Southern Sweethearts: The Grand Finale

After the last dance, our DOC quickly organized our guests outside for the grand exit. I knew I wanted a sparkler exit, but didn't plan on actually having a "getaway" car. I figured we'd already spent money on two forms of special transportation (our trolley and horse carriage) and didn't need anything else. We'd just take photos walking through the sparklers and that's that.

But our groomsmen other plans.

We walked out of Savannah Station and immediately realized that something was up.

As we got closer, our guests spread apart to reveal the handy-work of our mischievous groomsmen.

What we saw was Mr. Lab's car.

Okay, so before I go any further, let me explain Mr. Lab's car to you. He got this thing in high school. He was (is still) your typical "fast and powerful" car type of guy. Mr. Lab's had his fair share of speeding tickets "back in the day", and even more days logged at racing tracks with his buddies. And the car to get "back in the day" was any LS1 powered F-body, like his Pontiac TransAm. I had a Chevy Camaro myself in high school, another F-body but it was just a V6 for any of you car enthusiasts.

The thing is, he's seriously outgrown his car and even feels embarrassed to drive it anymore (he now drives a Hyundai Sonata but dreams of a still powerful yet more sophisticated 500hp BMW M5). Soooo....some of us pick on him about it. I like to call the car the "Teen Batmobile" myself. ;)

Alright, back to the wedding night. This is what we found:

Car paint, Vaseline under the door handles, cans dragging behind, toilet paper, foam, some expletives, THE WHOLE NINE YARDS.

And this is how it got there:

What are all the guys looking at? Oh, that would be our security guard getting in on the action!

We had no idea the boys had slipped out of the reception at some point to buy supplies and "decorate" Mr. Lab's car! You'd think we'd be mad, but it was all in good fun and it's SO funny to look back at a year later.* But I must warn you, the sooner you clean a car in that condition, the better. And pray that no one puts Vaseline under your door handles because it takes FOREVER to get off!

So hive, this is the "grand finale" of my wedding recaps. I will be around a little longer to share some things I never got around to before the wedding, vendor reviews, and our 1st anniversary celebration.

But I promised in previous posts to share a little project that we did with our photographer during the dancing portion of the reception:

Will you have a planned getaway?

PS. I hope you've enjoyed my wedding journey and recaps! Thanks for sticking with me for an entire year to get to the end. ;)

The Full "Southern Sweethearts" Saga:

• Southern Belles Do Tea
• A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
• We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
• A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
• Our Wedding Trailer
• Becoming a Blushing Bride
• I Slip Into My eBay Wedding Dress
• The Fellas Get “Sessay”
• He Got Boudoir, I Got Bling
• An Unplanned First Look
• Our Wedding Party…and Paparazzi
• Details Tell the Story
• Years of Waiting for This Moment (Ceremony Part: 1)
• We Tie the Knot with Faith, Hope, & Love (Ceremony Part: 2)
• My Wedding Party Poses for Mug Shots While We Take Formals
• We Shared a Private Dinner for Two During Cocktail Hour
• Our Wedding Party Lines Up for Introductions
• We Nom on Publix and Sanford Stadium Cakes
• Dancing with Our “Stars”
• Toasts & Tosses
• We "Thrill" the Reception and Dance the Night Away
• A Serenade and the Last Dance

Next Up: Our 1st Anniversary

*You may be reading this after November 7th, but I actually wrote it on our anniversary. And I can't believe I actually got all of the recaps done by then. Go me! :)

**All professional photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images may have been slightly altered by moi.

Southern Sweethearts: Constellations

Mr. Lab and I came back inside from our little photography project mentioned in my last post (it's coming in the next one, I promise!) and we were met by this:

That's college buddy and fellow newscaster Kevin. He promised me a couple weeks before the wedding that he would sing for us.

You see, Kevin has this ah-mazing voice. He was even the winner of our college's version of American Idol, UGA Idol!

Kevin more than lived up to his promise. He sang us the most beautiful song ever.

And I was tickled silly about it! I felt like we had our own personal star serenading us on our wedding day!

We finished the night with a last song by the same artist who sang our first dance song:

Jack Johnson's "Constellations"

We started the dance with some of the kids.

The light was leaving
In the west it was blue
The children's laughter sang
And skipping just like the stones they threw
Their voices echoed across the way
It's getting late

It was just another night
With a sunset
And a moonrise not so far behind

To give us just enough light
To lay down underneath the stars
Listen to papa's translations
Of the stories across the sky
We drew our own constellations

While we were dancing, a couple bridesmaids were outside making this for us:

Our new monogram!

The kids left us alone on the dance floor about halfway through the song. My youngest niece, Morgan, made sure she had one of our mason jar favors full of candy from the buffet.

(guest photo)

And we finished out the song together, just a couple of newlyweds, alone on the dance floor.

Clouds keep moving to uncover the scene
Stars above us chasing the day away
To find the stories that we sometimes need
Listen close enough
All else fades

Fades away

It was just another night
With a sunset
And a moonrise not so far behind
To give us just enough light
To lay down underneath the stars
Listen to all the translations
Of the stories across the sky

We drew our own constellations.

Will you have any special performances at your reception? How about a designated last song?

Previously on Southern Sweethearts:

• Southern Belles Do Tea
• A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
• We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
• A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
• Our Wedding Trailer
• Becoming a Blushing Bride
• I Slip Into My eBay Wedding Dress
• The Fellas Get “Sessay”
• He Got Boudoir, I Got Bling
• An Unplanned First Look
• Our Wedding Party…and Paparazzi
• Details Tell the Story
• Years of Waiting for This Moment (Ceremony Part: 1)
• We Tie the Knot with Faith, Hope, & Love (Ceremony Part: 2)
• My Wedding Party Poses for Mug Shots While We Take Formals
• We Shared a Private Dinner for Two During Cocktail Hour
• Our Wedding Party Lines Up for Introductions
• We Nom on Publix and Sanford Stadium Cakes
• Dancing with Our “Stars”
• Toasts & Tosses
• We "Thrill" the Reception and Dance the Night Away
  

Next Up: We make our big exit!

*All professional photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images may have been slightly altered by moi.

Southern Sweethearts: It's Close to Midnight...

Our wedding was just a week after Halloween (my favorite celebration of the entire year) and in a city known for its ghoulish residents. So in addition to the ghost tour after the rehearsal dinner, I thought it would be fun to do the official "Thriller" dance at the reception!

So, I put the word out to our guests well before the wedding to learn the dance if they wanted to participate. And as we lined up at the reception, I was actually surprised that we got so many takers!

Quickly going over the dance one last time.

I didn't practice as much as I should have, but I think I did all right. But a couple of my college buddies TORE UP the dance floor and could have put Michael Jackson himself to shame!

Mr. Lab decided he didn't know the dance well enough and bailed halfway through! LOL

Kevin, Kelly, and Ian doing their thing!

Bucket List:
Win the lottery.
Touch myself inappropriately at my own wedding.
Fly to the moon.

Ian and Kevin were really into the dance. They knew every move and I kept cheating off of them to keep up! I can't wait to see this part of our wedding video. I'm gonna DIE laughing!

(right photo by guest)

After "Thriller", the rest of our guests joined us for some "regular" dancing.

We had a little of everything. Classic rock, hip hop, pop, and of course, "Cupid's Shuffle", which is fast-becoming a wedding classic.

I spy two bees! ;)

We danced with the kids...

...in a circle of friends...

...and with relatives!

L: My younger brother and sister. R: With my mom's cousin.

I never knew until looking through the photos the serious moves some of our guests pulled of the bag. I'm guessing the full bar lead to some liquid courage.

I slipped out of the reception for a few minutes to change into something a little more comfortable. (And I finally fixed my hair flower!)

Our DJ played a couple slower songs for the guests with significant others.

At this point, our photographer stole us away to do a special project outside (which you'll see soon!). It was fun, but it took us way longer than I expected and we ended up missing a lot of the dancing. If you know me at all, you know I'm a dancer. Like, not only was I in a hip hop-focused dance company, but I also love to dance any time there's music. I expected our wedding to be a huge dance party, but I missed most of it! :(

Is a dance-reception important to you? Or will you take after someone like Mrs. Turtle and nix the dancing?

Previously on Southern Sweethearts:

• Southern Belles Do Tea
• A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
• We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
• A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
• Our Wedding Trailer
• Becoming a Blushing Bride
• I Slip Into My eBay Wedding Dress
• The Fellas Get “Sessay”
• He Got Boudoir, I Got Bling
• An Unplanned First Look
• Our Wedding Party…and Paparazzi
• Details Tell the Story
• Years of Waiting for This Moment (Ceremony Part: 1)
• We Tie the Knot with Faith, Hope, & Love (Ceremony Part: 2)
• My Wedding Party Poses for Mug Shots While We Take Formals
• We Shared a Private Dinner for Two During Cocktail Hour
• Our Wedding Party Lines Up for Introductions
• We Nom on Publix and Sanford Stadium Cakes
• Dancing with Our “Stars”
• Toasts & Tosses
  

Next Up: A guest sings us a special song!

*All professional photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images may have been slightly altered by moi.

Southern Sweethearts: Toasts & Tosses

Right after we danced with our moms, it was time for some special toasts from our two closest friends.

I just broke out these flutes in anticipation of our first anniversary!

My best friend of over a decade and MOH Amanda went first. One year later, I admittedly can't remember her exact speech, but I do remember feeling all warm and fuzzy while listening to it. Thankfully, we had a videographer. We'll be receiving our full wedding video soon so I'll be able to relive those moments that photos alone simply can't capture.

Amanda spoke of the "old times", way back to some of our embarrassing middle school antics. Then she seamlessly transitioned into when I met Mr. Lab and how she watched our relationship grow and how Mr. Lab became her friend, too.

Amanda finished her speech and raised her glass to toast. Then Best Man Don walked up to the mic. He went off-script and settled into his funny-man status with some hilarious stories about Mr. Lab.

At times I reconsidered my choice to marry Mr. Lab....(I kid I kid!). But then Don got serious and I remember him saying that I made Mr. Lab a better man. That made me :D big time!

He finished by giving Mr. Lab his simple yet brilliant secret to a successful marriage: "Happy Wife, Happy Life!"

After the toasts, it was time for the tosses!

Like my super simple single button booty bustle? Say THAT 10x fast!

I told my girls to get ready and as Beyonce's "Single Ladies" began playing, I picked a target and turned around.

The girls actually dove and fought a little for the bouquet but one of my adorable nieces won out.

Then it was time for Mr. Lab to go fishing for his garter. The DJ started playing M.C. Hammer's "Can't Touch This" and he dove in!

Close-up of the special Georgia garter I got for him.

Just like the bouquets, I had two garters: one to keep and one to toss. I bought the special UGA-themed garter as a little surprise for Mr. Lab. Judging by the photos, me thinks he likey!

Mr. Lab is a trooper. I think he thought it would be all sexy to take the garter off with his teeth, but...

...I had some legit Britney Spears barefoot in a gas station bathroom-feet going on! I did spend most of the day shoe-less because of my missing Louboutins!

He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally got the garter off.

He checked to see who was waiting to catch the garter and got ready to snap it.

But it hit the floor and slid to my brother's girlfriend's son. There may have been some blatant avoidance by some of the guys along the way. I wish I had made time to attach some lottery tickets or a ten-dollar bill to the garter to encourage more participation!

Although the tosses were fun, I never considered the kids taking part. I wish I had designated the tosses as adults only. I had a couple friends who really wanted to catch the bouquet but weren't willing to completely plow over my niece to get to it. ;)

Will you have a videographer to capture things photos can't like the toasts? As for the tosses, will you have an age limit on those?

Previously on Southern Sweethearts:

• Southern Belles Do Tea
• A Rude Vendor Interrupts Our Rehearsal
• We Have Dinner on the Savannah River
• A Spooky Ghost Tour and My Last Fling
• Our Wedding Trailer
• Becoming a Blushing Bride
• I Slip Into My eBay Wedding Dress
• The Fellas Get “Sessay”
• He Got Boudoir, I Got Bling
• An Unplanned First Look
• Our Wedding Party…and Paparazzi
• Details Tell the Story
• Years of Waiting for This Moment (Ceremony Part: 1)
• We Tie the Knot with Faith, Hope, & Love (Ceremony Part: 2)
• My Wedding Party Poses for Mug Shots While We Take Formals
• We Shared a Private Dinner for Two During Cocktail Hour
• Our Wedding Party Lines Up for Introductions
• We Nom on Publix and Sanford Stadium Cakes
• Dancing with Our "Stars"

Next Up: We "Thrill" Our Guests

*All professional photos by Lindsi Jones Photography. Some images may have been slightly altered by moi.