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.

Adding A Little "Thrill" To Our Wedding

Because our wedding is only a week after my favorite holiday, we decided to incorporate some "spooky" Halloween fun into it.

Source

We're starting off by having a ghost tour after the rehearsal dinner for any interested guests. We secured a group rate with Old Town Trolley Tours to go on their "Ghosts and Gravestones Frightseeing Tour". The tour is about an hour and a half long and is (according to their website) "an evening of fun, scares, humor and ghost stories as you are guided through America’s Most Haunted City.”

Source

But the fun doesn't stop there! For the wedding day, we've let our guests know that we are "Thrilling the Reception"! I linked up the website "Thrill the World" to the guest update page of our wedding website so our guests can learn the ever popular Thriller dance. So far, we have most of the wedding party and a few of the guests committed to reenacting the dance in its entirety on the dance floor! I'm especially proud of Mr. Lab for taking an interest in rehearsing it and surprised at how quick of a learner he is (especially for someone who claims he can't dance!).

Photo from our personal wedding website!

I can't wait to see how our practice pays off. But even if we don't perfect the dance in time, we'll do as the instructor says and play it off by acting like a ghoul for a few dance counts. No harm, no foul. :)

By the way, since yesterday was Halloween, I figured I'd share a photo of Mr. Lab and I's costumes! Special thanks to the hive for helping me decide on an costume!


Mr. Lab was a nerd and I was his mail-order bride! Pay close attention to his name and address on the shipping label. ;) And nevermind our friend "Heidi" in the back. It's just one of our wedding guests who flew all the way in from Germany! lol :D

If your wedding is close to a holiday, are you incorporating it somehow?