Porcupines Pick Their Person & Peace Out

Well, this is it. I really can't believe it. My time blogging on Weddingbee has come to an end. It is indeed time for the Porcupines to peace out.

The necessary Brooklyn peace out at the end of the night

Photo courtesy of friends

When I applied for Weddingbee, after a lot of back and forth on the whole matter, I had no idea how wrapped up in this world I would get. I didn't even think I would get chosen, and yet here I am almost a year later bringing it to a close. I thought I would just write a few witty posts about the oddity of my life mixed in with the joys of planning a wedding I never even knew I wanted, but I never really envisioned the day happening and being over. I planned our wedding for over 1 1/2 years, and just like I expected...I was relived when it was all over.

Seriously, HALLELUJAH. I am so glad that chapter of life is closed. Planning a wedding was like that part-time job I didn't remember applying for, but found myself working at every day after my full-time job (that happens, right?). I am so glad that the wedding was one of the best nights of our life. I am so glad everyone had fun, and seemed to love our wedding as much as we did. I am even more glad to be married to the person I already considered myself married to in my head. Paper didn't change things for us, but like everyone should have the right to, it sure does "official" things up.

But, I am pretty sad that it's time to go. Weddingbee has introduced me to people I would never have known. It has taught me that there is absolutely no "right way" to have a wedding, and it has been a hell of a lot of fun. Most importantly, it made me remember that I like to write. Actually, that I love to write, and it has encouraged me to start doing a lot more of it, because life is too short to forget about what you like to do.

I'm sure I won't be a total stranger. If I get too strange(er)ish, you can find me at New York Nonsense, where I'll ramble on about my general ridiculous and sometimes domesticated life in this crazy city. Or, come tweet me @NewYorkNonsense, where I randomly splooge out things in my brain.

Seriously, it's been real....

Photo copyright of Klose Photography

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day
• We exchange presents
• We don’t rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look
• We take the formal pics
• We get signed, sealed, delivered
• I have a minor nervous breakdown as the ceremony begins
• We get all married up
• The choreographed first dance surprises everyone!
• Traditions get the party started right
• We dance like the apocalypse is coming
• We take a breather to throw in some more wedding traditions 
• We dance the last dance 
• The details come together perfectly

Porcupines Pick Their Person- Details of the Day

*All photos copyright of Klose Photography

The details of our wedding day came together perfectly, and I honestly didn't even plan for them to mesh together as well as they did. I have no good explanation for why the things I chose came together. They just did. It became a mish-mosh of rustic, peacock, blues, mason jars, and chalkboards. If there's one thing you can learn from my wedding plan tale it's to DO WHAT YOU WANT. It all comes together in the end, and you'll look back and know you did things how you wanted them.

I have a huge love for accessories so it was only natural for me to pick some very "Mrs. P"-ish ones for our wedding. Etsy became my best-friend during this part of wedding planning.

 Peacock clips from Lucyohlucy

Earrings were my "something borrowed"/Chunky pearl necklace from Ohmyliferocks

Beaded peacock-colored purse I got on the cheap during a random DSW sale

 

The "Feather Girl" baskets were mostly full of cheap blue & green feathers with a few peacock feathers tossed in, which were recycled from my bridal shower centerpieces (peacock feathers are way too pricey to buy specifically for tossing onto the ground!)

Overall, I loved our flowers, but to be completely honest my bouquet was way more purple than I wanted it to be. Actually, I specifically said I wanted absolutely no purple at all and, somehow, my bouquet ended up looking more purple than blue. It didn't really bother me at all that night because I loved the arrangement itself. It's sitting dead on my windowsill now as I type this. I feel like I can't throw it out (even though it smells horrendous)!

 

Can't forget those bees- even though it took a small army to figure out how to get them to stay put!

Loved our cake toppers from Itty Bitty Wood Shoppe

We decided to do a mix of high and low centerpieces, and had floating candles on the tables with river rocks at the bottom. I think the tablescapes looked absolutely perfect in the room.

Our cute little peacock-stickered favors packed with homemade fudge made by me and my mom

Clothespin "place tags", a peacock card box, and our wine cork guest "book"

 Some of our DIY chalkboards

My mother-in-law was lucky enough to acquire the chuppah from friends of hers. It consisted of four flower pots and four birch branches stuck into PVC piping. Our florist filled the flower pots with simple flowers, greenery, and twigs; and a blue tablecloth served as the covering.

The most beautiful detail had to be our venue, Riverdale Manor, which is truly a one-of-a-kind spot.

Do you plan to incorporate a lot of details into your wedding day?

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day
• We exchange presents
• We don’t rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look
• We take the formal pics
• We get signed, sealed, delivered
• I have a minor nervous breakdown as the ceremony begins
• We get all married up
• The choreographed first dance surprises everyone!
• Traditions get the party started right
• We dance like the apocalypse is coming
• We take a breather to throw in some more wedding traditions 
• We dance the last dance

Porcupines Pick Their Person- Save the Last Dance for Me

All photos copyright of Klose Photography, except where noted*

After we had cut the cake and tossed the garter, it was back to business on the dance floor.

 Bridesmaid Blondie and I having a fierce dance off to our favorite song from High School 

(Dance with Me by 112...don't judge.)

 

 Our DJ even put on some Biggie for us to scratch to. I look so serious, but I swear I was aware that I looked completely ridiculous 

Mr. P's cousins were adorable all night and definitely had a treat dancing way past their bedtime

As the night came to a close our last song of the night began to play. We chose a Michael Buble favorite.

I honestly couldn't believe it was all over. The year and a half planning, the stress, the fun, the anxiety, the laughter, the night was all over. Just like that! It was a blur of pimples, puking, dancing, and laughter.

We had to collect everything from the venue and bring it all back with us on the shuttles to the hotel. There was a bit of a confusion since we had so much stuff to shlep, but with the help of family and friends we loaded everything up pretty quickly. We all convened back at the hotel lobby where we divvied up the items into cars to be taken home or to Mr. P's parents' house the next day.

Photo courtesy of friends

Thankfully our top tier was found after a slight scare that it had disappeared into the abyss!

Photo courtesy of work wife

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look 
• We take the formal pics 
• We get signed, sealed, delivered
• I have a minor nervous breakdown as the ceremony begins
• We get all married up  
• The choreographed first dance surprises everyone! 
• Traditions get the party started right 
• We dance like the apocalypse is coming
• We take a breather to throw in some more wedding traditions

Porcupines Pick Their Person- The Fun Continues!

 All photos copyright of Klose Photography*

We took a little break from dancing the night away like straight-up fools for some civilized behavior, starting with the father/daughter & mother/son dances.

We also took the time to get the wedding cake cut! I was really excited about our mini wedding cake and cake bar. I'm normally not a cake person, but Providence Divine Cakes in York, PA is seriously delicious. We chose to cut our cake closer to the end of the night. I've only ever known the cake to be saved until the tail-end of weddings, but have since learned that people usually cut the cake right after dinner. Who knew?

 

Mr. P looked a little nervous when I held up that giant knife (I've actually never seen such a giant knife in my life)

 The bottom tier of our "mini wedding cake" was rainbow and the top- yet to be eaten- is funfetti

 We had a cake and cookie bar of assorted flavors, which all together cost less than a SINGLE wedding cake since all I wanted was simple/homemade looking cakes, and nothing with elaborate fondant

The flower and garter toss was up next, which I went back and forth on what to do about for some time. I knew I wanted to toss the bouquet, but wasn't so sure about the extremely awkward act of having your husband reach up your dress like a straight-up creep to get the garter. In the end, Mr. P. convinced me to do the garter toss for tradition's sake. When it came time for the garter toss I suddenly realized I had never put my garter on! My DJ announced that it was about to begin, and Bridesmaid Roomie booked it like hell to the bridal suite to find the damn thing. We literally pulled it right up my leg a moment before I plopped into the chair.

  Yes, that person looks like me because my little sister caught it, and looks extremely alarmed to have done so...

 And, then, after explaining to Mr. P where a garter is...

...he tossed it, and my sister's boyfriend caught it! (I swear- NOT rigged.)

 

Look at our flower girl in the background looking scarred for life, yikes!

We still had another hour or so until it was time to wrap it up, and we definitely made the most of the rest of the evening on the dance floor, including a little bride/groom DJ session, yet to come!

Do you plan to include traditional aspects like the bouquet/garter toss and parent dances into your wedding?

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look 
• We take the formal pics 
• We get signed, sealed, delivered
• I have a minor nervous breakdown as the ceremony begins
• We get all married up  
• The choreographed first dance surprises everyone! 
• Traditions get the party started right 
• We dance like the apocalypse is coming

Porcupines Pick Their Person- Dance until You Drop

All photos copyright of Klose Photography except where noted*

When I last left off, our reception was off to a fun start thanks to a giant challah and a festive horah. We were served dinner and then the party quickly got underway.

I knew we had a lively crowd, but I wasn't expecting to have as much fun as I did at our reception. I thought there would be too much going on to stop and enjoy myself. I'm glad I was wrong and that it turned out to be the most fun I've had at a wedding, which is how I think it should be since it is was our wedding and all.

 

 

I was worried about the kids being able to stay awake, but just look at this little guy making himself comfortable, untucking his shirt, and looking extremely suave late into the night

Entertaining themselves by making their ties fly over the air vent 

Picture courtesy of Bridesmaid Roomie

 A quick stop for a cute pic - photo from my college suitemate

Belting out our sorority song

 Mr. P's friends/family from Colorado even got me to Tebow after a torturous football season of Mr. P. yapping my ear off about the Broncos' chosen one (too bad, so sad- that didn't last long)

After working up a sweat (hence my dead hair that ended up in a ponytail throughout the night), it was time for a little breather for the cake cutting, bouquet toss, and garter toss. But, first, a little hydration...

I love this picture for many reasons, but mostly because that is Mr. P's beer, not mine, and my work wife is doing the same thing in the background

Did you have a lot of dancing at your reception or was it more laid back?

• I become the BK Bride
• The pimple of death threatens to ruin our day 
• We exchange presents  
• We don't rehearse, but we laugh
• I puke, but the show must go on!
• We get ready to wed
• I wave at our first look 
• We take the formal pics 
• We get signed, sealed, delivered
• I have a minor nervous breakdown as the ceremony begins
• We get all married up  
• The choreographed first dance surprises everyone! 
• Traditions get the party started right