I Carry Your Heart: Getting the Wedding Cliches Out of the Way

Back in the planning days, I talked about how Mr. Rucksack and I would be incorporating some wedding cliches into our reception. I knew that I definitely wanted to toss my bouquet to my single lady friends, wear a really great Patriots themed garter, and feed each other some yummy Paleo cake.

However, when it came down to planning our timeline I made an executive decision: Get it all over with as fast as possible. Since I was so excited about our little dance party, I really didn't want to interrupt it and take people off the dance floor for long. So I decided that we would pause the party for a brief 20 minute stint that would allow people to take a cake break and maybe get lucky and catch a bouquet.

At 8:30, we stopped the dancing and Mr. Rucksack and I endured the most awkward cake cutting I have ever been a part of. Of course, this also the only cake cutting we've ever been a part of, so I can't really claim that I'm an expert on non-awkward cake cutting. No matter, I think it's pretty clear that we had no idea what to do here. I've seen hundreds of photos of couples cutting cakes together and posing nicely for the camera, but for some reason that all went out the window when we got in front of our cake. I think all I was focusing on was telepathically letting Mr. Rucksack know he'd be a dead man if he smeared cake on my face.

You'd think cutting a piece of pre-cut cake would be easy...

We both decided maybe Mr. R could just get in there and tackle it.

While I may have an evil look in my eyes, I did refrain from shoving cake in my new hubby's face

Luckily, Mr. R did the same

After everyone had managed to get their sugar rush, we invited  forced the single ladies onto the dance floor for the bouquet toss. I was irrationally excited about this and I have to tell you, I'm  convinced that my song choice of "Wannabee" by the Spice Girls was pretty darn perfect.

Remember when I joked about throwing my bouquet kettlebell style? Well, it turns out Crossfit is ingrained in me and my ridiculous stance was a kettlebell look-alike accident! 

There was some tough competition out there in single lady land. I later learned that the winner of the toss had made sure everyone out there knew that bouquet was destined to be hers and that she was going to fight for it!

Of course, she didn't have much fighting to do because it was thrown right her way!

So who is this lucky girl that I wanted so badly to win? That would be my lovely half-sister! I've mentioned that I don't have a relationship with my father, but what I failed to mention was that I have a wonderful new relationship with my half-sister. We've only known each other for a couple of years, but she is my family and I just love her. I felt so lucky that she was able to travel to be at our wedding.


Once I was free of my bouquet it was time for me to lose that garter! Mr. Rucksack's theme song in college was 50 Cent's "PIMP" so I thought it would be an appropriate surprise for the garter toss.

Oh hi. This is awkward. At least nobody's paying much attention...

After I was down a garter, some super excited guys got to see who would be the next to lose their bachelor status!!!

Nope. Not excited. Not even a little. Not even when a cat is being thrown at them. (Thanks for the idea, Weddingbee!)

 Luckily, one man stepped forward and caught the garter! (Actually, he picked it up off the floor after all of the other men went running. Same thing, right?)

And it's no other than Sissy's boyfriend! Could I be a happier half-sister? No I could not!

While this post may seem a million hours long, in reality I think we spent 20 minutes tops cutting cake and embarassing our single friends! Then it was back to the dance floor to complete our reception dance party before we made our grand exit.

So tell me, am I the only one who forgot how to cut a cake under pressure?

(All photos by Abigail Scott unless otherwise noted)

Previously on the Rucksack Recaps:

• I have ALL the feelings
• I admit that wedding planning kind of sucks
• We run a million errands
• We practice how it’s gonna go down
• We have a big fat Italian rehearsal dinner
• A little rain won’t get me down!
• The girls get pretty
• The guys do whatever guys do
• I hang out in the hotel bathroom and make a bunch of bouquets
• I get my bride on!
• We exchange kisses and gifts during our first look
• I’m a runaway bride
• The bridal party processes and the ring bearer gets distracted
• I take my final steps as a single lady (and get stuck on a rose bush along the way!)
• We kick off the ceremony with some sweet words from The Princess Bride
• We share our love story and get our hands blessed
• We do!
• We miss cocktail hour for the sake of family photos
• We get everybody to join our first dance
• We frolic on the beach at sunset
• We have a beach-side 90's dance party