Finally, a wedding and honeymoon post!

It took a couple of hours and some tears, but I finally uploaded all the wedding and reception pictures to flickr. There were so many pictures that Flickr Uploader actually crashed twice in the process. I didn't put descriptions on all the photos because I needed time to eat and sleep, and it was either the pictures or my health and sanity, so I chose the latter.

Here's a picture of the wedding party:

From Left: my dad, middle sister Leslie, youngest sister Kendal, me, Sean (the groom), his best man Erin, friend Lane, and his younger brother Lee, in front of the Polk County Court House in Des Moines, where we got hitched.


The reception was at the Walnut Woods Lodge in West Des Moines. I was so busy getting ready that morning that I went with wet hair. It was crazy, but we pulled it off:


The Location



Interior


We bought all the flowers that morning and Leslie frantically arranged them. The ones on this table are actually the bride's and bridesmaids' bouquets. I baked the cake and cupcakes myself because they needed to be gluten-free for my sister and father. My sister Kendal decorated the cake and Leslie decorated the cupcakes. We ordered the sheet cake and all the food from HyVee. We had TONS left over.


We provided these fruit and veg plates, plus a meat and cheese trays and sammich-making stuff.



Bought these metal tubs at Lowes. Unfortunately they were leaking melting ice like crazy.



Bought these personalized fans for everyone, thinking we'd have a typical mid-July day in Iowa (hot and humid). The weather turned out to be so unbelievably cool that we now have $100 worth of personalized fans sitting in our kitchen. Any takers???


Leslie brought her amp and mic, so we used that for the toasts. Here., the best man salutes me for putting up with Sean.



Here, Leslie sings my requested song, "Grow Old With Me" by John Lennon. She was a hit, and did an encore.


Eating. Drinking.


After the speeches, we all went outside for some non-dancing entertainment.



Sean brought his mini soccer nets and hockey gear. He said it was for the kids, but I think we all know better:



After the wedding, we went out for Karaoke, which I pooped out on early. After the reception, the groom and his friends went out to the BBQ and Blues fest downtown, but I was too tired for that, too. They all eventually came back to our place and played with our Wii, and if that sounds dirty, it's probably because it is. I fell asleep, so I have no idea what other shenanigans went on.

So, the next step is our honeymoon trip to London, which starts August 17th. I am feverishly preparing for that now in advance, packing, planning, etc. I don't travel well, and I anticipate the jet lag will not be much fun for me. Still, this is a trip of a lifetime for me, so I will try to suck it up.

For more exciting photos, feel free to peruse my flickr uploads in the Wedding collection.