Wedding Day Part Three: The Reception

As with the ceremony, the reception was just absolutely amazing. The hall was packed with close to 100 of mine and Mr. K's friends and family and the evening would not have been the same without them. I sat on Mr. K's left at the head table with my girls spreading out to my left and Mr. K's guys running the length of the table to his right. The head table was decorated with orange and purple accents and vases of beautiful Gerber daisies. There were little battery operated dragonflies dangling from the front of the table that lit up and orange and purple candles floated in the three centre pieces we had spaced out along the table.
Upon first arriving we had to figure out the logistics of fitting me on the chair with my ginormous dress, but after Tenie scooped me and skirt in, the best man tucked the chair under me and pushed me in. I felt like I was five again. :) Soon after getting situated the food started rolling out and we all were very excited about this.
The meal started with a traditional Portuguese vegetable soup and went from there with Ravioli and meatballs, roasted chicken and potatoes and green beans. Everyone thought the meal was over after the Ravioli and had piled their plates high. It was quite surprising to them when the chicken, potatoes and green beans were served. The food was amazing, as I knew it would be since Portuguese women can cook. We ate like crazy and most everyone enjoyed the three different types of home made wine placed out on every table. Between courses Mr. K and I were whisked away for pictures and upon returning to the table the "tuck and push" chair routine was implemented to get me back into a seated position.
At one point I had to pee since I had been downing water as if I were a dehydrated camel in the middle of the desert. My dress was heavy and it was quite warm in the hall. Tenie and Carmen, being the handy ladies they are, escorted me to the bathroom then Tenie grabbed the front of my dress and Carmen the back. They hiked it up clear up to my hips and carefully backed me into the Wheelchair Accessible stall. I had to figure out a way to get my arms around the ball of dress just to find my underwear. I will say another sharing line was definitely crossed, but these two have been my friends forever and their help was greatly appreciated. I decided that after our little dress maneuvering experience that I should cut back on the liquids.
After supper the traditional speeches and toasts started. Tenie went first and her speech was both funny and sweet. She started it off by giving me crap for holding out on the kisses and so made everyone count to five while Mr. K and I kissed. Mr. K's best man also delivered a very nice speech. He talked about love and how it's something that is deep inside a person and that someone special is who brings it out. He also cracked jokes about my horrible cooking and how I'll need patience because Mr. K can be cranky. My parents welcomed Mr. K to our family, but Mr. K's mom was too shy to make a speech. After the toasts my uncle who was acting as the MC, asked people to come up and tell stories about Mr. K and I. He kicked it off by telling a story about me as a child putting tape over my eyes and racing around a room shouting,
"I can't see! I can't see!" What an interesting child I was. ;)
The dances followed and even though we had to sort of stay in one spot because my dress didn't move so well, Mr. K and I had a very nice first dance. During the Father Daughter dance my dad wouldn't stop talking. I think he was trying not to be too emotional. It was very cute. Again my skirt got in the way, but I would just kick a foot back here and there and it would move out of the way. After the structured dances, all bets were off. The night started with "Ol' Time Rock 'n Roll" and the dance floor was never empty after that.
Mr. K and I were cornered for a few more photo sessions and at one point we did cut the cake. There were two minor problems with the cake-actually, one minor problem and a bit larger one. First of all, we originally were going to cut the cake with the knife my parents used. Well, in the craziness of the day, the knife never made it, so we used a yellow, plastic handled, ordinary kitchen knife. The second and more larger of the problems was something we did not discover until later in the night.
Our cake was three layers, chocolate, mystery layer and lemon; from bottom to top. Our fairy/knight in shining armour cake topper balanced nicely on the top and real roses decorated the layers. When we cut the cake, Mr. K and I got the top lemon layer and didn't really eat it. We were stuffed from supper and my feet were about to break from wearing those gigantic heels, which I promptly removed after the cake cutting. Carmen assisted me by pulling them off and then squishing the bones of my feet between her hands. She went off to get cake and returned to tell me that the mystery layer was *gulp* strawberry! Strawberry?! Mr. K is allergic to strawberries and I don't mean just a little allergic. Thankfully, for whatever reason, he didn't get any of the second layer and was fine. I just had to tell him to stay away from the cake, which I should have done as well because I almost lit myself on fire by nearly backing into the waist high candles burning by the cake table. Did I mention being a blind bride is very interesting? Whose bright idea was it to get a photo of me by flaming things anyway?  :)
Once I was barefoot the world was right again and I danced up a storm. I'm a horrible dancer and often dance away from whoever I am dancing with, but since I was in a building full of friends and family it really didn't matter. I tried to dance with as many guests as possible and talk with as many as possible. During the bouquet toss the song "Another One Bites the Dust" was played and apparently Carmen had no choice about catching the bouquet. I guess when I tossed it over my shoulder, it smacked her square in the face. Nothing says "meant to be" like a flower in the face. The garter toss went a bit the same, but the guy who caught it wasn't assaulted quite as roughly. Tenie's mom's boyfriend caught it and then proceeded to wear it around his head. If that is not an example of the fun we were having, I'm not sure what is.
Close to midnight I surprised my uncle-the MC uncle-by getting everyone to sing him "happy birthday." It was his fiftieth birthday the next day and I didn't want it to go unnoticed. Around 12:30 or so Mr. K and I were tired and ready to go to our hotel room. Tenie phoned the limo and my shoes were crammed back on my feet. We had a few last dances with everyone and then I was stuffed up into the limo for the last time.
The night was incredible. It is something I will never forget and not because it was horrible. It was full of fun-all of us jumping like maniacs to songs like "Home for a Rest"-and love. The atmosphere was the most amazing thing of all. There were all of these people in one room and they were all happy and joyful: it truly was a beautiful thing. My collar bones had dents in them from carrying that heavy dress around all night and Mr. K was quite dehydrated from over heating in his Tux, but as I've said before, I would not change a thing.
This brings me to the end of our wonderful wedding day. I hope you have enjoyed reading about it as much as I have enjoyed  writing about it. Three years ago I was completely contented being a single person, not wanting to ever get married. If I had known that a wedding could be so beautiful, bringing people together in such a fabulous way, I would never have been so resistant. :)
P.S. I promised photos and I will deliver! ...I just have to find some. LOL