The Houston Reception

We all know that the best part about a reception is the food. I thought it best to put the food pictures first!

My cousin, Jen, made our cake for us. She did a smashing job. I was so pleased with the way everything turned out. The colors all went together so well.

My mom took over when it came to the reception. She planned the food and bought it and prepared a lot of it. I think that it looked (and tasted) so nice.

These three ladies (along with a lot of others) helped out a ton with the reception. My mom said their got in there and wend to work. Amazing!

Whitney and Jared were good sports and hung around the whole night...and they even had these smiles on!

Adam and had a little talk before the reception. I was really afraid that he was going to smear it all over my face. He didn't...and I love him even more for it!!! He really is a sweetheart!

Any excuse to kiss, right?!

I was so excited that my whole kindergarten team (past and present) showed up. It was great! I hadn't seen Dana (all in black) for a few years. These ladies are some of my favorite people ever. Having new co-workers is going to be hard after working with all of them.

Another surprise song...Kim and Kirsten sang us a song at the reception. I had no idea about it. The Beauty and the Beast song at my bridal shower was a decoy. Bishop Chappell played the piano for them. It was amazing.

Before the wedding, Kirsten had asked Adam to write the last verse for the song...and he did. It was so sweet. I have never had anyone write me a song before. It was such a tender moment. I don't think I'll ever forget it. Here are the lyrics that he wrote:
As a soft glow in the darkness
As the star that guides me home
As the blush behind the smile
So are you to me
As the warm rays of the morning
As the hinge on heaven's door
As the arm that cradles my heart
So are you to me
As the arm that cradles my heart
So are you to me
So are you to me.

We gave them big hugs for that one! I miss them already!

I had quite a few of my students come to the reception. It was so fun to have them there. Kindergarten has been part of my life for 4 years. They all looked so little - out of that little kid classroom. It made me feel loved.

This is definitely one of my FAVORITE pictures from the reception...maybe even the wedding! The bouquet toss: you think all of the single girls would want to catch it...but at our age you just go up there because of tradition. No one really wants to be there...as shown by this picture. Kim, the only brave one, the only one with her hand even in the air, caught the dreaded bouquet! Perhaps she'll be next!

This, I have to admit, was a little awkward. I purposefully put it pretty low! We'd only been married a few hours!

Adam's brother, Jared, was the lucky bachelor who caught the garter. Lucky boy!

I didn't get a better picture of the Chappell's, but here is a picture that caught a good moment. The Chappell's are some of my favorite people ever (I know...I have a lot of favorites). It is at their beautiful house that this reception took place. They have helped us out so much. I wish I could have brought them with us! Thank you, Chappell's!