Last week I shared our back patio wedding ceremony, so today I wanted to share our living room wedding reception!
Due to Covid, our original venue was forced to close a week before our wedding, so we had to make a quick change of plans and host the wedding at our house. Luckily, all our vendors were able to still work with us, so we could go on as planned with the DJ, florist, baker, photographer and caterer.
We did have to hire a bartender at the last minute and think of aaall we could possibly need for a fully stocked bar. Judging from the dance party reception photos, I think we did a good job lol
But I really think the secret to a home wedding is to go ALL OUT with the flowers — and that’s exactly what Meredith Cooper at Forage did! She totally transformed our living room and kitchen. We had over 80 little vases of flowers around!
The biggest challenge of hosting a wedding at your house is thinking of EVERYTHING you could possibly need for the whole night like extra toilet paper, trash bags, serving utensils — all the things!
We had family and friends constantly going to the store the day of the wedding because we kept thinking of all these little things we needed like lighters, a new door mat and extra table cloths.
We had the ceremony on the back patio, then went down to a park for wedding photos while our guests ate dinner and got drinks. We flipped our back patio into a sitting area with tables and more flowers. We also had high top tables around the pool.
For the inside, we cleared out all our living room, dining room and kitchen furniture. We added a few 6-foot tables for food and some high top tables in the living room.
We had our first dance in the middle of our living room, which was really special and surreal.
Sarah Gardner at Batch Baking Co made us the most beautiful funfetti wedding cake ever. It was EXACTLY what I envisioned and so much more. Our florist took it above and beyond with the flowers!
I shared Michael’s American flag groom’s cake in this post: Our Wedding Theme: America + Taylor Swift
I think with the reception being at our house it made it WAY more fun. I feel like everyone let loose a little bit more and really went all in for our pandemic wedding. Plus, we kept going until 3AM - which we could have never done at a venue!
Our living room turned into a giant dance floor. My favorite part was literally everyone belting out Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now.” We also got down to some Backstreet Boys, Miley Cyrus and The Killers.
I told the DJ that I didn’t know what all the cool kids listen to these days, but I wanted fun music we could sing and dance too. With that, there was a lot of drink spilling and a lot of dancing around with a mop. There was also limbo at one point. We’re crazy, I tell ya.
Yes, that’s Michael’s face on their shirts. I’m pretty sure there was a choreographed dance thrown in too.
The night ended in the pool. We all jumped in on the count of three then it was a pool party until 3AM. The DJ brought the speakers outside, and the cops came at one point. Our neighbors probably weren’t thrilled, but it was totally worth it!
Photos by Bliss Photography
KEEP READING: Our Back Patio Wedding Ceremony
Cheryl Frost
Great pics and beautiful wedding and reception. ❤️