Celebrating the Newlyweds

After a stunning ceremony and matrimony sealed with kiss, everyone was ready to party. The reception was held at the same location as the wedding so the fun started without delay for all the wedding guests.

We (the bridal party) had a little bit of time before we entered the reception. Camille was able to eat a  few bites, knowing she wouldn't have many opportunities to fuel up during the night. Then the DJ called us in and introduced us. Brooks and I entered with a total fail of a dance. I’m not sure what I did could even be called a move. If it is called something, I would call it “the dying fish.” Oh well. Last minute preparation of dance moves didn’t work for me and Brooks.

Camille and Quint danced their first dance as Mr. and Mrs. Jordan. Then Dad and Camille danced. Then Becky and Quint danced their mother-son dance. I stood next to Brooks to watch them all; such sweet moments that I didn’t have a chance to photograph. Hopefully, Mike Bayley has some great shots. Lori Campoli captured a sweet one too.

Lori Campoli Photography

After the dances, Dad gave his toast/speech. He talked about how forks in the road just so happened to bring these two people together. While Quint was in Raleigh, Camille was hopping around all over the place. Greensboro, New York, Ohio, Clayton, then finally Raleigh. Then it took 2 more years of living in the same city for them to finally cross paths. Amazing how life works, isn’t it?

Papa said the blessing, food was served, and the party began! The kids got right on the dance floor. I don’t think we could have kept Aaron off the dance floor if we had tried. He was so excited to dance at the wedding and remained the center of every circle the entire night. He and Ashton never stopped! We can all give the kids the credit for keeping the party going.

Photo Courtesy of Ginger Bunn

In between dances, I managed to shove some food in my face; it was very yummy. The crab dip was my favorite, funny because that is what we had at Winston’s last night. The cranberry, candied pecan salad was another of my favorites.

When I caught sight of the Paolinos, I could not get to them fast enough. It’s been 4 years since we have seen Pat, Candice, Ryan, and Eric. This family means so much to our family, and unfortunately we haven’t been able to stay in contact as much as we’d like. When I was told that they were coming to the wedding, I could not believe it. I truly thought that the WHOLE wedding was going to be better since they were coming. And indeed, it was! Having them there was such a treat. I miss them already.

Nicole came too! I guess you could call her my Plus One. First off, she looked adorable. I haven’t seen her since this summer, so it was due time to see one another. We had lots of fun dancing together and doing a little bit of catching up.

I spent a lot of time dancing with Mrs. Jennifer, Lisa, and McKenna too. I guess I should refer to them as my dancing crew. But I also danced a lot with BK and Katharine.

I really did try to spend time with lots of different people, and at least say a few words to everyone I knew.

Aunt Debbie looked gorgeous! As expected.

Had to stop for a pic with the other newlyweds.

Hung out with the people in my age bracket for awhile.

Saw Aunt April and Troy at the chocolate fountain.

And I even caught Quint trying to eat some chicken pastries.

Camille wanted to show all the NC State fans to know who really rules the house. She gathered up all her Carolina girls and Anita and Ashton to come out to the dance floor, standing arm in arm, to sing the Alma mater. How wonderful it was to have the Wells with us for the wedding. The Williamson family loves them very much.

Several of the boys fell in love with Arison

Ashton had a fun-packed night... time to fuel up on marshmallows.

Ms. D and her boy!!

Not sure how this next part went down, but all of sudden I heard Kate singing in the microphone. She stole the show and had everyone's eyes on her. Her performance quality stunned us all. Surely, Kate would say she had a fun time at the wedding, but not for the reasons you may initially think. Katelyn had her first dance with a boy! Yes, she did. The weekend before the wedding she asked me if any boys were going to be there that are her age. I thought a minute and then said, "Yes, Eric!" From that moment, she was determined to dance with him. I was so worried that he wouldn't after I had told her about him. Thankfully, he was willing to dance with her despite the fact that "she is just so good" (those are Eric's words- he was shy at first but with a few motivational words from Pat, he was out there grooving with Kate).

Later on, Ryan had his chance with the mic. He too had such performance! Love this kid!

P.S. The previous two events just mentioned occurred after the cake-cutting. It's quite hard to remember the order of the night. 

All too soon, the DJ came and found me and Brooks to give our toasts. I got through a few words and then looked over at Camille who looked like she was about to cry. Thus, I lost it. I tried to collect myself but then I saw that Camille was crying and couldn’t pull myself together. I took a deep breath, looked away from Camille, and began again. Somehow, I made it through the rest of my speech. I meant every bit of what I said:

-Having a big sister is one of life’s greatest blessings. I always have someone to go to for advice and help.

-Camille was willing to watch silly tv shows just because she knew that was something we could do (and laugh about) together; this is only one of the many sacrifices she has made for me.

-It’s not fair that she comes back home to live with us and remind me of how wonderful it is to have her around and then she goes off and gets married. 

-Now that Quint is in her life, things are better. He has learned to eat salad; I was able to be call up a prom date and send him in on train (I’ll never be able to thank Brooks enough); and I have a big brother now.

-He has always felt like family. He’s been a part of our lives since I was 12. That’s practically forever (especially since my memory of my young childhood barely exists). But it really is nice for it to be official. I have a brother!

Love you Camille!

Next Brooks gave his speech. It is neat how both the maid of honor and the best man are younger siblings of the bride and groom. We both had very similar things to say and wouldn't trade them for anything.

I love having brothers now! Camille's marriage didn't just bring two people together; it brought two families together.

I also was able to meet BK and get to know Katharine better because of all the wedding festivities. There just aren't many opportunities for me to meet or spend time with Camille's friends. Now I feel like they are my friends too. BK and I already agreed we need to have a bride and bridesmaids reunion in December.
You'd never have known that these two didn't know each other before becoming Camille's bridesmaids.

The night was not short of dancing. Almost everybody stepped out on the dance floor.

Finally time for cake. That's the reason we all came. Just kidding, just kidding! Camille and Quint were so dainty with it that it was almost a joke. A fork, a small bite of cake, a kind insertion, a subtle chew. I guess I was waiting for the big surprise, the smash, something.

Every wedding has to have a bouquet toss and a garter toss. Josh Moser’s fiancé Val caught the bouquet. And then Tyler caught the garter. The DJ then told Tyler he was supposed to put the garter on Val. Josh came over saying, “Oh no you don’t” and Tyler willingly handed over the garter. Josh had to “sell it” to Val as he walked toward her to put the garter on.  I had no idea this was going to happen. Everyone was laughing.

The final dance gave Brooks a chance to sing his song again. The mic did not work during the ceremony so not everybody was able to hear him sing the song the first time around. Camille and Quint shared a final slow dance.

It was now time for the sparkling send-off. I could not believe that the wedding was coming to an end. I definitely was not ready for it to be over. We tried to light our sparklers, but I’m not sure when these sparklers were made. When lit, they flamed more than sparkled, if we could even get them to light at all. There were still enough sparklers to give the beautiful send off Camille wanted. The newlyweds climbed into the limo and off they went.

We had to clean up and load the car. The shuttle forgot to come back for round 2, so we all had to squeeze into the van. Me, Troy, BK, Uncle Kent, Becky, and Ralph were escorted back to the hotel by James’s shuttle service. Thankfully, the night was not over.

The Sloans, Paolinos, Mom, Dad, Nana, Papa, and I all went to the suite to hang out. We wanted to get the most amount of time with them as possible. Dad had more food and stuff prepared for us. And of course, I ate it. It was so much to fun to talk about old times with the Paolinos and even dream about future plans and potential vacations together. And to laugh over leaving gifts at an unknown hotel room door. I'm so glad it wasn't some old couple who received the package. Would have made for an interesting night (this is a little inside joke between all us late night party peeps).

Wow, to think that this day has come and gone seems surreal. All the planning has led to this and now it's OVER! Laying in bed, my brain could not settle down. There was so much to think about, so much to remember, so much to blog! I'm thankful that I finally have the chance to sit down to type out all that happened, lest I really will forget. Only one more wedding post to go (on the Day-After breakfast and farewells). Who's still reading??

Kelsey