The Reception

The hard part was over… Kristen and I were married.  Officially.  Rings on, locked and loaded, no turning back, now and forever, married.  We left (rather quickly, because Kristen needed to sit down) to the violinist playing “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys, then quickly came back to the pandas for more photos.

After the photos, we made our way to the Gorilla Deck at Zoo Atlanta for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres… and a special feeding of the gorillas that the keepers were going to do for us.

If you’ve never been to Zoo Atlanta, one of the things that I thought was pretty amazing was the sheer amount of territory that they have devoted to the gorillas (although apparently it was DEFINITELY not that way in the past). There is plenty of room for the entire troop to run around, assert dominance over one another, and do gorilla-ish things.  The Gorilla Deck is just that:  a deck that overlooks the gorilla habitat.

Just a couple of dirty apes.

Kristen and I had to rush to get there on time (because even though it was my wedding, I was GOING to see the gorilla feeding, dammit).  One we got there, we were greeted by our motley crew of guests and hugs were given and received.  We listened to the music provided by our violinist (did I mention how great she was in my last post?), more modern stuff this time.  The hors d’oeuvres were fantastic… too bad I barely got any of ‘em.  The braised Korean short ribs in particular were delicious.  Then:  the gorilla feeding.

A keeper came out with a bucket of fruit, and the gorillas knew what time it was.  They lined up on the other side of the trench dug to protect everyone and started catching the fruit tossed to them, jockeying for position, and beating their chests to get her attention. It was really interesting to see them lined up and get more of a feel of just how huge they are yet how graceful they could be when grabbing for an orange.

During the feeding I was able to get a (much needed) drink from the bar (a gin and tonic, for those keeping score).  We needed a few seconds to decompress while the Panda Veranda was being reset into the place for the main reception.

We went back to the Panda Veranda, now set up to accept guests, and I tried to make as direct of a line toward the food as possible.  We were doing a buffet-style dinner with lamb,  chicken in a yogurt-based garlic sauce, various Mediterranean veggies, couscous, and… DELICIOUS BAKLAVA.  This was seriously some of the best baklava I’ve had in my life.  I could’ve finished off the while tray.  All of the food was fantastic, and (in a running theme) I wish I could’ve had more of it.

Food, glorious food.

We had a sweetheart table set up for us near the front of the dance floor and were able to eat in relative peace.  The first toast happened, and then… the DJ said that it was time for THE FIRST DANCE.

I was dreading the first dance.  No, dreading is too tame of a word.  I was UTTERLY TERRIFIED by the dance.  Alastair Sims as Ebenezer Scrooge meeting the Ghost of Christmases Yet to Come terrified.  I’m sure that you will be shocked to hear this, but I’m not a dancer.  The mere thought of stepping onto a dance floor to face the judging stares of everyone makes me wish that I could be temporarily sidelined by a minor heart attack.

I swallowed my fear, heard Snow Patrol playing over the speakers (our song was “Chasing Cars”, I know, laaaaaaame but… well, it’s our song), and got up to dance.  And it wasn’t a disaster!  We opted to combine our first dance, the father/daugher dance, and the mother/son dance into one so at a predetermined point Kristen’s dad cut in, I pulled Mom out of the audience, and then… uh… dancing.  Kristen’s Grandma and Grandpa cut in on her Dad while I danced with Mom, the song was over, and I thought that the dancing was over.

I was wrong.

Y’see, I learned something about Kristen’s family (at least on her dad’s side)… they like to dance.  A lot.  I got pulled into a few dances against my will when all I really wanted to do was sit down and catch my breath.  Being a fat man getting his dance on isn’t easy.  Thankfully, I was able to duck out and hide for a while to mingle with the wedding guests.

AND THEN WE GOT CAKE.

I am a giant nerd.

Above is my Groom’s Cake, made by our friend Katie… it’s chocolate peanut butter, and yes… those are pieces from one of my favorite board games ever, Carcassonne.  (In fact, those are the pieces from our actual Carc sets!).  The beautiful cake at the top of this post was made by Eileen Carter Creations (who was actually mainly just Eileen Carter herself) and was fantastic.  It was a white cake with three different types of filling (based on the layer):  Bavarian Cream (the compromise choice… I’ll admit  that I lobbied for this one), Grand Marnier (Kristen’s choice), and Cookies ‘N Cream (all me).  Both cakes were absolutely amazing. There was a tragedy involved with the main cake post-wedding, but here is neither the time nor place to talk about THAT (if I think about it, I’ll cry.  Poor cake).

After even more dancing, the party was directed to the stairs leading down from the Panda Veranda and issued with a sparkler.  Everyone lined up as our DJs played Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Kristen and I walked under a bridge of sparklers.  It was AMAZING… I might’ve had a tear or two escape my eyes as I saw friends and family members gathered together, smiling and wishing us luck.

We hit the bottom of the stairs, climbed onto a golf cart, and were driven off to the rest of our lives…