The Luckiest: One Seriously Amazingly Raging Blow-Out Party

When Mr. Octo and I talked about our very top priorities for our wedding, everything paled in comparison to "feels like really lively, fun, ragingly awesome party." The dance party aspect wedding reception was more important to us than anything else.

It was also the only thing that I never once worried might go wrong. Believe me, in the last two weeks leading up to our wedding day, I found a way to worry about everything else. I woke up every morning fresh out of a crazy dream about wedding disasters, and when I was anxious with stress, I considered ways that virtually every other element of our wedding could go wrong. But the thought that our wedding reception might fail to live up to the gigantic celebration of life I was dreaming of never once crossed my mind. I know us, and I know our guests. I come from a long line of party animals, and I kind of sincerely believe that Mr. Octo and I have cornered the market on really, really fun-loving friends. I knew that our reception would be fantastic, and I was right.

That said, I'll be honest: this recap was harder to write than any of my others! I've found it really tough to articulate exactly how it felt to be surrounded by my brand new husband and family and friends, all the people I love most in the world, all of whom were just as excited and joyful and celebratory as I was. I can tell you that I'm very sure that our wedding reception will always stick in my head as one of the most treasured memories of my life. I can tell you that I very clearly remember pausing at one point, looking around, and thinking, "this is exactly what I was hoping it would be." Other than that, though, if you don't mind.....I'm going to let the pictures tell most of the story on this one.

(All photos, except those noted, courtesy of Corey Ann Photography.) 

"Mom and Dad, I am about to go BANANAS on this dance floor."













I asked the DJ to play the University of Pittsburgh's fight song specifically so Mr. Octo could have this moment with his best friend and his brother-in-law.









From this point on, I don't believe you will find a picture of me without a drink in my hand. I'd like to point out that a.) I was nursing them, and b.) NO SHAME! IT'S MY WEDDING DAY, BABY!



You guys, I love Erica so much.





Interpretive husband-and-wife performance of the "Single Ladies" routine:





And no I did not put my beer down to do it. I told you, no shame!





I have to tell you guys, Grandma Octopus is a badass. She's 86, drank multiple gin and tonics, and danced all night.

(Guest photo.)

Best Man JP and MOH/Sister Lauren had not met before our wedding weekend, but discovered that they are soul mates who share a taste for the finer things in life and a mutual love of making catty remarks.

(Guest photo.)

Three generations of women who love to raaaaaaage:



And.....surprise! I never intended to change out of my wedding dress during our reception, and up until we started going around and greeting guests at the dinner tables, I didn't have any plans to do so. But man, although it was beautiful and I loved it, that dress was a beast. It was bulky, heavy, and tight. Once I started really actively moving around (and eating!), I got so uncomfortable and hot that I was just dying to take it off. My aunt Cathy saved the day, and made a quick stop back over to the hotel to pick up what was supposed to be my after-party dress for me! I changed into it when we had about thirty minutes left in our reception, and man was it a relief to finally peel my beautiful, hot, tight, uncomfortable dress off. I stepped out of the bathroom stall and squealed, "I'M FREE!"

(Guest photo.)

The funny thing was, our guests thought it was totally delightful that I switched dresses near the end. People acted like I had just pulled off a fabulous surprise costume change, when in actuality I was just really really sweaty. Ha!

I was also really happy to have changed into such a light, comfortable dress because it totally maximized my cutting-loose capacities for the last thirty minutes of our reception, when the drinks had been flowing for a while and the dancing started getting particularly raging.

(Guest photo.)

(Guest photo.)

Our last dance was Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," and it was possibly the best three minutes of my life. I was totally overwhelmed with joy and happiness at how much fun we were all having, and I was surrounded by people who love Mr. Octo and I and who were having a total blast at the party we worked really hard to throw. We all jumped up and down and fist-pumped and sang like our lives depended on it, and at one point, I twirled around in a circle, trying to look at everyone all at once, thinking, "don't forget this!"

And then it was over. We didn't have any kind of formal send-off to wrap up our wedding. We danced 'til they turned the lights on and the staff nudged us out, then Mr. Octo and I sat in the bucket seats in the back of my mom's minivan and rode back to our hotel with my parents. We headed up to our room, I found a stray out-of-town bag and inhaled the bag of white cheddar popcorn inside, and then we met back up with our friends and headed to an Irish pub down the street for some after-partying. 

There are not a lot of photos documenting this portion of the night, but this ought to give you a pretty good idea:





If you're on the fence about having an after-party, I recommend without hesitation that you DO IT! I expected to be exhausted, but I was absolutely not, and it was really, really fun to spend a little more time socializing in a more low-key way. Our actual wedding reception was a dream come true, but the after-party was a different, more normal kind of enjoyable. I felt like my regular self again, you know? I loved being THE BRIDE! all day, but I was also really glad to turn the spotlight off, slap a giant sweatshirt on, and just be Octo again, having a beer at the bar with my friends.

I finally turned into a pumpkin around 1 AM and was suddenly hit with a wall of exhaustion, feeling so tired I could barely hold my head up. Mr. Octo and I walked hand-in-hand back to our hotel, where he surprised me by remembering the old tradition, and scooped me up to carry me across the threshold into our hotel room to finally, finally call it a day.

And.....that's it, hive! That's the story of our wedding day! I have so, so loved writing these recaps. Our entire wedding weekend was one of the most beautiful, joyful experiences of my life, so much so that it practically has a sparkly gold aura around it in my memory. Having the opportunity to tell the story and share those amazing few days, and the photos of them, with all of you has been so gratifying. Thank you so much for listening.

Don't worry, though. You can't get rid of me quite that easily. Stick around for a big fat budget breakdown and one last goodbye!

Previously, in the Octopus wedding....

• We did errands all the live-long day.
• We ran late, we got stressed, and we argued.
• We rehearsed and had dinner, and had a great time doing it.
• We got fancy with hair and makeup.
• I got bridal.
• I waited and soaked up the moment in Heinz Chapel.
• We processed up the aisle.
• We made it official.
• We posed our way through our family portraits.
• I had, then recovered from, a minor freak-out.
• We took portraits with our bridal party.
• We took some smoochy pictures.
• We posed for some skyline shots.
• I showed you how it all came together.
• We had just a few minutes to enjoy the end of our cocktail hour.
• We were introduced into our reception…..and almost screwed up the cake-cutting.
• We danced.
• We listened to toasts, and visited our guests during dinner.
• I danced with my father, he danced with his sister. 

The Luckiest: Father and Daughter (and Brother and Sister)

As our dinner finished up, it was time to kick off the dance party with our family dances.

First, I danced with my dad to Paul Simon's song "Father and Daughter."

(All photos courtesy of Corey Ann Photography.)



Here's a secret! The first time I ever heard the song many years ago, it made me cry because it reminded me of my dad so much. I left the song choice totally up to him (and he worked his way through a DJ's list of suggestions with great seriousness and purpose), but secretly I was really pulling for this one. And that's the one he chose! (My mom is DYIIINNGGG right now as she reads this, btw.)



"I'm gonna watch you shine,
Gonna watch you grow,
Gonna paint a sign
So you'll always know
As long as one and one is two,
There could never be a father who loves his daughter more than I love you."




Another wedding photo for the ages:



Next, Mr. Octo danced with his sister Kathy, to James Taylor's "You've Got a Friend."







Mr. Octo and his sister wrapped up their dance with a hug, and then? It was time to RAGE!

Previously, in the Octopus wedding....

• We did errands all the live-long day.
• We ran late, we got stressed, and we argued.
• We rehearsed and had dinner, and had a great time doing it.
• We got fancy with hair and makeup.
• I got bridal.
• I waited and soaked up the moment in Heinz Chapel.
• We processed up the aisle.
• We made it official.
• We posed our way through our family portraits.
• I had, then recovered from, a minor freak-out.
• We took portraits with our bridal party.
• We took some smoochy pictures.
• We posed for some skyline shots.
• I showed you how it all came together.
• We had just a few minutes to enjoy the end of our cocktail hour.
• We were introduced into our reception…..and almost screwed up the cake-cutting.
• We danced. 
• We listened to toasts, and visited our guests during dinner. 

The Luckiest: Four Toasts and A Successful Plan of Attack

Once everyone settled down at their tables, it was time for our toasts to begin. The first speaker was MOH/Sister Lauren, who gave a sweet, funny, and light-hearted toast about how Mr. Octo has become a part of our family through the years, and the ways he & I support each other.

(All photos courtesy of Corey Ann Photography.)



I love my sister. Can you tell?





After Lauren's great toast, Best Man JP stepped up to the microphone. His toast was bit more serious and sentimental than my sister's....



.....which touched Mr. Octo's heart.



He fit a few jokes in too, though.







Next, one of our beloved family friends (Bridesmaid Hannah's mom!) stepped up to give a blessing. She has known me and cared for me and been a huge part of my life since I was in third grade, so it was really special to have her deliver the blessing.





Finally, it was Dad Octo's turn.



He began by thanking and acknowledging various important family members and friends who had a significant role or contribution in our wedding. I thought he handled acknowledging Mr. Octo's mom really sensitively--rather than asking for a moment of remembrance or silence, which could have become really sad really quickly, he asked our guests to applaud in appreciation for her efforts both in raising Mr. Octo and in helping our wedding come together. It was a really sweet and upbeat (or as upbeat as such a thing can be) way to remember her.



Then, he gave a funny toast about all the ways I scared him (and Mom Octopus) in my adventures through the years, from the time we passed a ravine during a walk in the woods when I was three and I described in great detail exactly how, if I fell in the ravine, I would scream all the way to the bottom....





.....to the time my semester abroad turned moderately life-threatening.....







(I am laughing at Bridesmaid Erica, who studied abroad with me, and squealed "WOOOOOO!!!!" at the mention of our trip.)







.....to the time I came home and said, "So, I met this guy."



It was so sweet and so special to hear our loved ones' words about us and our relationship, especially knowing that they had all worked hard to write something sincere and thoughtful.

After the toasts wrapped up, dinner began, and Mr. Octo and I started our mission to visit each table of guests. We managed to visit all seventeen tables, and even took a few breaks to eat some dinner! I'm really glad that we did this, because I'm confident that if we hadn't, some people would have left our wedding without ever getting a minute to speak to us personally. Since nearly all our guests traveled in order to be there with us, we felt that seeing and talking to everyone was really important.

That doesn't mean it was easy! Mr. Octo and I devised a strategy in the few days before our reception, and sticking to it was what enabled us to visit all seventeen tables as planned. Here are our tips for successfully getting face time with each of your wedding guests!

Mr. and Mrs. Octo's Three-Pronged Attack on Guest Visitation
1.) Save your friends for last. They'll be the most understanding if they get skipped, and they're the most likely to spend plenty of time with you on the dance floor.
2.) Set a clear time limit for how long you'll visit each table. Ours was about three minutes. It's not much time, but in my opinion, it's a lot better than nothing.
3.) Your guests will be excited to see you and would love to have you for a lot longer than three minutes. They're going to want to take (lots of) pictures with you, and to talk with you for a good long time. We suspected we'd probably have to take the initiative to wrap up our table visits, and we were right. Most of our tables were pretty solidly made up of either my guests or his, so we decided that the enforcer who began the "we're so glad you could make it, it was great to see you!" wrap-it-up process would be the person whose table it wasn't, if that makes sense.
4.) Our dinner was served in stations, so we asked MOH Lauren & Best Man JP, who were seated at our table, to make a plate of food for us. We also asked them to make sure the wait staff didn't accidentally clear our plates while we were up and about, so we could periodically stop back to take a break and a few more bites of dinner. It worked, and we were able to eat as much as we wanted.

As dinner wound down, we started to get excited for the one part of our wedding that both Mr. Octo and I had been looking forward to more than anything else: dancing!

Previously, in the Octopus wedding....

• We did errands all the live-long day.
• We ran late, we got stressed, and we argued.
• We rehearsed and had dinner, and had a great time doing it.
• We got fancy with hair and makeup.
• I got bridal.
• I waited and soaked up the moment in Heinz Chapel.
• We processed up the aisle.
• We made it official.
• We posed our way through our family portraits.
• I had, then recovered from, a minor freak-out.
• We took portraits with our bridal party.
• We took some smoochy pictures.
• We posed for some skyline shots.
• I showed you how it all came together.
• We had just a few minutes to enjoy the end of our cocktail hour.
• We were introduced into our reception…..and almost screwed up the cake-cutting.
• We danced.