The Reception...

After Jason and I had signed our marriage license, Nicol, Lesley, Madi worked on bustling my dress. It looks like it was quite a process, don’t you think?

After that was done, Jason and I made our way out to the reception. We didn’t have the typical cocktail hour, assigned seating sit-down dinner, followed by music and dancing set up for our reception because we wanted it to be a bit more laid back and social than that. What we decided with my friend Jess, who works for D’Amico, was that we would have food stations and have a variety of tables set up for our guests. This meant that people would have the opportunity to grab a drink and socialize if they wanted to, or sit down and have dinner right away if they wanted to do that.

The bar was set up to serve guests before the wedding ceremony if they wanted to grab a cocktail ahead of time. It closed shortly before the ceremony and re-opened right after the ceremony was complete. We went back and forth on what to do with the bar and ultimately decided that it made the most sense to host beer and wine. Jason made these signs so that our guests would know what we were hosting.

For dinner, we had 3 different food stations set up. At one station, there was a Spring Roll Platter, Shrimp Potstickers, and Chicken Potstickers. At the second station, there was a variety of Avocado, Cucumber, and Imitation Crab California Rolls. The third station was my fave…it was a chef manned station where guests had the choice of Sticky Rice or Vegetable Rice tossed with either Beef Lo Mein, Cashew Chicken with Bok Choy, or Fire Roasted Vegetables with Red Pepper Aioli. Once they decided what combination they wanted, it was tossed together by the chef and served to them in a white Chinese to-go container that we had Team Jaglo stickers attached to. I was kind of obsessed with it because I thought it was the cutest idea ever!

During dinner, Jason had put together a playlist on his iPod that had a good variety of songs to be played in the background. He also put together a slideshow chronicling his 40 years, my 31 years, and our 7 years together. We decided to have it play during the entire dinner/social hours on a loop rather than having it be a specific thing that we announced and had everyone watch at the same time. This way, people could watch it if they wanted to or ignore it if they wanted to. It was also nice to do it this way because Jason didn’t have to worry about how long it was when he was making it…and I will tell you, it turned out to be pretty long. I think if we had made it a specific point in the reception, it would not have kept everyone’s attention and people may have gotten a little bored!

When Jason and I came into the reception area, we stayed in the same spot for about an hour without moving. We had people coming to say hello and congratulations in a steady stream, which was great, because we were not completely sure how we were going to be able to say hello to everyone that was there…there was about 200 people there after all! Even with that, there was a handful of people at the wedding that we didn’t get a chance to say hello to. Everyone told me that this would happen, but I didn’t understand the extent to how overwhelming all of it would be until we were in the moment.

After about an hour, we were able to sit down for a little bit and eat some of the food. People that were coming up to us to say hello and congratulations were raving about it, so we definitely wanted to try it before it was all gone. The head concierge had set aside a plate for us in the back so that we could eat at some point if we didn’t make it over during the specified dinner hours. We sat down for a few minutes and were able to enjoy some of the food.

After we ate, it was time for toasts. Toasts were given by my sister, my mom, Jason’s sister, Jason’s parents, Jacie, Adair, Mike, and Brian Fogelberg. It was so nice to have the people that we love say so many nice things about us and our relationship…we were both filled with emotion as we laughed and cried at all the toasts!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After toasts, it was time for our first dance. One of our best friends, James, is in a band called Roma di Luna. Jason and I have gone to see them play almost every time they have a show in the cities. There is something about their music that we absolutely love, and the lead singer, Channy Moon Casselle, has the most amazing voice we have ever heard. We went and saw them play at the Uptown Bar a few years ago and they played a song called In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. It brought tears to both of our eyes and from that point forward we decided that this was “our song.”

Beyond the fact that it is a beautiful song, there is a portion of the lyrics that fit Jason and me perfectly. Jason’s nickname for me is “Face,” and the first line of the song is “what a beautiful face I have found in this place.” In the last verse, the first line is “what a beautiful place I have found in your face.” The song just really encapsulates Jason and me perfectly and we love it. We actually even used one of the verses of the song as the theme for our invitations.

As mentioned previously, James, the bass player for Roma di Luna, is a friend of ours and we have some other “small world” connections with the band. The drummer, Ryan Lovan, is actually married to my friend Sarah from high school and Alexei Moon Casselle, the other lead singer of the band, was one of Chris’ students at Barton when he was in 5^th grade. So we were lucky enough to have the band be at our wedding to perform our first dance song live. It could not have been more perfect and I am so thankful to James, Ryan, Alexei, and Channy for doing us the honor of playing our first dance song at our wedding!

Here are the lyrics to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea:

What a beautiful face I have found in this place
That is circling all around the sun
What a beautiful dream that could flash on the screen
In a blink of an eye and be gone from me

Soft and sweet/ let me hold it close and keep it here with me

And one day we will die and our ashes will fly
From the aeroplane over the sea
But for now we are young/ let us lay in the sun
And count every beautiful thing we can see
Love to be in the arms of all I’m keepin’ here with me

What a curious life we have found here tonight
There is music that sounds from the street
There are lights in the clouds Anna’s ghost is all around
Hear her voice as its rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet/ how the notes all bend and reach above the trees

Oh now how I remember you/ how I would push my fingers through

Your mouth to make those muscles move/that make your voice so smooth and sweet

And now we keep what we don’t know/ Our secrets sleep in winter clothes
With one you loved so long ago/ now he don’t even know his name

What a beautiful place I have found in your face
That is circling all around the sun
When we meet on a cloud I’ll be laughing out loud
I’ll be laughing with everyone I see

Can’t believe how strange it is to be anything at all

 

 

Shortly after the first dance, Jason and I were summoned over to the dessert table to do the ceremonial cake cutting. We decided to do an array of mini desserts rather than serving wedding cake as our dessert. The mini desserts included chocolate-covered strawberries and pineapple, key lime tarts, cheesecake lollipops, and some other delicious little morsels. I had found an idea for some really cute cake toppers that Jason’s parents made for us, so we did have a cake, but it was mainly for decoration purposes. Jason and I did the whole cut the cake deal and we fed each other one of the mini desserts. Jason got the key lime tart and I got the chocolate-covered pineapple. They were both delicious! I wish we would have had more of the desserts, but oh well!

 

While we were doing the cake/dessert thing, the Sensational Joint Chiefs took the stage and began their first set. Our friend James is also in this band and Jason used to go see them perform regularly when they played in the Twin Cities. He also had them play at his 30^th birthday party. They still play every once in a while in the Twin Cities, but not very often, so it was a great honor that we were able to have them play our wedding reception!

 

Jason and I had decided that we wanted to have a photobooth at the wedding and it was around the time of the first dance that the photobooth was officially open. We thought it would be a fun thing for our guests to do and we also thought it was a fun alternative to the traditional guestbook. The photobooth took three pictures and would print out two photostrips. There was an attendant at the photobooth that would cut the strips in half and place one of them in a book and have you write a message or sign your name. And you would get the other photostrip as a “memento/souvenir.” I am pretty obsessed with pictures, so I thought it would be a fun idea. People seemed to really enjoy it and we have an awesome guestbook to show for it!

The band was playing, people were dancing and having a good time, so I decided that it was a good time for my surprise for Jason. As you may already know, Jason has a slight obsession with Spiderman. In the beginning of the time that we were planning the wedding, my sister, the Swansons, and I were talking about things that we could do to make our wedding unique. My sister came up with the idea that Spiderman should make an appearance at the wedding. Originally, the idea was that Bradley would dress up as Spiderman to officiate the ceremony, but that seemed like we were not taking the ceremony seriously, so that idea was thrown out. Then Abby volunteered to dress up in a Spiderman costume and just hang out at the ceremony for a little bit. This sounded like it would be hilarious, so we decided that was what we would do. A couple days before the wedding, Abby and I met at Twin Cities Magic and Costume to try on and reserve the costume.

Abby grabbed the costume out of the car and we headed back to the back room to help her get ready in it. I found out later that I missed an impromptu Crescent Moon performance with the Joint Chiefs that I am super bummed to have missed, but I am still hoping someone got it on video (although I don’t think anyone did…) Anyway, I headed out to make sure that Jason was on the dance floor and that his back was to the entrance so he wouldn’t see Abby/Spider”man” come in. He suspected something was up when I wouldn’t allow him to turn even slightly toward the door. By this time, Abby/Spider”man” had made her way to the dance floor. When Jason turned around and saw, I am not sure what exactly was going through his mind, but I think that he thought it was pretty funny. Abby didn’t talk at all, so Jason had no idea who it was in the costume…he was slightly confused by the fact that Spider”man” had breasts though!

The band was actually playing what I think was a polka song and Abby/Spider”man” grabbed Jason and started to dance. It was hilarious and extremely entertaining for all! The song they were dancing to seemed to last an extremely long time, and I found out later that the band actually played it twice in a row so that the dance between Jason and Abby/Spider”man” would last longer! Abby/Spider”man” made rounds throughout the reception and took pictures with a bunch of different people and also spent some time in the photobooth. Overall, I think the surprise was a total success! I am actually shocked that I was able to keep it a secret for as long as I did!

 

 

 

 

 

The reception was somewhat of a blur, so the timeline is not quite so easy to recall. People had told us that we would probably not see each other much throughout the night, but we did a pretty good job of spending time with each other as well as our guests throughout the evening. The one thing that we did not love about the reception was that we only got to spend about 47 seconds with people when we were able to talk to them, because we were constantly pulled in different directions, although I think everyone understood that we would not be able to spend a ton of time with them.

Jason had put together a playlist on his iPod to play when the band took breaks. One of the songs on the playlist was the Hoedown Throwdown by Miley Cyrus, which has a dance that goes with it. I came up with the idea that it would be cute if everyone in the wedding party did the Hoedown Throwdown at the reception as it was a fairly simple dance and it would be pretty cute with all the kids in the wedding. However, with 12 kids and three adults in our wedding party, it was too hard to coordinate everyone learning the dance, so that idea was eventually forgotten. Jason, however, left the song on the playlist, so when it came on, Sean, Madison, Sydney, Devin, and I all did it. It was kind of corny, but it was pretty cute!

 

I also got to have a dance with Nick before they left for the evening. He is a 12 year old boy and not that into dancing, so it was very sweet that he did it for me anyway!

 

Later on in the evening, it was time for Jason’s performance. He had tried to keep his performance a surprise for me, but he is apparently not as good at keeping surprises as I am because I had known about it for weeks. Jason, who is not a singer, got up on stage with the Joint Chiefs and sang me a song. He got together with the band and was able to rehearse it a couple of times, but you would never guess that he had only rehearsed it a couple times! The song was called “It’s Business Time” and it is from the show The Flight of the Conchords. It is wildly inappropriate and hilariously funny and Jason performed it AMAZINGLY!!! Everyone gathered on the dance floor and by the time Jason sang the second chorus, everyone was singing along! Toward the end of the song, Lesley convinced me to go up on stage with Jason while he sang. It was so much fun and I was so impressed with my husband’s performance skills!

Here are the lyrics to the wildly inappropriate and hilarious song he sang:

Aww girl, tonight we’re gonna make love. You know how I know? ‘Cause it’s Wednesday. And Wednesday is the night that we usually make love. Monday is my night to cook, Tuesday night’s the night that we go and visit your mother, but Wednesday night is the night that we make sweet weekly love.

It’s when everything is just right. There’s nothing good on TV, you haven’t had your afterwork social sports team practice so you are not too tired. It’s all on!

You lean in close and say something sexy like, “ I might go to bed I’ve got work in the morning.” I know what you’re trying to say girl. You’re trying to say, “Oh yeah. It’s business time. It’s business time.”

It’s business.

It’s business time.

I know what you’re trying to say, you’re trying to say it’s time for business, it’s business time.

It’s business.

It’s business time.

Ohhh Ohhh Yhea.

Next we’re in the bathroom brushing our teeth. That’s all part of it, that’s foreplay. I love foreplay.

Sheeck sheekk sheeck owww

Then you go sort out the recycling. That’s not part of the foreplay, but it’s still very important.

Next thing you know, we’re in the bedroom. You’re wearing that ugly old baggy t-shirt you got from your work several years ago. You know, the one from Brown College.

I remove my clothes very clumsily, tripping sensuously over my pants. Now I’m naked except for my socks, and you know when I’m down to just my socks what time it is.

It’s business.

It’s business time.

You know when I’m down to just my socks, it’s time for business, that’s why they call it business socks.

It’s business.

It’s business time.

Ohhhhhh yheaaaa

Ooh, makin’ love.

Makin’ love for.

Makin’ love for two.
Makin’ love for two minutes.

When it’s with me, you only need two minutes, ‘cause I’m so intense.

You whisper something sexy like, “Is that it?” I know what you’re trying to say. You’re trying to say, “Aww yeah, that’s it!” Then you tell me you want some more. Well I’m not surprised, but I’m quite sleepy.

It’s business.

It’s business time.

Business hours are over baby.

It’s business.

It’s business time.

 

 

The rest of the evening was spent talking and celebrating with family and friends, taking photos in the photobooth, and dancing. It was an amazing evening and it turned out to be everything that we had hoped for and spent so much time planning. It was worth every penny that we spent, all the inevitable stress that came with it, and every moment we spent planning it. It was definitely the best day of our lives as we had hoped it would be!

Jason and I had talked about what the last dance song should be, but we never really decided on it. Thankfully, the Joint Chiefs are so amazing…they ended up playing the most perfect song, and it was one that we would not have thought of. They played Shining Star by the Manhattans. Here are the lyrics:

Ooo-ooo-ooo yeah

Honey you are my shining star

Don't you go away, oh, baby

Wanna be right here where you are

Until my dyin' day, yeah baby

So many have tried

Tried to find a love like your and mine

Uum-hum

Girl don't you realize

How you hypnotize

Make me love you more each time, yeah baby

Honey I'll never leave you lonely

Give my love to you only

To you only, to you only

Honey you are my shining star

Don't you go away, no baby

Wanna be right here where you are

Until my dying day, yeah baby

Feels so good

When we're lyin' here next to each other

Lost in love, yeah baby

Baby when we touch

Love you so much

You're all I ever dreamed of,yeah baby

Honey I'll never leave you lonely

Give my love to ya only, to you only

To you only

Honey you are my shining star

Don't you go away girl, no bab-ay

Wanna be right here where you are

Until my dying day, um-hum-hum-hum

Honey you, you are my shining star

Don't you go away, whoa baby

(Honey you) you

(are my shining) star

Don't you go away

No-oh bab-ay

(Honey you)

Right here where you are

Till my dying day

After the last dance, we said goodbye to those who made it until 1:00am and Nicol, Jason, and I headed back to the hotel. We were starving, so we decided that we had to stop at a gas station somewhere to get some snacks. Jason’s feet were killing him, my shoulders were about to break from the weight of my dress, and we were exhausted, but our need for snacks outweighed all of that. There was not much open, but we found a SuperAmerica that was open. Nicol and I ran into SA, her in her bridesmaid dress and me in my wedding dress, and we got our snacks. It was not the cleanest of places to go in fancy dresses, but again, the need for snacks trumped all! We got back in the car and headed to the hotel. Nicol helped us bring our stuff back to the room as we had one more task to complete before the night was over.

Every year, we send out a funny Christmas card. We had talked about the fact that we thought that everyone would be expecting that this year, instead of a funny card, we would be sending out a wedding picture as our Christmas card. We figured that we would deliver on the wedding picture aspect of the card, but we would add a “Team Jaglo funny twist” to it. So Nicol came to our room with us and we had a quick photo shoot. We think that we ended up with a lovely picture for our Christmas card:

After Nicol left, we had some snacks, talked about the evening for a little bit, and tried to stay awake as long as we could. Eventually, we stopped fighting our exhaustion and went to sleep for the evening…our first of many nights together as Team Jaglo!