Wedding Blog: The Big Day (Part 9)

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All of the wedding party entered the reception, with the exception of the bride and groom waiting for their big entrance. I wandered briefly to greet people, then found my way to our table. We had a rough schedule for events, more for the order of them than the actual timing. So we had barely arrived when the DJ gave the traditional "first introduction as Mr. and Mrs." bit, and in walked the happy couple. The first dance ensued. The official photos don't really capture it, but there are a few other shots by family which show the happiness on their faces.

My mind was elsewhere when I was called up for the toast. Instead of staying at my table as I expected, next to BD/SIL (maybe I'll call them HC, for Happy Couple) and near a glass, I ended up in the middle of the dance floor holding a cordless mike. GW was by my side, beaming at me.

I posted the toast earlier. viewtopic.php?t=8049&highlight=toast I tried to get through it. I tried to concentrate on just the words instead of their meaning. I barely made it into the third paragraph before breaking down. I made it through and it was a hit, even so. Several of my cousins with teenage daughters came up afterwards, having abruptly realized that they, too, will one day have to do that.

MoH toast followed, then dinner. The food was as good as it looked. Presentation was fortunately not the best part here. There were three "stations": one with roast beef, one with roast turkey, and the third with Italian fare (farfalle and calzones). Appropriate veggies and condiments at all three, such as mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, steamed veggie medley (and done perfectly; I've had this at fancy restaurants where the vegetables are mush), marinara sauce, horseradish sauce, and so forth. I used my Thanksgiving meal talents and sampled small amounts of everything. I did go back for more of the calzones and a few other items. The food was much better than what they served at the taste testing a few months back. I had been slightly worried.

Desserts: big, fresh chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cake brownies with and without strawberry filling, chocolate covered strawberries (do you detect a theme here?), and the famous cupcakes. About 2/3 of them chocolate, the rest vanilla. White icing and topped by calla lilies or roses made of some of the edible frosting/paste stuff. The tiered cupcakes were wheeled out by the young second cousins, a bit of a family tradition. On my grandparents' 50th anniversary party (in 1963!), the grandchildren, ages 4 to 18, wheeled out their cake. There was a small cake topper in the same rose and calla lily design, which now resides in our freezer.