I Carry Your Heart: Party Like a Rockstar

I know I've said it at least a dozen times, but Mr. R and I really wanted a kick ass party after our ceremony. We kicked the dancing off immediately by asking our friends and family to join our parent dances, and then started the party right back up after dinner.

Photo by Cousin E

Mr. Rucksack and I LOVE to dance. Never one to shy away from crazy dance moves and exaggerated faces, Mr. Rucksack is truly the perfect dance partner for me. We are ridiculous. To put it into perspective, Mr. Rucksack was a swimmer and lacrosse player in college, but his only two major injuries were not from sports. Instead, he had two knee surgeries due to 1) a wild night dancing at the club and 2) a rowdy game of limbo. That's my husband, folks!

Needless to say, we were really excited to show off our sweet moves on the dance floor.

I spent months whittling down our playlist, utilizing the help of my awesome cousin GM Brobot and watching VH1's Greatest Hits of the 90's. Because seriously, who doesn't love to jam out to Whitney Houston and Salt-N-Pepa?

Our DJ was amazing. He played every song I wanted, kept all of my no-plays away (even though we had some complaints that Rhianna wasn't allowed!) and he kept that dance floor packed all night long.

It was So Much Fun.

Our littlest bridal party members were the life of the party. I'm not exaggerating when I tell you those two never left the dance floor.

Ring Bearer Ruckus was my dance partner most of the night. He told his mom that he wanted to dance with the princess and kept stealing me from Mr. R! Totally made my night!

The night was one big whirl of dancing, but I can tell you that I vividly remember jamming to Call Me Maybe, dancing with my ladies through Bad Girls, and being generally thrilled and sweaty.

It was the best little beach side dance party I've ever been to.

(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

I Carry Your Heart: Speeches and Sunsets

While you're planning your wedding, people will tell you over and over how fast it will go by. Sure, you'll vow to take the time to eat and say hello to everyone and really be present, but in the end the day will still be one big blur of excitement. As I recap our wedding, I'm reminded of just how fast it all happened.

After our awesome family dance, we immediately went back to our tables for speeches and dinner. I don't have transcripts of our MOH's and Best Man's speeches, but they nailed it.

 And then we chowed! 

I sadly don't have any pictures of the buffet, but it was awesomely yummy. But then again, you can't really go wrong with lobster and steak. 

We really wanted to get some sunset photos in, which meant food was pretty much scarfed in between chatting with our awesome bridal party. About halfway through our meal, Abbey came and told us that we were getting close to that magical perfect lighting time of day. We chugged our champagne, scarfed the rest of our lobster, and then made a dash for the sand!

Where I bravely climbed up to the top of a lifeguard chair in a gown:

And dipped my toes in the ocean:

Made my new husband carry me:

And also decided to try this little viel shot I saw on Pinterest and through Mrs. Whale. When I told the girls to hop under my veil, they looked at me like I was crazy. I told them that it would either be super awesome or super ridiculous, but we were going to just go for it and see what happened. Luckily, I love how it turned out! (They kind of look like my harem, don't they?)

We frolicked in the water:

And the boys goofed around:

And when we returned to our little venue in the sand, we saw the wonderful gift Momma & Auntie America left us:

Candles everywhere!

And after a perfect sunset on a perfect day, we finally got the party started for real!

(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

I Carry Your Heart: First Dances with a Twist

Back when Mr. Rucksack and I first talked about the things we most wanted in our wedding, we decided that one of the most important things was for it to feel like a great big party. We really wanted to keep the event casual and we relied big time on our DJ to set the mood. We were so lucky that Matt completely understood us when we explained what we were looking for. Among many things, that included no big bridal party entrance and the shortest possible first dance.

Drinking champagne and getting bustled! (Photo by BM Veronica)

Asked if we wanted Al Green's Let's Stay Together played in its entirety, we simultaneously responded "No! Cut it as soon as we start to look awkward!" There's nothing I hate more than watching non-dancers sway around awkwardly throughout a 5 minute song when it's clear that they're completely miserable out there. No way was that going to be us.

We originally planned to use Something by George Harrison as our first dance, but changed our minds just days before the wedding as we practiced our awkward sway in the living room. If you're not planning on taking dance lessons, then I highly recommend at least practicing your dance one night with a bottle of wine. If it feels awkward in your living room, it's going to feel ten times more awkward on a dance floor with 100+ people staring at you. After nixing Something, we played through our entire love songs playlist until we found something that didn't make us super uncomfortable. Let's Stay Together was the perfect upbeat song that allowed us to be both silly and romantic.

 After a couple of verses, I made a quick speech and invited everyone up to the dance floor with us. I pretty much winged it, but this was the gist of it:

"At this time we'd like to invite the most important women in our lives up to dance with us: our moms. We'd also love to have you join us, so please bring your child or parent to the dance floor at this time. If you don't have a parent with you, grab someone special to dance with. You have to do what I say because I'm the bride. And also because it will be very special and sweet."

MIL Rucksack and I spent a long night poring over music until we found the perfect choice: All my Loving by The Beatles.

I'm so happy both moms were on board with this idea. It not only solved the dilemma of the missing father-daughter dance, but it also took away from some of the awkwardness of having all eyes on us. (One big spotlight dance was enough for me!) 

As my mom and I were dancing, she excitedly pointed out how many people had joined us. It was such a great twist on a tradition and I was so thrilled to be surrounded by our loved ones.

  

The energy was so high and happy and full of love. It was definitely one of my favorite moments of the day.

And this is where I have to thank you, hive, for the amazing suggestions for our parent dances! I couldn't be happier with the memories.

Have you thought about including a non-traditional first dance or parent dance into your reception?

(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

I Carry Your Heart: Family Photos for us, Cocktails for everyone else

Immediately after the ceremony, we directed our families over to the sand dunes for the family portraits. I think our bridal party was pretty thankful when we told them they were off the hook and could hit up the cocktail hour!

While everyone else nommed on food and got their cocktail on, we started off with a photo session with Mr. Rucksack's family:

Summoning the bride

The smallest members of our bridal party are total hams and wanted to be in every picture!

Poor SIL & BIL Rucksack were momentarily delayed from cocktail hour, but they were good sports!

Next up, my family stepped in:

Showing off my new ring

Sometimes I forget just how tall Wayne is! (To give you some perspective, I'm 5'9!)

My most favorite ladies: Momma Rucksack, Auntie Rucksack, and MOH Tessa

The group just kept on growing as we added more cousins!

And more cousins!

And still more cousins!

I had warned Abbey that my mom was like a high schooler when it came to photos and that she would most likely be demanding lots. The woman whips out her iPhone for a photo shoot at every family dinner, so I knew it would be double at the Rucksack's largest family dinner ever! It's one of those things that we always groan about in the moment, but are secretly thankful for later. And of course, I am so happy to have all of these family photos!

I couldn't wait to join in the party though so as soon as we got through the photos, I was off and running to get bustled so that we could get our dance on!

(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!