James and Maria's Wedding Part 3: The Reception

Catch up here on James and Maria's Ceremony,

as well as their Cocktail Hour and Personalized Elements. 

Now, it's finally time for the reception, which was a blast and a half for 4 hours straight! The bridal party members were introduced, followed by the newly married couple as they walked onto the dance floor and shared their first dance to Jason Mraz, "I Won't Give Up."

After that, we sat down to listen to Joanna and Chris give their speeches to the couple. Despite some pre-speech nerves, they both delivered touching and heartfelt speeches, and did a great job.

As we were eating dinner, their friend Jon serenaded the guests to Tom Petty's "American Girl." I was super impressed!!

Here's a snippet of his performance

After dinner, the dance floor got moving and groovin' for awhile:

Then it was time for the happy couple to cut the cake:

 

James really likes cake, but I think he likes his wife even better!

The cake was delicious!! They had white cake with chocolate pudding and cannoli cream filling! If you ask me, you can't go wrong with those two flavors individually and especially put together.

Maria danced to "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts with her father.

James danced to "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion with his mother.

And then there was a special surprise dance later in the evening that James had arranged with the DJ. He called his sister to the dance floor to dance to "I'll Be There" by Faith Hill. She was so surprised and cried throughout the entire dance...which made me, and practically every other female around me, cry during the entire thing as well. It was very sweet, and you could really tell how close these two siblings are.

After the tears were wiped away and makeup refreshed, we danced some more!

 With my in-laws!

Near the end of the night, Maria and James tried their hand at playing the drums, and some serious rocking and dancing ensued!

Then, out of nowhere, James's dad (who used to play in a band) came out and totally rocked the house with his drumming!

 

Check it out here

Jame's sister, Vanessa, came up and took a crack at the drums as well!

At the end of the night, these cuties were playing "Mr. and Mrs." at the sweetheart table. It was so. precious!! Perhaps we have a future Mr. and Mrs. on our hands...

Congratulations to James and Maria!! All I can say is, my legs were sore for two days after their wedding because I danced so much. We saw them last weekend all tan and refreshed after they returned from their honeymoon in Antigua. (Jealouuusss) We couldn't be happier for you both, and look forward to a lifetime of memories to come!