honor Laura and Mike's brother Bryan. There were such sweet words spoken, and it was a special time for us to hear words of encouragement, wisdom, and love.
After
all most of the fun traditions, it was time to party! We
loved our DJ- he did such a great job! The slow dances were nice and sweet...
...but eventually, the shoes had to come off to enjoy the rest of the party! :)
Group Photo!
So. Much. FUN! :)
The evening was coming to a close, but not before we had a chance to throw the bouquet and the garter!
Wait for it...
The lucky lady ;)
Mike was aiming for Ben... ;)
...but Andrew caught it instead!
Ok. That's pretty cute.
We had a BLAST at our reception, and we are so grateful for the opportunity we had to enjoy it in such a fun and special way. We hope that all of our guests had as much fun as we did!
Heading out through the "sea of humanity"
Adios wedding guests!
We thought we would be heading to our car in the parking garage, but my dad had one more surprise for us...
We got to take a limo ride around downtown before our driver dropped us off at our hotel. Such a fun and special surprise! Thanks Dad :)
