our wedding: the reception.

where do i begin? the reception was so joyful. it was filled with incredible toasts, laughter, dancing and lots of good food.


we entered the reception to the song beautiful day by u2, since they are simon's favorite band. it cracks me up that simon is holding a beer. that's my husband. :)


our center pieces were a dream come true: understated, organic and sweet. my mother-in-law filled blue mason jars and gorgeous vintage vases with fresh flowers, and tied burlap ribbons around them.


in addition, each table setting came with a vintage handkerchief, which i originally intended as a second napkin. but as it turns out, people were so moved by the toasts, some people actually used them as hankies! :)


and finally, each table also had a card on it, illustrated by the oh-so-talented clare owen, explaining that in lieu of favors we had made a donation to an animal shelter. thank you, clare!


during dinner we had a total of 6 toasts. they were all so heart-felt and personal. simon and i both cried (again), and agreed the next day that the toasts went completely beyond our expectations. wow.


and of course, our cake! i thought it was delicious. each tier had its own flavor: chocolate with raspberry filling, carrot cake with cream cheese filling, chocolate with peanut-butter filling, and vanilla cake with maine-inspired blueberry filling. yum, yum, yum.

our adorable cake toppers (or rather, cake "along-siders") were made by goose grease.


we also had a traditional norwegian cake called a kransekake. it's made of marzipan, and our guests loved it.


instead of cutting the kransekake, the custom is that you pull rings off the top, and the number of rings you get equals the number of children you're going to have. we pulled off three!


speaking of norway, my best friend surprised us with this adorable "just married" sign in norwegian! isn't it sweet? this was just one of many amazing and thoughtful things she did over the weekend.


and last but not least, we had our first dance to the song today by joshua radin. it was so fun, and we couldn't stop laughing, chatting and smooching!


and that, my friends, is it. :) whew! thanks for all of your lovely comments and support. i hope you enjoyed our wedding re-cap. it truly was such an incredible day. and i have to say, being married is pretty awesome too. :)


tomorrow i'll be back to regular scheduled programming. thanks again friends!

yours truly, mrs. simon

(all photos from & unlimited)