Looking Back, The.Big.Day

And here it is... the moment you've all been waiting for. I'll tell the story in pictures, it just seems easier. Despite our original wishes, we ended up taking pictures before

the ceremony. We didn't want to, but we're both Catholic so it just made more sense. Looking back, we're both so happy we did, it made the moment about us instead of us+200 people. This is one of our "first sight" shots. Mike actually ended up waiting a while by this window because the assistant photographer forgot to come get me. He finally knocked on the door and was like, "are you planning on coming, or what," and before I said anything my bridesmaids chewed him a new one, it was pretty comical.

A shot of the wedding party, in case you were wondering, and despite what others may say... this is the best group of people you want standing by your side on such an important day. Sorry, but they are.

... and here' s where I become Mrs. Michael Pentek. Best decision I could've ever made and the root of all future Dean/Pentek decisions. Not to brag, but we do make one heck of a team.

... and this pretty much sums up the time between the ceremony and the reception, luckily no one fell in the water...

Although our wedding took place in Minnesota, we didn't want the Chicagoans to feel left out... therefore our entrance song was "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" from the feature film, The Blues Brothers. One thing I've learned from Mike, nothing beats Chicago pride.

My dad gave the welcome speech to kick of the reception which I'm pretty sure brought everyone to tears. Mike's dad gave the blessing before the meal. This was a great way to kick off the night.

We danced, I danced with my dad, and Mike danced with his mom... but let's cut to the good stuff. The one thing I was adamant about in regards to our wedding was the dance portion of our reception...

Mike and I chose "Proud Mary", the Tina Turner version, as our wedding party song. It starts off slow, which is what you can see here in this picture but once it went into the fast part, we all darted off to find new people to kick off the reception. 

I spoke with the DJ numerous times before the wedding and he asked me, "is there anything I should know before the big day, " and I told him the guests attending our wedding were one heck of a good time. His job was to keep that dance floor packed, if people start to leave, he was to take that as a cue that he wasn't doing a very good job and was to change the song immediately. His response... "I'm on it." 

To say, he delivered, is an understatement. The night was awesome. The dance floor was packed from start to finish. We even had a congo line at one point throughout the entire reception room. What a blast.

I think I played the, "I'm the one in the white dress card," a couple times and broke up a few dance circle... meh!

While this was all fine and dandy, I think the absolute best part of the night didn't come from myself or Mike but from none other than...

... this guy. Yes, my brother himself, proving to everyone at our wedding where the real talent lies in the Dean family. The kid was a dancing machine and the best part about it was the next day when so many people were acknowledging his mad skills and his response... "I've never dance before in my life!" He was a riot!!!!

It all ended with Piano Man. In the end, nothing mattered but Mike and I, and the people surrounding us. Although this may sound corny, the entire day went off without a hitch. Seriously, I think the only thing to go wrong was wedding party limo showing up to the reception sight too early meaning we had to circle the area for a while longer in search of another bar... bummer =)

One year later, we're still in awe. We are very lucky =).

okay so that was the big night in a nutshell... what could possibly be next... hmmmmm