Lemur L'amour: Just a Few More Pictures

After cutting the cakes, we snuck out for a few more couples pictures. But first, we grabbed our parents' wedding pictures and posed for a shot or two.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

My parents were both 22 when they got married and Mr. Lemur's parents were in their early 20s. This last weekend my parents celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary and Mr. Lemur's parents have been married for 31 years. We have a great legacy to live up to!

Then we slipped outside to the slightly drizzly grey skies to snap a few pictures. Niki had scoped out a wooded area directly below the lodge...in fact, if you walked out on the balcony you could watch the impromptu photo shoot, and several kids did just that.

I bought my sweater for $7.50 at Old Navy and it was one of my best decisions of wedding planning (along with the cakes, getting married indoors, and marrying Mr. Lemur, of course). I didn't anticipate using it, since last year on our wedding date it was 95 degrees. Of course, this year it was 60 degrees and I was so thankful to have a cardigan on my shoulders and arms.

Hands down some of my favorite pictures of the day. And I still wear that sweater to work occasionally.

I took my sweater off for a few shots, although I can't say I like these as much. The extra pop of color was really perfect in the woods.

Getting out of the woods in a dress wasn't particularly easy. I definitely couldn't have done it in a princess style dress, that's for sure.

Random candids and bloopers aside, several of these pictures have made their way to frames in our apartment. I'm so glad we took just fifteen minutes away from our guests to snap a few more couples pictures. Inside, the party was wrapping up and it was almost time to go!

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony, then we said I do and were husband and wife. Then it was time to be seated for the reception, kids and all! We started eating and admired the cakes before digging in.

Lemur L'amour: Cake, Anyone?

For awhile the cakes just sat on the tables and looked pretty, but let's be honest...the real reason for the cakes was to eat them. And to eat them we had to cut them. As a way for us to spend more time with our guests, we went around from table to table and cut them all ourselves. We didn't spend a long time at every table but we did get a chance to say hello to everyone.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

We cut the cakes using a knife and server used at Mr. Lemur's grandparents' and parents' weddings, as well as Mr. Lemur's brother's wedding last summer. Kind of a cool tradition!

He did a great job of not shoving cake in my face. Unfortunately that doesn't mean I looked cute in the pictures. The cake was good though!

I paid him the favor back and didn't shove cake in his face either. And apparently he braced himself on my shoulder just in case I got any ideas. Then it was off to the rest of the tables.

My cousin decided he wanted to be fed cake too, which made for some funny (although slightly blurry) photos...

When I had asked my caterer to do a cake on each table, I told her the decorating was totally up to her. She ended up doing a simple rough frosting in a few different shades and added some flowers she purchased that morning to the top. I thought it added a great touch and the little girls especially loved the flowers. Here's Olivia helping me take off the flowers so we could actually eat the cake.

This poor table had to wait till the end to have their cake cut!

Did you get a chance to greet everyone at your reception?

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony, then we said I do and were husband and wife. Then it was time to be seated for the reception, kids and all! We started eating and admired the cakes...

Lemur L'amour: Cake(s)

Back in March, I read Mrs. Treasure's post about cakes as centerpieces and I knew I just had to do it. Originally we were going to do five or six bigger cakes as a dessert table, but I had a meeting with our caterer three weeks before the wedding and I asked her (with a little trepidation) if there was any way this would be possible. And can I just say that she is the sweetest lady? The conversation went a little bit like this:

Me: "I have this idea...but I don't know if it will work or if we can afford it."
Caterer: "I'll try to make anything work!"
Me: "I would love to do a cake on each table, maybe six or so different flavors. Our budget is $600."
Caterer: *laughs*
Me: "Is that enough?"
Caterer: "Honey, I wouldn't charge you more than $250 for that. I don't understand why people see 'wedding' and think 'charge six times as much.'"

Amen, caterer, amen.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

This was hands down my best last minute decision of wedding planning. We stacked several books on each table (some borrowed, some bought at a secondhand store), threw a cake on it, and called it a centerpiece. We added the scrabble letters in the holder to let people know what kind of cake was at their table. There was white...

...spice...

...red velvet...

...chocolate...

...yellow...

...and I don't have a picture of just the cake, but I know this table had carrot cake. There was definitely some trading going on, which actually made me really happy, because it was fun and casual.

Mmm, cake. (And next time we'll actually cut it.)

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony, then we said I do and were husband and wife. Then it was time to be seated for the reception, kids and all!

Lemur L'amour: We (They) Eat

You know how people always say they didn't eat at their wedding? I swore I would...but I really didn't. First of all, we never really sat down at a table. Our top priority was making sure we spent time with all of our guests, so most of the time I was walking from table to table and standing and chatting with people. After everyone had gone through the buffet line, we grabbed plates and continued visiting with guests as we ate. Mr. Lemur ate plenty, but I swear I had like three bites and didn't feel well. I don't know what it was—maybe a combination of stress and everything going on? I tried to eat but I wasn't really hungry and nothing tasted quite right.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

Everyone else has told me the food was good. No one raved about it necessarily—but I knew from the beginning our food wasn't going to be mind-blowing. There was plenty of it and it was good, which is all I was looking for at our price point.

I actually don't have any pictures of the food, and hardly any of people eating, but that's ok. We ended up having make-your-own breakfast biscuits with sausage and ham, quiche, cinnamon rolls, muffins, sandwiches, salad, and fruit. There were also two drink stations set up with (I think) water, sweet tea, juice, coffee, and hot tea.

I think in this picutre I'm 1. Showing off my wedding band and 2. Holding my phone because my sister sent me a picture of my new last name in her phone. Gotta love candid moments, right?

You can see the buffet lines and one of the drink stations in the background of this picture. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm making this face in approximately 90% of the pictures. What can I say, I was happy!

I'm pretty sure they were scoring our kiss. Up next: We cut the cake(s).

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony, then we said I do and were husband and wife. Then it was time to be seated for the reception, kids and all!

Lemur L'amour: A Kid-Friendly Wedding

Way back in February, I blogged about having a kid-friendly wedding.We ended up having fifteen kids under the age of twelve at our wedding, and all of them did great! Sure, we delayed the start of the ceremony because not everyone had arrived, but once everyone got there and was seated, they all behaved perfectly for both the ceremony and reception. (At least from what I remember—I was pretty focused on the fact that I was marrying Mr. Lemur.) I think there were a few things that we did that helped it work out.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography.

Activities. As we transitioned to the reception, the kids all did a great job of sitting and coloring quietly until their tables were dismissed to the buffet lines. If you're having kids at your reception, I highly, highly recommend having some kind of activity for them! Several parents said thank you to me for helping keep the kids occupied, especially since it was lunch time.

Food. Uhh, this one is pretty simple. Feed them! If you're having an upscale reception with fancy hors d'oeuvres and salmon as the main course—consider serving the kids an alternative meal or making sure there's something they'll eat. Our food was simple enough that the kids could enjoy sausage biscuits, sandwiches, cinnamon rolls, muffins, and fruit alongside their parents.

Space. Another recommendation for a kid-friendly reception—give the kids room! We were in a large room and there weren't really any areas that were "off-limits," except for maybe the fireplace, since we had candles lit. Everywhere else the kids were free to roam. We seated all the kids towards the back of the reception area so they literally had half of the huge room where they weren't bothering anyone.

Relax. Finally, if you're planning on having kids at your wedding, my number one suggestion is to not try to control it. Because you can't. And as much as I'm usually a Type A planner...when it comes to kids I just couldn't be. I did my best to give them a good environment—something to do, lots of room, and food they could eat—and after that, I just let them have a good time!

I know this isn't the greatest picture, but as we were coming back in from sneaking out for a few pictures in the woods (more on this later), little Olivia walked up with a half colored picture. She told me she had colored half of Cinderella for me and left the other half for me to finish. If I needed any validation that having kids at my wedding was the right thing to do, this was it. Love this girl.

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony, then we said I do and were husband and wife. Then it was time to be seated for the reception!

Lemur L'amour: Have a Seat

People started making their way to their seats, where they found their crossword puzzles and I Spys. The kids' seats had coloring pages, games, and crayons.

All pictures by Niki Marie Photography. 

I've been saving our detail pictures, but here's a shot of what the tables looked like. Simple, yes, but I loved them. I felt like they were the perfect blend of casual and fun for us. This table had several kids—you can see their crayon boxes at the seats on the left. The adults had the more grown up pencils.

The kids concentrating as they color is pretty much the cutest.thing.ever. I just love them all.

We didn't want to leave our guests without food for too long—it was almost noon at this point, after all. The caterers needed approximately twenty minutes to get set up at the far end of the room, since they waited until after the ceremony was over to bring in the food. (A downside of having the ceremony and the reception in the same room, I guess, but it wasn't that big of a deal.)

My dad pointed everyone to the buffet tables, and it was time to eat!

The wedding day began at 5:30 am and continued as we got ready at the venue. We had our perfect first look and then took couples pictures in the road. After bridal party pictures and family pictures, it was time to begin the ceremony! I walked down the aisle and began the ceremony, then we said I do and were husband and wife.