A Foxy Fête: It Ends with a Piñata

Thanks to our hoppin' after party, waking up the next day was a bit difficult for a few of us. I think the only motivation people had was the fact that we had to be up and out by 11am, as well as the fact that a nice hot breakfast was out and ready, and only being served until 10am. Just the cure for a full night day of drinking and wedding shenanigans!

This was about the point where everything just sort of hit me. We were officially married. It was so weird to be able to say that. And this wedding.. the one I spent over two years of my life planning.. was over. All the flowers were sitting on a lonely table in the empty dining room. The mason jars were collected, cleaned, and boxed. My chalkboard signs, cake topper, and toasting flutes were jumbled together inside another box.

It might be deemed weird by a few, but I totally teared up a bit. But I already wrote a whole post about that.

And then I remembered that I just married my other half. He's my husband. What an awesome word! That, and the fact that we were leaving for Mexico in the next 36 hours. Frown = upside down!

So once everything was all packed up and most of our friends and family had left, Foxy and I said one last goodbye to the Vandiver, and to one of the greatest weekends we've had on record.

All photos personal.

Bonus: my hair and makeup were still pretty intact! (And that is why you should do airbrush!)

We ended up leaving our lanterns up in the pavilion for the next wedding (per their request), and I gave the photo booth backdrop and frame to our coordinator, Jamie, who wanted to use it for an upcoming family wedding. Hey, if things could be repurposed, I was all for it! I even managed to convince some guests to take boxes of mason jars and vases of baby's breath home with them.  To say we had extras is an understatement.

Once we got home, the plan for the evening was to order in, then go to bed. However, we couldn't help but want to open a few gifts and the like once we got settled in.. namely, the giant parrot piñata that HK and her hubs decided to surprise us with and leave in our room at the Vandiver.

So naturally, we mocked the cats with it..

..and then we hacked that baby open!

It really wasn't as dramatic as I'm making it look. But there a was a plethora of goodies in there (including a gift card to Target!) that we made sure to itemize out on their thank you card. Hey, you give us a piñata, we give you an obnoxious thank you! Plus, we were super grateful for the 2 maracas, 1 seafood necklace, 8 packs of fruit snacks, 1 snake, 1 spider, 1 frog, 1 dog/fox, 1 stegasaurus, 1 butterfly, 1 daschund, 1 rubber ducky, 74 hershey kisses, 26 dove chocolates, 19 red flower petals, 18 yellow flower petals, 19 blue flower petals, 19 blue and white flower petals, 18 purple and white flower petals, and 18 pink and white flower petals.

And thus, our wedding weekend ended with a piñata.

The end!!

Miss a recap? Catch yourself up!

It's Wedding Week! - The week of the wedding started out pretty hectic, but we made it through (relatively) unscathed.

We're Cool People (who had to deal with a slight change of plans) - On Friday, we made our way to the venue, had a relatable moment on the radio, and learned about some last minute changes that we made an effort to take in stride.

Practice Makes Perfect.. And Crabs Don't Hurt, Either - After most everyone was settled in on Friday evening, we had our rehearsal followed by the best dinner ever - a Maryland crab feast!

Rise and Shine! - Wedding morning was soon upon us, and I woke up at the crack of dawn ready to get prettified.

Pretty Women - Over the course of the next several hours, myself and the girls hung out, got our hair and makeup done, had a photo shoot, and drank champagne.

Dressing Up - Soon enough, it was time for me to slip into my dress!

Dapper Dudes - At the same time, Foxy and his guys were ironing and getting into their suites - and Foxy was opening his wedding day gift!

The First of Many Looks - We had our first look, and both felt so much better after being able to see each other for the first time that day.

A School Bus Photoshoot - Our vehicle of choice for the day was a school bus, which we turned into a photo op both inside and out!

Smiles and Sun - The photos continued by the lighthouse and pier.. with sunglasses and a few funny stories along the way.

ALL The Family - We then met up with family at the lock house for even more pictures, and I started getting a bit antsy and having problems with my dress.

And Then There's Us - I kinda-sorta-maybe forgot all about couple and bridal pictures. Thank goodness for our amazing photog reminding us!

Final Touches - Slight chaos then ensued in the minutes before the ceremony started, consisting of me getting sewn into my dress and the boys getting their bouts pinned on at the last minute.

And So It Begins - The guests arrive, the wedding party lines up, and the ceremony space is revealed - complete with programs, white knots, and bubbles!

All I Want Is You, Will You Be My Bride? - The time had finally come - we all made our way down the aisle while my stepdad and stepbro played and sang a beautiful, acoustic version of "All I Want Is You".

Take Me By The Hand and Stand By My Side - In other words.. the ceremony!

Bubbles and Bustles and Beverages, Oh My! - Bubbles are blown, my bustle is tied in, and cocktail hour commences with lots of love, hugs, and drinks.

The Guestbook - The final version & reveal of our fingerprint guestbook - and some tips, should you want them!

I'd Do Anything For You - The reception kicked off with our oh-so-intricate first dance sway to Wake Up by Coheed and Cambria, which our guests joined in on halfway through.

Make 'em Laugh, Make 'em Cry - Which is exactly what we did, thanks to our bestest friends' amazing and beautiful toasts.

Food & Details - All the details about our cocktail-style reception and rustic decor.

Good Times, Bad Touch - Our guests got down with their bad selves on the dance floor with a lot of finger pointing, interpretive dance, and.. our very own rendition of Bad Touch. 

Faux-to Booth Fun! - We said no to veggies and yes to a sorta last-minute DIY photo booth!

Tatted Up - One of the most fun and unexpected features at the reception was our temporary tattoos that many guests ended up sporting proudly all night!

Let Them Eat Cake! - Foxy tried to commandeer the cutting, but we got things under control with a delicious, non-smashing cake exchange and some champagne.

Say That You'll Stay - Before I knew it or was really even ready for it, the last song of the night came on. Foxy and I danced it up and relished the moment, but were eagerly anticipating the next part of the night.. the after party!

It's Party Time! (Again) - Only the most awesome after party. Ever.

Post Wedding Blues

I has 'em.

It's hard to describe, really. Maybe it's more like nostalgia? Bittersweet, even? I can't quite put my finger on it. All I do know is that I'm a bit more affected by the wedding being over than I thought I would be.

Photo by Exclamation Imagery

Have you ever had that kind of sentimental feeling after a really great vacation or event in your life? Where things were just so amazing, so wonderful, so beyond anything you could have imagined, that you're just sad that it was over? I honestly should have seen this coming.. I actually get this way quite frequently, it doesn't even have to be a big deal or event. Just going to visit family for holidays or spending an exceptionally great day with friends tends to get me very reminiscent, a tad misty eyed, and a bit down that it ever has to come to an end. Is that weird? Maybe. (I mean.. yes. I'm an emotional person. Clearly.)

Photo by the lovely Mrs. Guinea Pig

Here's the thing: our wedding wasn't by-the-books perfect, but it was perfect for us. I spent the past two years planning this thing, down every last little detail. I made almost-daily trips to Michael's. I ordered a crap ton of stuff online and got packages delivered weekly. I amassed a pretty impressive collection of tape, glue, and any other adhesive you could possibly need. I had ribbon by the yards, paint bottles by the dozens, and glitter finding a way onto every surface of our home. I poured my heart and my soul into this wedding, and then... poof. It's all over. Two years culminated into one exceptional, magical day.

I think I hate that it was just one day (well, two-ish if you count the rehearsal, because that was fantastic, too!). No, I'm not saying I wish it was a week long wedding.. I just wish it didn't go by so quickly. It's only been three weeks and I already feel myself forgetting some of the smaller details. Does it even matter? Probably not. But I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. I love planning. I love doing. Maybe I'm a bit sad because I don't currently have something concrete to create, plan, do?

Our wedding room has converted back to a normal office again, more or less. It looks so bare in there, with all the wedding related crafts packed up or thrown away. Some things still linger.. I just can't bear to get rid of them but for the life of me don't have a clue what to do with them (bubbles, anyone?). I sometimes seriously envy Mrs. Honey and her c'est la vie attitude towards it all.

I've also thought about a possible selfish part of the equation. Everyone tells you to enjoy the time you're engaged - don't rush it - and for a while, I needed to hear that because I really didn't want to wait twenty six months to get married. But once it got down to around the six month mark.. it all just flew. I appreciated and loved (almost) every second of it.. but it's so hard to really let it all sink in sometimes. That time before the wedding - whether it be a few months or a few years - is the only time (hopefully) that we as brides and as women will ever have that experience. And I absolutely loved being there, full of anticipation, having that attention; it was a really nice time of life. You're excited, everyone else is excited, you possibly get to be with friends and family a lot more, and even maybe have a party or two. You get to pick new outfits or repurpose old ones, and you have all those excited, giddy, pre-wedding feelings. It's about you and your partner, your love, your exciting new life together. It's fun.

Photo by Exclamation Imagery

Now don't get me wrong - I am 100, nay, 110% happy with my life and with everything and everyone I am fortunate enough to have in it. Just knowing that Foxy is my husband (I still love saying that!) brings the biggest smile to my face. A wedding is merely a celebration of a marriage, of two people coming together to share their life. It's also one helluva party. ;)

Lucky for us, our photographer recently sent us a preview gallery with some highlights from the day (see above!), which I have been admittedly going through multiple times daily. We were so blessed to have been able to work with two such amazing photographers on our wedding day, and if the preview is any indication, we'll have more than enough images to pore over time and time again when we want to relive the magic of that day. Finally having those images will also get my butt in gear to start on the recaps, which I'm so excited to write - both for you but also for me, and for us to remember things by however many years down the road! (That is, if I stop showing you all every picture I have, thus rendering recaps completely pointless. Can you tell I'm a bit in love with our photos?!)


How was it for you after the wedding? Did you experience the post wedding blues in any way?

Not so official.

As of early September, we still didn't have an officiant. I know I should have gotten on this sooner, but with all the time I've had to plan, I got so used to putting things on the back burner wedding-wise that I just kind of.. let it go.

A little back story, first:

Both of my parents and my paternal grandfather are Lutheran pastors. One of the many questions I frequently get asked regarding the wedding is if I'm going to have my mom and/or dad officiate our wedding ceremony. From the get-go, my answer has always been a resounding HECK NO.

First off, the parentals are divorced and asking both of them do it would be dumb. Second, the parentals are divorced and asking just one of them to do it would be dumb. Third, and most importantly, I want my parents to actually enjoy the wedding, not work during it!

That being said, I still had a plethora of options. Having two pastor parents leads to a lot of pastor friends. Foxy Mama suggested a while back that we contact my godparents (also pastors) to do the ceremony, which was a good idea initially. The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that I don't really know my godparents (I've met them but have no recollection of it, to be honest), and I don't know if they'd be ok with the kind of ceremony Mr. Foxy and I would like to have. I also think just one pastor would be fine. Seeing as I currently consider myself more spiritual than religious and Foxy is an atheist, we cannot and will not have a fully religious ceremony. Ideally, we will have a Lutheran pastor (for me) who will allow us to write most of the ceremony ourselves and be ok with keeping the God-speak on the light side (for Foxy and I both).

Enter long time family friend, Pastor Tom. My family and Tom's family have been friends since before I was born, and I grew up playing with his two kids, one of whom is just 6 months younger than I am. Tom happened to help officiate and preside over my mom's recent second wedding and did a fantastic job of keeping the homily both personal and lighthearted - two things high on my priority list for a wedding ceremony.

Pastor Tom is on the right

So the decision was to ask Tom if he would like to officiate for Foxy and I as well. I emailed him about two months ago and never heard back; I got concerned initially because all those silly wedding checklists are telling me I should have this one in the bag already. I sent a follow-up email a few weeks later and learned that he never got the original email, and also that he would love to do the wedding.

Super cool, right? So I was all excited, relayed my excitement to Foxy, and went to check this one off the list when I get a sweet but apologetic email from Tom saying that he didn't realize that he already has a wedding that day for a couple very active in his church.

Nothing says sad quite like an LOLcat.

Naturally, I did not have a second option at the time. Hive, you probably already know this but please listen up: lesson number 22 in wedding planning? Maybe get an officiant before you set everything else in stone, especially if you have a particular person in mind.

And so, the search continued!

Grrrrr.

I'm sad.

Mucho sad.

While I love blogging for fun (and for you guys) about my life and the wedding, I still harbor a not-so-secret desire to blog for Weddingbee. I obsessively check where each new Bee is from and where their wedding is. So far, so good.

And THEN. I go away on vacation for a week, they introduce Miss Lox, and my chances may very well be absolutely shot to hell.

She's having her wedding at my venue. AND she's a red head.

Whiiiiiiiiinnneeee.

As my friend K-bomb would say, #firstworldproblems.

Whatevs. This sucks.

So woe is me and all that fun stuff. I figure I'll still apply when the time comes, and just recognize that my chances are pretty small. Admittedly, I am kind of excited to read about what she's doing and see her wedding at the Vandiver. But at least I'm getting married a year later than she is, right?!

Right.

...right?!