After cocktail hour, it was time for the reception to begin. The wedding party was introduced as couples- first the parents, and then our bridesmaids and groomsmen. After our wedding party, it was our turn to be introduced as husband and wife to all of our family and friends! We all danced out to the same song that played as we left our ceremony- “Home” by Phillip Phillips.

 

 

   

 

As soon as we walked out, we went right into our first dance as husband and wife, dancing to Adele’s version of “Make You Feel My Love.” We had our wedding party standing at the back as we danced. I never took the chance to look back at them, so I’m glad we have some of these heartwarming pictures of them watching our first dance.

 

        

We sat down for dinner and not long after, speeches began. My Dad went first, right at the beginning. For anyone who knows my Dad, they know that he’s an incredibly intelligent and well spoken man and his speech followed this, I had multiple people come up to me later on in the night, and even to this day, telling me that it was one of the greatest speeches they’ve ever heard at a wedding. His speech was filled with loving wishes, heartfelt words, wonderful memories, and plenty of embarrassing stories from my childhood. Hey… growing up with two older brothers was tough!

  

My Maid of Honor, Hannah, gave a wonderful and touching speech. We met in college, instantly connected, and almost immediately became best friends. In her speech she mentioned that through college, we both were in committed relationships, however spent way more time with each other than either of our boyfriends (as hers went to West Point). This is completely true, however we are both so grateful for it, as it allowed us to build a lasting life-long friendship.

Conor’s Best Man was his younger brother, Tipper. He gave a speech full of jokes and laughter. Tipper is very witty but also incredibly kind like his older brother. His speech had us all laughing. He ended it with a phrase we’re all familiar with in his family, as it’s something that Conor’s grandfather (his Dad’s Dad) said to Conor’s Mom on their wedding night… “He’s you’re problem now”….

   

After dinner, Conor and I cut our cake- vanilla with maple cream cheese frosting!! We opted for cupcakes for our guests, as we loved that fact that we could have a pretty wide range of flavors (with included both strawberry cheesecake and maple bacon). For the special day, Conor’s Mom also worked months on perfecting the art of baking a Norwegian wedding cake- a wonderful tradition as her side of the family is Norwegian. Our guests as well as Conor and I loved this detail!

My Daddy and I danced to “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder. A moment from the day that’ll always be a favorite of mine! Our videographer gave us a special video of this dance and I watch it quite often- loving how big our smiles are and how much fun we are having dancing, just the two of us together.

Conor and his Mom danced to “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. It was a beautiful moment for them which ended in the dip of all dips!

From there, the DJ invited all couples to the dance floor to dance to a favorite song of Conor and I, Tennessee Whiskey, by Christ Stapleton.

After that, the party truly got started…

 

One of the biggest wishes that Conor and I had for our wedding day was that our guests would have a blast and love dancing. I’m a HUGE fan of dancing, when people would ask me in the days leading up to our wedding what I was most looking forward to- I’d tell them that I couldn’t wait to dance all night, and that I did!

Our DJ, Top Hat Entertainment, did an INCREDIBLE job keeping the dance floor packed all night long. We had numerous guests come up to us the next day complimenting him. Many of them saying that they were waiting for a break in the music or for even just a mediocre song to come on so they could take a break to grab a drink or use the restroom… but the music just didn’t stop! We even had a guest come up to us the next day and say how at one point he looked around and there wasn’t a single person at their table, the photobooth, or the bar- every single guest was out there on the dance floor.

 

I still say it today, never have I ever had as much fun as I did on the dance floor at our wedding. If I could relive any moment from that day It’d really be those few hours (oh ya… and that totally awesome kiss I got to share with my husband for the first time)!!

 

 

Our last photos of the night were under the sparkler arch by our friends and family. Another great moment from that day.

 

 

 

 

Our wedding day was truly a dream. One filled with so much love, joy, laughter, happy tears, and certainly plenty of dance moves. The best part of it all is that I left that day with my new husband- hand in hand- finally after all these years. I’m incredibly lucky and blessed, and will always remember this day truly as

the best

day

ever