That Wedding: Showered With Love, Coins, and Hugs

As the guests gathered outside to wait for us to exit the temple there was a flurry of activity while everyone tried to finish getting ready. The groomsmen were given their ties (all from ebay) and the boutonnières That Mother crafted for them. Isn't she amazing?

MOH Shay has often acted as That Mother's second shooter at weddings and because of that has become an expert at pinning bout's on.

Big congrats to BM Nate who got engaged this weekend and will be planning a wedding of his own in the coming months.

Kelli captured a great shot of my cousin Jaimie, who is a Seattle photographer herself (and captured some of the fabulous shots you will see in my recaps). I was lucky to have a lot of guests interested in photography present at the wedding.

I love this shot of GM Jasher and his girlfriend (now fiancée!) waiting outside in the sunlight to warm up. We really lucked out with the such nice sunny weather in the middle of October (especially for Seattle!)

Honestly, I find this shot horrifying. This is NOT what you want to see the uncle you asked to act as videographer doing minutes before you emerge as husband and wife. I can't even look at it. It's so terrible!

One of the things that Kelli did that I love was to take a second to capture pretty portraits of my BM's! They worked so hard to help me get ready and they all looked so pretty in the outfits I told them to wear, I love that I'm not the only who that came away with some nice shots at the end of the day.

As we walked out of the temple doors we were greeted with a wall of sound coming from our family and friends. Whistles, clapping, cheering. It was a feeling of love that hit us like an oncoming train and I wish I had paused just a moment longer to soak it all in.

I looked up to see someone coming toward us.

It's That FIL and That MIL. Why are they looking so mischievous?

I love the look on That Groom's face. It says "I have no idea what my parents are doing, can we just go back inside now?"

Then we both knew. It was the Polish tradition of throwing pennies at the bride and groom!

I knew what they were going to do, but it was still such a shock when the coins came pouring down on us.

Uh-oh I think a few of them went down my dress. Should I fish them out in front of this huge crowd? The answer is yes.

We looked down and thought. Now what?

Good idea honey! You bend down and pick them up. I will stand up here clapping (remember, that is what I do best).

Jamie Smith

Were they nice to the bride and groom, only making them bend down to pick up one or two? NO! They were merciless, and the coins were everywhere.

Jamie Smith

People started to laugh at me and say "You have to pick them up too!" So I bent down and joined in. I kept one hand over my chest the entire time because I was afraid of giving everyone a little show.

Jamie Smith

That FIL looks quite proud of himself, don't you think?

Both That Groom and I were really happy that his parents brought a little piece of Poland to our thoroughly American wedding.

I'm pretty bummed that in the shuffle of things that day, we ended up losing this bag and all of the coins inside of it. What a wonderful memory box addition that would have been!

Finally, we were done!

One of my favorite shots (and my favorite memories!) from the entire wedding.

Temple Exit from Jenna on Vimeo.

We realized that in all the craziness we hadn't yet indulged in one of the most important elements, our first public kiss as a married couple!

Then the hugging began. Looking through the photos I realized that I always hug with my eyes closed.

That Groom, on the other hand, always left his eyes open.

It only took me a few seconds to lose my veil. "You take care of the veil for now maids!" I said.

Jamie Smith

The hug I was most nervous about was the one with That FIL. Why? Because we would have to kiss! The kissing still makes me really nervous. Don't people miss and accidentally kiss on the mouth all the time?

Alright, we're going in. He's going to go left, I'll go right.

Right cheek, left cheek, right cheek.

And done! I made it without any embarassing mishaps yet again. Now that we have done it a few times it's one of my favorite things about seeing That FIL.

Polish Kisses from Jenna on Vimeo.

Then there were so many hugs to be had! Mother and son hugs.

Best friend hugs!

Thank-you-for-flying-all-the-way-from-California-to-be-my-bMaid hugs!

Extra special hugs for the one who flew all the way from Poland!

And a few sweet hugs to be had for those who were a little bit overcome.

My lovely bMaids managed to catch me in the middle of all that hugging to put my veil back on.

Jamie Smith

It started out as a simple enough task for one.

But then everyone wanted in on the fun!

This is one of the many reasons why I wanted so many bridesmaids. To be surrounded by so many women who truly care about you is a wonderful feeling.

Jamie Smith

Thanks ladies, it looks as good as new.

Jamie Smith

One piece of advice? Make sure more than one person knows how to put your bustle up correctly. I had to drag That Mother away from all the festivities since she was the only one who knew how.

Photo by a family friend

While I was busy doing all of that, Kelli managed to grab some really great shots of That Groom looking relaxed and happy. This is definitely my favorite.

Not only do I like to clap, I apparently also like to flash cheesy grins at the camera whenever the opportunity presents itself. There's this one.

And this one.

Jamie Smith

And this shot, which I think is my favorite individual portrait of myeslf from the day.

Kelli managed to capture a few good shots of my bouquet before I completely trashed it during group portraits.

I thought the bouquet wrap turned out really nice for the last minute job it was. I grabbed some diamond head pins and green iridescent ribbon from my mom's house and BM Princess Jess and I made the bouquet and wrapped it up the night before the wedding. I think if I were to do it over I would have used pearl headed pins instead.

Soon I was tired of hugs and my internal planner clock was ticking saying "Keep to the schedule!" What did we have scheduled next? Why those boring, awful group shots of course. Don't worry, I found a few fun things to do to pass the time.

Jamie Smith

You guessed it. It was Kelli Nicole. She took them.

Previously:

That Wedding: Bridesmaid Party!
That Wedding: Whole Foods (Rehearsal-ish) Luncheon
That Wedding: Harbor Sailing
That Wedding: Putting My Face On
That Wedding: The Gift Exchange
That Wedding: Dressing That Bride
That Wedding: Bridal Details
That Wedding: The First Look
That Wedding: Into The Woods
That Wedding: Woodsy Family Portraits
That Wedding: To Wed! To Wed!