Otterly in Love: The Girls Steal the Show

It got dark, and the shenanigans got started. Before the wedding, I had told most of the girls what songs I had put on the must play. Some of them were so ridiculous ("Aaron's Party", anyone?) that I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one scream-singing them, and some I just thought I should probably share because I knew I was going to break it down and I didn't want it to be just me. ;)

(All photos by Stacy Able Photography unless otherwise noted.)

Are you a Pitch Perfect fan? I am. All of us are. So let me assure you: the dances you're about to see were not planned. Everyone knew for sure that I had these songs on my must play list, but in no way did we choreograph or practice the dances we busted out that night. 

Ladies first, of course.

"As you walk on by, will you call my name?" (A guest photo)

"I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan"

"I might take you home with me if I could tonight"

"Don't you, forget about me"

"Don't you forget about me..."

"I will love, love you tonight. Give me everything tonight."

"Let's do it tonight" (Because of course we struck an end pose. ;))

Ah, the boys. Just trying to fit in! We get it. ;)

And on the note of boys, we couldn't just do the ladies finale song. Of course not!

"Bright lights in the big city"

Cubs stepped up her solo game here; "I've got the magic in me"

"These tricks that I'll attempt will blow your mind; pick a verse, any verse ill hypnotize you with every line"

"Every time I touch that track it turns in to gold"

Our grand finale; one of my favorite photos in the series! :)

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: I Become a Bride
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts
• Otterly in Love: The First Look
• Otterly in Love: We Pose
• Otterly in Love: The Wedding Party
• Otterly in Love: Two Families, Lots of Faces
• Otterly in Love: We Finally Get Married!
• Otterly in Love: The Middle Part
• Otterly in Love: Craving You More
• Otterly in Love: Daddy Otter’s Speech
• Otterly in Love: The Toasts and The Dances
• Otterly in Love: The Surprises
• Otterly in Love: Let the Party Begin!
• Otterly in Love: Some Traditional Stuff
• Otterly in Love: We Snuck Off

Otterly in Love: We Snuck Off

For a good cause! More photos, of course! After we did the traditional staff (sans garter toss, remember?), we snuck off with Stacy for more photos.

Before we could sneak off, Cubs and I had to put our anchor bracelets back on. Anchors are kind of a thing with me (in case you hadn't noticed yet ;)), and Cubs and I have these matching bracelets. Since they didn't exactly match the wedding dress (and they tend to get dirty quickly), I had purchased us new ones in advance for us to put on as soon as we had time.

(All photos by the wonderful Stacy Able Photography.)

After my bracelet was secure, we went over to the edge of the property and got down to posin'.

Mr. and Mrs. Otter!

Kissing otters, so sweet!

(I love this little series! We high five all the time and it often turns into a vicious game of who can high five the longest - things get crazy in the Otter house! - so this was spot on for us.)

As night fell on the barn, the shenanigans inside turned up a level...

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: I Become a Bride
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts
• Otterly in Love: The First Look
• Otterly in Love: We Pose
• Otterly in Love: The Wedding Party
• Otterly in Love: Two Families, Lots of Faces
• Otterly in Love: We Finally Get Married!
• Otterly in Love: The Middle Part
• Otterly in Love: Craving You More
• Otterly in Love: Daddy Otter’s Speech
• Otterly in Love: The Toasts and The Dances
• Otterly in Love: The Surprises
• Otterly in Love: Let the Party Begin!
• Otterly in Love: Some Traditional Stuff

Otterly in Love: Some Traditional Stuff

When we left off, the dance floor was open, the party had started, and it was time for us to do some traditional stuff like cut the cake and toss things at people. (It sounds funnier that way, doesn't it?) 

Throughout the planning process, I refused to have a wedding cake. After coordinating so many weddings, I knew the fate of the cake would be death. For whatever reason, people in Indiana generally just don't eat wedding cake. Cupcakes, however, they jump all over. So cupcakes to the rescue! We had a small, pumpkin flavored cutting cake along with a variety of cupcake flavors (including chai!). They were SO GOOD, and we only took a box home (that we had previously asked to have set aside). 

(All photos by the lovely and uber-talented Stacy Able Photography.)

Let's also get real here, hive - I was not having the whole cake smash in face thing happen. We paid too much for hair and makeup (and had photos left to take!) to have it get ruined by a bite of cake. I repeatedly reminded Mr. O about this, but I think the next photo describes exactly what people expected to happen...

But alas! He didn't do it! There was no cake smashing! But the look on his face seemed like he thought I may actually still go through with my threats to do it to him...

I didn't smash it in his face... for the first bite. The second one? Yes, I smashed. It was a smash and run! What can I say? I was feeling rebellious, so I did it, and then ran for my own safety. I'm a chicken, but at least I didn't have pumpkin cake on my dress!

After we ate some cake, we made our way over to the dance floor to do some tossing. As I talked about earlier, we had decided on no garter removal (my polite way to say that I refused!), so we had the garter and toss flowers at the ready when it was go time.

Do you see this face, the withdrawn hands, the "OMG DON'T MAKE ME CATCH THIS THING" that our friend L is doing here? Her boyfriend is GM Billygoat, and Mr. O and I planned basically from the moment we met L for the two of them to be next in line. I think that she might've gotten wind of it considering how she acted when I aimed the bouquet her way...

Look at Billygoat, he knew our plan and was prepared to make the catch, but...

...K beat him to it and caught the garter! (And please note Daddy Otter's outfit...)

FINALLY! The garter had made it into the hands of our intended victim victor.

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: I Become a Bride
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts
• Otterly in Love: The First Look
• Otterly in Love: We Pose
• Otterly in Love: The Wedding Party
• Otterly in Love: Two Families, Lots of Faces
• Otterly in Love: We Finally Get Married!
• Otterly in Love: The Middle Part
• Otterly in Love: Craving You More
• Otterly in Love: Daddy Otter’s Speech
• Otterly in Love: The Toasts and The Dances
• Otterly in Love: The Surprises
• Otterly in Love: Let the Party Begin!

Otterly in Love: Let The Party Begin!

When we left off, Mr. O and Batman had just finished their first dance. Oh, bromances. They're something, that's for sure. After that, it was finally time to join them on the dance floor! I'm a dance person (meaning that while I love dancing anywhere and everywhere, I'm not actually good), so I was PUMPED about this part of the wedding celebration.

(All photos by Stacy Able Photography unless otherwise noted.)

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy - go Mr. O! I was shocked at how much he danced during the reception!

Look at my mini getting in on the action! What a heartbreaker. :)

When this one got out on the floor, we all moved. Girls got MOVES! She was breaking it down, and she had all of our attention!

(Guest photo) She was literally a blur! She event spent some time on the actual floor breaking it down. Go girl! :D

Fun fact: Mr. O doesn't know how to do any of the group dances. No Cha Cha Slide for him, until of course I made him join me and said "watch my feet!", which was obviously great advice since I just had a huge dress on. ;)

Momma Otter a few drinks in, having a great time!

A bit after the dance floor opened, I got the mic back to dedicate another song. Throughout the planning process, my Aunt K had done SO MUCH. There's not a gift great enough for everything she did. She's also one of our closest family members, so I knew this was a bit of a preview as to what's going to happen when my beautiful cousin gets married in the future. Her favorite man in the world (and yes, I do mean man, not just singer) is Bon Jovi. I dedicated Living On a Prayer and it was a hit!

Boys play air guitars.

Hive, I include this last photo as a cautionary tale. (And because it's funny. ;) The photo, not the story!) 

Be very specific with your vendors. Very, very specific. In order to keep the bar tab down but the fun level up, we chose to provide only our wedding party and their dates with liquor; everyone else got to enjoy free beer and wine. Of course, people ended up getting drinks and giving them out but that isn't the story. In my notes, I have that I discussed with my caterer no shots. I know that I specifically requested that because in addition to keeping the tab down, I didn't want things to get TOO out of hand. I wanted to have a fun time, but I didn't want anyone to be completely toasted. Unfortunately at some point, there was a miscommunication, and people were served shots. Lots of them. (And no, the bride and groom weren't invited to participate! That just makes me even more bitter!)

So on to part two of the story. You'll notice here that I'm drinking something red (a cranberry vodka). I was also drinking white wine. Thankfully, the white wine was what I had in my hand when a completely toasted guest spilled my entire cup on me. Yes, as in my beautiful, only-worn-for-a-few-hours wedding dress. Hive, I can admit that I almost cried. Even though it was an accident, even though it was white wine, even though I knew hoped that it would come out, I was devastated. Had those shots never been served, maybe this person would've been a bit more on the sober side... The end! Just be specific with your vendors, and choose your drink colors wisely. 

Up next: we do some traditional stuff. :)

Missed a recap? Catch up here!

• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pampered
• Otterly in Love: We Rehearse
• Otterly in Love: A Reverse Shower
• Otterly in Love: I’m Awake, Now What?
• Otterly in Love: The Girls Get Pretty
• Otterly in Love: The Guys Get Ready
• Otterly in Love: I Become a Bride
• Otterly in Love: We Exchange Gifts
• Otterly in Love: The First Look
• Otterly in Love: We Pose
• Otterly in Love: The Wedding Party
• Otterly in Love: Two Families, Lots of Faces
• Otterly in Love: We Finally Get Married!
• Otterly in Love: The Middle Part
• Otterly in Love: Craving You More
• Otterly in Love: Daddy Otter’s Speech
• Otterly in Love: The Toasts and The Dances
• Otterly in Love: The Surprises