Dinner was immediately served after the cocktail hour. We chose the following menu: roast round of beef, grilled apricot chicken, scalloped potatoes (soooo good!), sautéed fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, and a salad made of mixed greens with champagne vinaigrette, poached pears, bacon and Roquefort cheese. Everything was delicious! It had me wishing my dress was made out of spandex, so I could have eaten more! I remember sitting back in my chair at the head table and scanning all of the smiles and laughter around the room. I had so many wives warn me before the wedding that the day would go by too fast, but it felt perfectly paced to me. I literally felt like I was soaking every ounce of energy up around me. I truly believe that every meal should end with a sweet treat, so it was really important to me (and my mother-in-law) to have delicious desserts. Lorraine Arthur, our baker, made chocolate and vanilla almond cupcakes inspired by this Martha Stewart cupcake. I wanted Rich to pick our top-tier cake flavor, so he chose banana cake with chocolate fudge filling – it was so amazing. Rich’s mom, Julie, makes the best cookies, and the first weekend we saw our parents after we got engaged, I asked her to make some for our wedding . Julie made M&M cookies with personalized M&Ms, and we filled test tubes (an ode to my science teacher dad) with milk to accompany them. Dancing followed dinner. I love Rich’s eclectic music taste, so I let him pick our first-dance song. He choose So Long, Lonesome by Explosions in the Sky, and I think it was perfect for us. We danced to the instrumental song underneath the tented dance floor that we constructed earlier that day. My dad and I danced to Somewhere over the Rainbow by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole, and Rich’s mom and him danced to First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes. Our guests helped us create a fun dance party throughout the rest of the night, but the young ones stole the show. My flower girls were filled with energy and Rich’s brother was all over the dance floor flailing his arms with his signature “Loveshack” move. Last fall during a tailgate, I saw Husker-branded sky lanterns floating in the sky, and I knew I wanted to incorporate lanterns into our wedding. We bought five huge lanterns and some star-shaped sparklers, so our wedding party could light up the sky. I think Igor and Dave were most excited about this activity. It was cool to see the glowing lanterns drifting above the Old Market.

Rich and I wanted to take advantage of our small guest count and use a cocktail hour to welcome our guests in lieu of a receiving line. After we signed our marriage certificate, we took some photos with Em outside as our guests grabbed a drink from the bar and made their way to the spacious patio at 1316 Jones Street. Maggie and Brett, my bridesmaids, handed each guest a packet of biodegradable heart-shaped confetti at the patio door. Rich and I made our grand entrance to the cocktail hour as our energetic guests showered us with confetti. The pictures perfectly capture the fun and excitement of that moment. John Hansen and Steven Gregory, two of my good friends, entertained everyone with a variety of our favorite songs. They even surprised me with a few of their choices and brought tears to my eyes. Their music added so much to the atmosphere. Rich and I have many great memories of eating at nice restaurants. We have our local favorites, and we always center our trips around well-known and innovative eateries. As self-proclaimed foodies, we spent a lot of time picking out the following canapé menu for our guests to enjoy:

• Smoked Salmon Crostini
• Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Slice, Basil Vinaigrette
• Pea Pods Stuffed with Crab
• Artichoke Cheese Dip in Phylo Cups
• Variations of Stuffed Mushrooms
• Jalapeno Brie Crostini

The alcohol selection was equally important to us. I picked a few of my favorite wines including Seghesio Sonoma and Bricco Riella moscato to list on the bar menu. Rich is all about beer (he is even a homebrewer), so he chose Goose Island’s Pere Jacques, Sameul Smith Oatmeal Stout and Empyrean Dark Side Vanilla Porter among the domestic choices we provided. Towards the end of the cocktail hour, some our guests shared toasts they had written. My dad and our siblings, Lindsay and Jacob, retold some great stories. My uncles, Mike and Greg, spoke about the strength of our relationship. I will never forget my grandma Bushy’s speech, and I’m writing an entire post about her special involvement in our wedding! Even my cousin Sam stood in front of everyone and shared his appreciation for our relationship, but after ten minutes into his very detailed speech, someone deftly pulled the mic away from him so we could start the reception. He had everyone laughing, and it provided such a wonderful memory.