Getting Hitched: Our Final Moments As the Bride and Groom

After the bouquet and garter had been tossed and we had shared a few more group dances with our closest friends, it was time for the final dance of the night. Mr. C and I chose to have a private last dance before we made our exit from the reception and it was such a perfect conclusion to our wedding day. The DJ stayed long enough to put the song on (you'll notice he's in the first photo but not the later ones) and then he stepped out, leaving us alone with only our videographers and photographers. Obviously their presence didn't keep us from acting like newlyweds ;)

We danced to "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton and you'll probably notice I made a little wardrobe change beforehand. Okay seriously, how could you not notice that big white dress was no longer in the picture. Momma Coach was staying behind to take everything from the Piazza that belonged to us, and I also wanted her to be able to take my dress back to our house versus having to figure out what to do with it once we returned to the hotel and headed out for our honeymoon the next day. 

I'm a big fan of the wardrobe change pre-exit, but my suggestion to those who plan to change would be to slip away towards the end of your reception and change into your new dress rather than doing it once your guests are already outside lining up for the exit. If you're not doing a last dance it's not a terribly long amount of time for them to wait outside (unless you have a lace up ball gown - aaaalways allow more time for dealing with a lace up ball gown) but if you're doing a private dance and you want to change, that's a pretty long time for your guests to be waiting outside, especially if it's chilly! Our coordinator had suggested I change before the last dance, and it worked out perfectly.

After the music stopped, we took in the last few moments of our wedding day as we made our way toward the ballroom exit. I grabbed my bouquet, (if you look back through all of our photos you'll notice I carried that thing as much as possible!) the doors opened, and we made our way to our getaway car as our friends and family cheered us on.

This part of the night went by so quickly but I absolutely loved it. The Piazza has a good bit of restrictions on what you can use for your exit - no sparklers, no confetti, extra charge for picking up tossed rose petals, etc. - so we decided to go with bubbles and they worked out perfectly. I had read that bubbles look great at night because of the reflections off of the lights and flashes and I think that proved to be true! We really had no complaints about the bubbles, although judging by Mr. C's face they apparently didn't taste too good:

For those of you who are still trying to decide what to use for your exit, our videographer did a great post a while back about the pro's and con's of different items used for getaways. I always love getting the opinion of photographers and videographers on those types of decisions and Vanessa definitely knows what she's talking about!

I like to call this my "paparazzi" shot ;)

And just like that, we were in our town car driving away! The drive back to the hotel was filled with a whole lot of "oh my gosh.. we just got married!" type statements while also seriously considering having the driver take us to a fast food drive-through.

Once we got back to the hotel, we made our way up to our suite, only to realize we had forgotten to have our officiant, Josh, sign our marriage license at the Piazza. This woudn't have been a huge deal except for the fact that he had left the reception early causing us to fear he was already asleep in his room, and we were flying out super early the next day so we wouldn't be able to meet up with him the next morning. Luckily, a phone call revealed he was still awake and offered to meet us in the lobby to sign the document. We threw on some comfy clothes and headed down to meet our officiant in the lounge. Super romantic, huh? And it doesn't end there. We also realized we hadn't set up a way for Mr. C's tuxedo to make it back to the store on Monday. (If I remember correctly that was his job ;) ) At this point none of our bridal party had even made it back to the hotel yet and Momma C was just heading back to the hotel after helping clean up the ballroom. She offered to drop the suit off the next day, so we also had to set up a meeting with her in the lobby to give her the suit. Again, sounds like crazy wedding night fun, huh? Luckily, after that final mishap all of the details had been taken care of and the rest of the night was all ours. Some of you might remember that actually meant we ordered room service, like I mentioned here. So, we're back to the beginning - or at the end, depending on how you want to look at it. Seriously, how did we even get here?!

Coming up next - lots and lots of wedding details! You just thought I was finished! ;)

All photos by Megan Fortner.

Miss a recap?

First, I shared some of my favorite guest photos from the big day.

Next, Mr. C and I spent some quality time with family, rehearsed for the big day, and then enjoyed our tasty rehearsal dinner.

My girls and I spent some quality time together and got our hair and makeup done in our hotel suite.

We headed over to the Piazza, where I slipped into my dress.

I showed off my wedding gown in my pre-wedding Bridal Portraits.

You got a sneak peek into the Groom’s Suite while the guys got ready.

I got a little misty during our First Look.

Mr. Coach and I took a few couple’s portraits with our photographers.

It was almost time for the ceremony to begin, so our parents and grandparents made their entrances.

We exchanged handwritten vows during our ceremony.

Our photographers snapped some pictures of Mr. C and me with our Bridal Party.

Before the reception, we took the time for a few more couple’s portraits.

We made our grand entrance into the reception.

Some of our favorite people said some nice things about us in their toasts.

Things get a little crazier as we dance the night away and toss the bouquet and garter!