Step by Step: A Fond Farewell

If your mind has wandered from the Stiletto festivities because there's so much fabulous wedding eye candy out there, let me quickly refresh your memory.

I primped and preened all morning long...

Source: Laurie Peacock

...while Mr. S donned his finest and got ready with the guys over at the church.

Source: Laurie Peacock

We said "I do" before our closest family and friends...

Source: Laurie Peacock

...then headed out and about for some beautiful pictures...

Source: Laurie Peacock

...and funny moments.

Source: Laurie Peacock

As our reception went on, we danced some dances and had a wonderful night that ended too soon!

Source: Laurie Peacock

And, from start to finish, that's all she wrote!

Source: Laurie Peacock

Well, not quite all she wrote. I wanted to say thank you to each and every reader who has left encouraging comments, given advice, and even shared details of your own lives along the way. I started blogging about our wedding because I thought I had so many great ideas, I just had to share them. But I really, truly learned so much from all of you. THANK YOU.

Blogging about the wedding has changed my life in so many different ways. I've made new friends, both near and far. I finally found my "blogging voice." Each and every day I'm able to look back on our wedding with so much happiness and pride - the day was beautiful, we were surrounded by so much love, and we actually pulled it off! Oh, and if I get really sentimental about wedding planning, I can simply Google myself, look at Google Images, and see my wedding plans picture by picture. Blogging is awesome like that.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity over the past year to share our journey. I'm sure I'll still be buzzing around the site, but please feel free to follow me on my new blog, Growing Kooky Together, where I share silly little details about our newlywed life, fun recipes, and random stories.

xoxo,

Mrs. Stiletto

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Step by Step: Groovin' to the Music

I'm baaaaack! I firmly believe that I have loved doing my recap posts so much, I have stretched them out for as long as I possibly can. No seriously. My time on Weddingbee is rapidly winding down, as I think I've shown you almost everything there is to be shown.

::tear::

But, I just had to show you some live action from our reception. We didn't opt to hire a videographer, but we had many friends who used their digital cameras to take footage of the day.

As I watch these video snippets, as low quality as they are, sometimes it makes me wish that we had shelled out the extra bucks for some professional video. On the other hand, I wouldn't change a thing. Some of these clips captured the most random moments of the day and off-beat snippets of conversation that I doubt a professional would have captured/kept.

Beyond the special dances and other details that I won't bore you with, here are some highlights from the day.

A Great Night
Thank you, Black Eyed Peas, for giving us the perfect song to start off the dance party at our reception. It truly was a great night, thankyouverymuch.



Some Freestyle Love
We were introduced to Greg through our good friends when we were on the hunt for a condo. Turns out, Greg isn't just a real estate broker extraordinaire, but he is an amazing freestyler (freestylist?)! We were so excited to have him grab the mic toward the end of the night and give a little performance...I apologize that the quality of the video isn't 100%, but you get the idea.

Next up - a fond farewell, my Wedding Bee friends!

Previously in our wedding recaps:
Step by Step: Girls Get Ready
Step by Step: Guys Get Ready
Step by Step: First Look
Step by Step: Gettin’ Ready to Walk
Step by Step: We Get Hitched
Step by Step: Strike a Pose in the Park
Step by Step: Urban Love in Oak Park
Step by Step: Lookin’ Sharp - Reception Details
Step by Step: Cut a Cake and Dance a Dance
Step by Step: Some Toasts, Thanks and More Dancing
Step by Step: Get Low

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Vendor Review: Jeremy Roeder, First Class Weddings

Hi everyone...umm, remember me? I know, I know, it has been far too long since I've shown my face around here. I've been seriously dragging my feet finishing up ye olde recaps. But, in case your memory has completely been wiped of my existence - I'll give you the down and dirty highlights.

I had some rockin' hair and make up.

My husband got himself into some sticky situations before the wedding.

We had so much fun taking pictures around Oak Park.

I (umm, I mean, we) had a fabulous, fabulous cake.

Ok, so now that you're caught up and can kind of remember my Bee existence, let's dive back into the recaps!

Figuring out what DJ to hire was something that, quite honestly, I just didn't want to deal with. I had no clue how to choose a DJ or what to look for.

And then, we thought about our friends' wedding in St. Louis about a year before ours. Everyone danced. The DJ did his thing, wasn't cheesey, played great music. We heard through our friends that he was also interested in breaking into the Chicago market. That sealed the deal.

So, we contacted Jeremy Roeder of First Class Weddings and he was available for our date. Score! We booked him immediately.

Jeremy was really great to work with leading up to the wedding and open to whatever we wanted played. We ended up just making a master list of all of the songs that we would want played rather than giving a "yes" and "no" list. For during dinner, we made a CD for Jeremy to play because there were a lot of random songs that were meaningful to us but weren't really danceable.

Here's a shot of Jeremy hard at work:

Source: Laurie Peacock

And, of course, the results of Jeremy's labor:

Source: Laurie Peacock

Source: Laurie Peacock

All of our friends danced for the entire reception and there wasn't a single song played that I didn't love. Jeremy doesn't have a cheesey bone in his body. He's so professional and well spoken. Amazing!

And, in case you need more proof of Jeremy's fantastic-ness, coming up next are some dancin' videos from the reception.

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