Wedding Week Link-Up: Reception

Linking up over at Natasha's Blog for the reception edition of this fabulous wedding week link-up party!

Holy smokes. It's quite possible that the most fun was had at our reception!

 ...It's also quite possible that we may have done the robot a little...just a little

Abel making his Best Man speech...

...And Charlene making her Maid of Honor speech. She brought down the house might I add, had everyone in both tears and laughter. Like how I threw ice and cold pool water on her one summer when she decided to pass out on me while we were laying out. Cause that's what you do when your Pooks-for-life...you bring each other back from the dead! 

First dance: "Soul Mate" by Josh Turner 

Daddy-daughter dance: "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman 

Mother of the Groom dance: "Heart to Heart (Stelen's Song)" by Toby Keith

I got a little choked up a few times throughout the whole day, but the only time tears actually fell for me was when we had a special Veteran's dance to honor all the Veteran's in the room. Since Nate is a vet and served a year in Iraq and a couple of his groomsmen served with him, and a few of our family members served in the Armed Forces, including his grandfather, a WWII vet, it was such a special moment for us. We danced to "American Soldier" by Toby Keith and I just couldn't help the water works from flowing! There's a deep and poignant sense of pride and patriotism when I think about where my husband has been and what he's done, along with all the other Veteran's that surrounded us.  

My absolute FAVORITE part of the reception was this paddle game that we played, that was actually our DJ's idea! My mom and I were kinda skeptical at first, cause we'd never heard of it and wondered if it would work, but it turned out to be a HIT and I'm so glad we did it!

At the beginning of dinner the DJ handed out cards for the guests to write down questions for the bride and groom (keeping it clean, of course). Then later, the bride and groom sat back to back with paddles labeled one side "bride" and one side "groom." The DJ would read a question and we would answer respectively who we felt fit the question most appropriately. It was hilarious! 

We had questions like "who is the first one to start a fight?" To which I'm sure the answer looked like this:

Hey, at least he can admit his faults right? =)

Other questions ranged anywhere from, "who has the most pairs of shoes?" (the answer to which is definitely Nate; guy's got a pair of hiking boots for every occasion), "Who has control of the TV remote?" "Who will eat the most cake?" (to which I'm sure we all know the answer to that one...), and so on and so forth. I'm telling you, it was a BLAST! Loved it!!

 So how about when Nate went in to get the garter...he came out with a pair of undies. ...Not gonna lie, I had to check myself for a minute there, like "wait, whaaat?" Guy's got jokes, thinks he's funny. ...it actually was pretty funny though, our DJ put him up to it and everyone got a good laugh!

There's what we're looking for!

Our dad's did a little dancing...

...And then our mom's did a little dancing

...And then I did a little rapping.

No big deal.

...And then Kristy totally showed me up in the shake-your-groove-thang department

And then Nate and I cleaned house in the air guitar competition...

 Some people argue that it was rigged and that since we were the bride and groom we had to win, but I'm telling you, it's cause we're awesome and rocked the socks off that air guitar.

Exhibit A

Nate played the air guitar under my dress.

Bam.

We had so much fun and just didn't want the night to end!

With that, Nate requested one of his favorite songs, a song he listened to every night before going to sleep while he was deployed, "All We Ever Find" by Tim McGraw, we danced with our closest friends and family in a circle around us...

  

...and then they kicked us out! Can you believe that?! ...I know, I couldn't either! The nerve!

Stay tuned for the last edition of this wedding week link-up par-taaay!