At this time last year, I was busy donning a gorgeous lace gown…

…having my hair and makeup attended to…

…meeting up with my groom…

…saying “I do…”

…sharing a first dance…

…eating the most beautiful (and delicious) cake I’d ever laid my eyes on…

…cracking up on the dance floor with a few crazy wedding guests…

…and starting a wonderful new life together. I can’t believe that a year has passed since our wedding day; time flies when you’re having fun, right? So far, we’ve had a wonderful anniversary weekend: I’ll share the fun with you very soon! I hope you are all enjoying your Memorial Day!

*Photos courtesy of Pilster Photography*

Even though I was quite confident that our dance party could have continued well into the night, our evening did have to come to a close. Thankfully, we had a few plans to end the night with some sparkle…

We purchased extra long sparklers before the wedding to stage for our exit. If you are planning a sparkler exit for your getaway – DEFINITELY get these; the regular sized short sparklers that you use on the 4th of July will not last long enough for a grand exit and you will be left with smoky photos! Carlouel was nice enough to provide matches to light and buckets to dispose of our sparklers. After the DJ played the final song, he asked our guests to move towards the exit and line up outside for the sparkler excitement! Under the direction of our DOC, they formed a walkway for Justin and I to walk through!

Here we come!

I’m sure you might be wondering what was waiting for us at the end of that sparkling walkway…it was our getaway car!

Setting up a getaway vehicle for our exit was a bit of a process. Justin and I were staying at a hotel on the beach located only about a mile down the road from Carlouel. Realistically, it would have been extremely expensive to rent a car or hire a limo…to take us one mile down the road. We thought through a few different options: perhaps we could find someone with a really cool car that they would be willing to lend to us? No dice. One day, the manager at Carlouel mentioned that there was a man who owned a couple of old fashioned NYC cabs that run up and down Clearwater beach. Perfect! I scoured the Internet looking for his information, but came up empty handed; he wasn’t listed, as far as I could tell. The old fashioned cabs were a mystery to me…until the afternoon of my bachelorette party. MOH L, BM K, and I were driving back to the beach house from the grocery store when…lo and behold…driving down the street in front of the beach house was my mystery man! The brakes on my car screeched as I put my car in park and literally jumped out and threw myself in front of the taxi cab, waving my arms like a mad lady. I procured his business card with contact information, and we scheduled him to arrive right before the end of our reception. This worked out fabulously for us, as we only had to pay for the ride duration, rather than paying for hours tat were unnecessary!

As fate would have it, the first cab’s battery died in front of Carlouel, so the second car in the fleet had to make an appearance to jump it! No matter – that meant we were able to get some fun photos!

Well, it was about time to hit the road…

We were off…as husband and wife…after a wonderful wedding day! And to top it all off, as soon as we got a few blocks down the road, Justin  and I heard the *pop* of a champagne cork. Our driver had purchased a bottle of champagne for us, and promptly handed back two bubbly glasses to enjoy! One final, private toast…to celebrate the two of us!

*photos courtesy of Pilster Photography

Previously…

The girls got ready, then the guys got ready.

I became a bride, but our first look wasn’t what I’d hoped.

We took some photos alone and then with our bridal party.

Everyone hopped on the trolley and we took some family portraits before my cake arrived.

I gathered myself before the ceremony, our bridal party made their way down the aisle, and I followed afterward.

Our ceremony began with some readings and ended with a handfasting ceremony.

My ‘maids helped me adjust my bustle and we entered the cocktail hour.

We had fun in the photo booth then took some photos on the water.

We made our grand entrance, shared our first dance, and then danced with our parents.

Toasts were made, food was eaten, and a sunset was enjoyed.

I shared all the little details, and then the dance party got started!

We had a few “typical traditions.” then a surprise spotlight dance.

The dance party continued, and Grandpa showed off his moves.

I considered including this particular set of photos with the other dancing pictures from our reception, but I felt as though they deserved their own special post.

One awesome thing about weddings (well, ours at least) is watching the celebration unfold, and really seeing some people come out of their shell!

Over the course of our reception, a bromance formed. Don’t ask me how, don’t ask me why, but Grandpa and Groomsman J hit it off…on the dance floor!

Seriously, did someone slip something into their drinks??? These two were cracking EVERYONE up!

And…when Groomsman J happened to take a few breaks, Grandpa did his own thing too! He was seriously the life of the party!!!!

Have you witnessed some crazy dance moves on the dance floor at a wedding?

*photos courtesy of Pilster Photography*

Previously…

The girls got ready, then the guys got ready.

I became a bride, but our first look wasn’t what I’d hoped.

We took some photos alone and then with our bridal party.

Everyone hopped on the trolley and we took some family portraits before my cake arrived.

I gathered myself before the ceremony, our bridal party made their way down the aisle, and I followed afterward.

Our ceremony began with some readings and ended with a handfasting ceremony.

My ‘maids helped me adjust my bustle and we entered the cocktail hour.

We had fun in the photo booth then took some photos on the water.

We made our grand entrance, shared our first dance, and then danced with our parents.

Toasts were made, food was eaten, and a sunset was enjoyed.

I shared all the little details, and then the dance party got started!

We had a few “typical traditions.” then a surprise spotlight dance.

The dance party continued.

The week before the wedding, my friend J was insistent that we all needed to “slap the floor” during the wedding reception at some point. I wasn’t sure why we were doing it, but it seemed to be the thing to do. This included my mother as well. Let’s do this!

Of course, I had to slap the floor as well. However, I decided to add a little flair…

Actually, I had to “slap the floor” backward because it was too hard to bend forward in my dress. Whatever.

Meanwhile, Justin was catching up with his college friends.

The dance floor was really heating up at this point!

One of the highlights of the reception was getting to see some friends and relatives really get into the dancing. My dad was really getting loose out there!

I think we broke out “the lawnmower,” “the sprinkler,” and “the shopping cart.”

Then…my uncles (and a few others) decided to join in…

Now, before the wedding I had been absolutely against certain songs being played at the reception. I had provided our DJ with a list of “banned” songs, and he was great at sticking to it. However, I did add the caveat that if multiple guests continually requested a particular song it was ok to go ahead and play it. And, wouldn’t you know it? Our guests REALLY wanted to dance to the Cha-Cha Slide. Our DJ asked my permission, and I gave the go-ahead. Let’s be serious: sometimes it is best to just LET GO. You know what? We had a LOT of fun dancing to a few of my “banned” songs in the end!

Everyone was having such a great time – I’m quite sure that we could have kept the dance floor hopping WELL past the end of the reception…

However, it was almost time to call it a night…

*photos courtesy of Pilster Photography*

Previously…

The girls got ready, then the guys got ready.

I became a bride, but our first look wasn’t what I’d hoped.

We took some photos alone and then with our bridal party.

Everyone hopped on the trolley and we took some family portraits before my cake arrived.

I gathered myself before the ceremony, our bridal party made their way down the aisle, and I followed afterward.

Our ceremony began with some readings and ended with a handfasting ceremony.

My ‘maids helped me adjust my bustle and we entered the cocktail hour.

We had fun in the photo booth then took some photos on the water.

We made our grand entrance, shared our first dance, and then danced with our parents.

Toasts were made, food was eaten, and a sunset was enjoyed.

I shared all the little details, and then the dance party got started!

We had a few “typical traditions.” then a surprise spotlight dance.