Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Under the Harvest Moon: First Dances

I would like it to start this post out by letting it be known that Mr. Moonbeam did enjoy himself, see proof below, he may 'hate' dancing, but that smile on his face makes me think otherwise.


After the Grand March, we began our first dance as husband and wife surrounded by all of our guests.

Photo taken by Aunt Annie

We chose to dance to 'This Will Be Our Year' by The Zombies.  It's two and a half minutes long (a short song was a big want from Mr. Moonbeam) and I'm in love with the lyrics.  'The warmth of your love is like the warmth of the sun' would have to be my absolute favorite line.

I don't know if it's warmth or confusion with dance steps in his face, but I'll take it.

Mr. Moonbeam also loves all things Zombies (the walking dead kind, not just the band), so it was kind of perfect.


We never got around to dance lessons (maybe Mr. Moonbeam refused to do them), but I did convince him to follow along to some online foxtrot tutorials in our living room  We learned enough to move around the dance floor and execute some twirls rather than just sway for 2.5 minutes.  It ended up being just fine, and check out my dress in action!



Then Daddy Moonbeam and I danced to 'It's a Wonderful World' by Louis Armstrong.  Daddy Moonbeam narrowed it down to a couple of classics and I picked this one.  It's just lovely.



Mr. Moonbeam and his mother danced to 'You Can Never Hold Back Spring' by Tom Waits.  Mr. Moonbeam chose this one all by himself.  I don't really think it had much sentimental meaning, it's just a danceable song by his favorite singer of all time.

Photo taken by Uncle Chris

Then we had a dance with all of the bridal party paired off and guests joined in towards the end.


All photos taken by John and Whitney Canales and edited by me unless otherwise noted.


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Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Under the Harvest Moon: The Grand March

Our first anniversary is this Sunday, and while it doesn't look like I'll finish my recaps by then, I am close and I'm really happy my favorite part of the night is up next in the recaps.  It's been quite a year and I'm really glad to look back on this extremely fun half hour.

I have a feeling 'The Grand March' changes itself up for various cultures around the globe, but Mr. Moonbeam is part Czech and it's that part of his family that partakes in this fantastic tradition.


Mr. MB's Aunt and Uncle led everybody throughout the dance.  All of the ladies lined up behind Aunt Debbie and all of the gents lined up behind Uncle Mark.  (Leaders first, then bride and groom, then bridal party, then the guests).



The only real rule is to follow the person in front of you, and it's not terribly necessary that there only be ladies in the ladies line or gents in the gents line, or that there even be a pair of people in each section.  As you can see, we had all kinds of links in our chain.



They snaked us around the dance floor by simply marching to a polka beat with an occasional twirl for the ladies.


Then the ladies line diverged from the mens line and we had two lines snaking around the dance floor.  The lines got a bit tangled, but I think that's supposed to be part of the fun.


After a bit of that the two lines met up again and started making a human tunnel.  Go through the tunnel and add a piece to it, once everyone has gone through the leaders start unmaking the tunnel and going through what is left.


For those who have never done this, apparently pinching and mildly inappropriate patting is the norm, especially if you're the bride and have on a huge skirt that no one can actually feel your anatomy through.

Then a little more snaking around the dance floor until the bride and groom are pushed into the center surrounded by an inner circle of the bridal party, then an outer circle of guests.

The bride and groom dance around in the center and the circles of guests keep dancing around, occasionally raising their arms and moving inward to crowd the bride and groom for a bit before moving outward again.



At some point, the first dance song comes on and the guests stand around and allow the formal dances to start.

Photo taken by Aunt Annie (and definitely my favorite picture of the night)

The whole thing takes about 20-30 minutes and is a great way to get everyone in on the fun.  There's no real skill involved, so even non-dancers can partake, but I was still twirled a lot and was therefore supremely happy.

All photos taken and edited by John and Whitney Canales unless otherwise noted.


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Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Under the Harvest Moon: Cake

Now it was time for cake.  I think the general rule is to save this for a little later, because apparently many people think it's the 'end' of the reception.  I didn't really know that, and I just wanted cake, so we cut it.  A few people left earlier because of it, which kind of stinks, but I needed cake.

Photo taken by London 'Maid

My sister and her friend made 'the' cake (chocolate with cream cheese frosting), I made the topper.  I'd just like to mention how in love I was with the homespun look of our cake.  I talked with my sister a few days before the wedding, when on a whim I decided I wanted a 'faded Tiffany blue' cake.  I sketched her something about 2" square and she and her friend made it happen.

Photo taken by London 'Maid

Daddy MB made a couple of the cakes (chocolate pound cake, nameless cake, lemon chiffon cake) and some cookies (snickerdoodles, ginger snaps) with help from Grandma MB.  My Great Uncle made some impossible coconut pies, and my old roomie made a flourless chocolate cake.  

Photo taken by London 'Maid

Mr. MB's family got jam filled kolaches from the small town his Nana and Papaw are from.  (It was a great stop for Mr. MB and his family on their way into San Antonio from Houston, he met some distant relatives, saw the church his grandparents were married in and saw the house his Nana grew up in).  


The groom's cake was made at Haby's Bakery in Castroville, it was  brownie cake with chocolate frosting.  Mr. MB loves films, so he got a movie camera on his cake.


Seriously, it was a great spread, and with my overwhelming love for dessert and all things baked, it was really appropriate.

Then, I decided that right before we cut the cake (and everyone was already standing around watching) was the perfect time to explain to Mr. MB how it was all gonna go down.


Now that we had a plan, It was time to get down to business.


We also cut the Groom's cake for good measure.


Do you notice my face, full of hope and excitement that the piece of cake won't fall on my dress.


Mmm, seriously, it was good, and I tried almost every dessert on that table.  But I did let everyone else dig in.

Hungry yet?

All photos taken by John and Whitney Canales and edited by me, unless otherwise noted.

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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Reception: Part 3

It's speech time.  Momma MB gave a little welcome and thank you to everyone for coming out and then introduced our MOH and Best Man for the speeches.


Sista' MB was up first.  She gets a bit nervous with public speaking, but she had it all planned out and had been memorizing.  I even got to hear a practice run.  I love that she took her role so seriously, and it worked out perfectly.


She started off giving Mr. MB his new title: BBILF (buh-bilf).  Best brother in law forever, stress on the forever part.  Then she gave him a few tips on how to deal with me (his doubly married, super for real wife).  You know, the usual: make sure I'm fed and make sure I get enough sleep.

Photo by Uncle Chris.

She got laughs from us and everyone else.  It was a very appropriate welcome for Mr. MB into our family and Sista' MB was super excited to be done with her most nerve wracking MOH task.



Then it was BIL MB's turn.  His speech was more of the heartfelt variety.  He talked about how caring Mr. MB is and how great it was to see him with somebody that made him happy (that would be me, cough).


Below is my make-a-weird-expression-to-avoid-crying face.  Thanks BIL MB.



Then a hug or two and the speeches were done.

On a side note: we had the toasting flutes that have 'Bride' and 'Groom' written on them.  I noticed in some of the pictures (very magnified) that Mr. MB had the 'Bride' glass and I had the 'Groom' glass. Eh, details.

All photos taken by John and Whitney Canales and edited by me unless otherwise noted.


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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Under the Harvest Moon: Reception Part 2

The Food!

I'm not going to lie, I didn't put much thought into the food.  For apps we had standard veggie, fruit and cheese trays that were gone before Mr. MB and I even got there, whoops.  And for dinner I knew my budget, my location and the limits of catered food and went for the old Texas standby: BBQ.


Momma MB is from the south side of San Antonio and remembered going to Snoga's when she was younger.  Since our wedding was just outside of southern San Antonio, she knew that was where we'd be getting our food.  Lucky for us, it was unbelievably reasonable, downright cheap.  I think it came out to about $5.50/person for brisket & sausage topped with lovely bbq sauce, potato salad, pinto beans, cole slaw, white bread and iced tea.  Side notes for non-Texans, the cole slaw was vinegar based (immensely preferable to mayo based) and white bread is an absolute must with BBQ.

Photo taken by London 'maid and edited by me

Usually BBQ goes hand in hand with a not-so-great thing: styrofoam.  I didn't want dinner to be served on styrofoam plates, so we ordered compostable plates for dinner, and small little compostable trays for apps and dessert.  Unfortunately, I forgot about the styrofoam cups the tea was being served in.  Well, I tried.  I bought the plates and trays from WorldCentric, an online biocompostables retailer.  They were sturdy, I liked the unbleached color and I thought they were well priced.

Photo taken by John and Whitney Canales and edited by me

Now, we often hear brides talk about not getting a second to eat, but that was never going to be me.  No one wants to see me hungry in my everyday life, so hunger, plus lack of sleep, plus stress of being 'on' all day meant that eating was necessary if a meltdown was to be avoided.

I personally love how much space my dress takes up. Ladies, keep in mind the fact that you often have to make room for your garment.
Photo taken by John and Whitney Canales and edited by me

Photo taken by Aunt Annie and edited by me

Oh, and sorry for the short hiatus, I was in the Philippines!

Personal photo

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Under the Harvest Moon: Reception Part 1

We didn't really do an entrance, there wasn't an announcement or anything.  We just waited until everyone was there and settled (and we'd taken some pictures) and then walked into our reception, hand in hand as
a team.


Photo taken by London 'maid

 We waved 'hello', got some applause and started mingling.


 We ditched our bouquets.

 Checked out our jazz band

 Then I had a mini portrait session when our photographer caught me up by the photobooth. (edited by me)

 What am I supposed to do here? (edited by me)

 (edited by me)

 (edited by me)

 (edited by me)

 And what would a Texas reception hall be without some antlers? (Taken by Uncle Chris)

Up next in reception posts: cake, dancing and speeches.

All photos taken and edited by John and Whitney Canales unless otherwise noted.


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