Wedding Week: Reception
June 13th, 2012
After the ceremony, guests moved onto the terrace for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. We hired Delicious Catering and crafted menus that incorporated local and seasonal ingredients. When deciding on the cocktail hour food, we wanted things that were flavorful, unique, and easy to eat (there’s nothing cute about appetizers that end up down the front of your outfit). My favorites were the potato gaufrette with ahi tuna tartar, olive oil, and wasabi tobiko and the dungeness crab cakes topped with a lemon caper aïoli. Our friends, Danny Ronen, of Fair Trade Spirits, and Russell Davis, came up with an inspired craft cocktail menu that’s still the talk of our wedding. All of the drinks were a hit, but the Smokey Revolver, shown below, was my top choice.
We then moved into the dining room, which had such a wonderful ambiance – almost like an old, wooden library tucked inside a forest. Each table had about eight people and we served the food family style. It felt so warm and friendly and I loved passing food around the table and being able to take a little of everything (though I did hoard the aged tri tip and the mascarpone polenta). A few toasts were given and then we moved into a separate room for dancing.
Geoffrey and I took a few dancing lessons in the months before the wedding, but we couldn’t shake the same problem that had plagued us from the beginning: I kept trying to lead. But as we stood just outside of the room where everyone was standing and our song started to play, I felt myself letting go. We chose a Ryan Adams song, one of our favorite artists, and he took my hand as we made our way into the room. I was aware of everyone’s eyes on us, but for the first time, I didn’t pay attention to what we had planned or how we’d look. I let him lead.
For the duration of the wedding up until this point, I hadn’t cried. My cheeks hurt from grinning so much, my eyes misty. That changed the second I heard the first chord of “You Can Close Your Eyes,” the James Taylor song my dad and I chose. Quite simply, I lost it. I buried my head on his shoulder and let him guide us gently around the dance floor. In some ways, I think I had been looking forward to that moment for most of my life. We had spent months sending each other potential songs choices (you’d be surprised how hard it is to find one that’s not too predictable or terribly inappropriate). We had attempted to practice on several occasions, but had to stop since we got so worked up. Luckily the transition from our weepy routine to the rest of the party went smoothly. Our DJ, Michael Antonia (also known as The Flashdance) kicked things off with an upbeat song that packed the dance floor immediately. He played such great music for the remainder of the night that I didn’t leave once (except to cut the cake). And though I hadn’t intended on changing out of my dress, Bhldn graciously sent me one that I received the day before, so I slipped it on and kicked off my shoes.
At the end of the night, our guests gathered outside on the lawn with sparklers and created a pathway that we ran though to get to our car. It was such a climactic exit and I loved seeing everyone’s faces lit in glittery golds.
Photographs: Max Wanger
Food: Delicious Catering
Drinks: Russell Davis in collaboration with Fair Trade Spirits
DJ: The Flashdance
2nd Dress: Bhldn c/o
Next up: Wedding Week – Details & Decor
