HI WEDDING WIRE FRIENDS! We are back and MARRIED!
WOW we had an awesome, awesome wedding. We invited 170 guests, 147 RSVPed yes, and I don't know our final number, I believe it was fairly close to that. We are so glad we decided to go with that number. It's been a season of losses and grief in both family and friend circles, and having a time to all be together for a good reason was so needed and healing. So I'm glad we had everyone we did. On the flip side, if we had any extra, we'd have burst out of the indoor space, so it was just right for us. 
As I've mentioned here before, we chose to take our venue on a steep discount, with the understanding that the entire field that our ceremony and reception site was overlooking would be potentially scorched. They did schedule the burn for the week of our wedding, but we lucked the HECK out, and it didn't happen until two days later. The night was gorgeous and we completely got more bang for our buck with the most perfect space.
We had an interfaith ceremony with both a priest and a rabbi. It was a LOT of work to get that approved, because every religion has different things going on, but it was exactly how it needed to be. In everything we were able to honor all of our cultures, and both religions. We had a chuppah and a virgin de Guadalupe, 1 Corinthians 13 and the 7 blessings, a benediction and stomping on the glass (he got it in the first try!).
We spent so much time making sure the ceremony was a perfect blend, that it was cool that for the reception that just happened naturally based on who we are. People were dancing the hava nagila with margaritas in hand, and I was just like heck yeah, this is us.
The biggest reactions from people I've gotten so far:
- We had a gelato cart instead of wedding cake.People went bonkers for it and were absolutely obsessed
-People liked how the ceremony incorporated both religions. Many said they liked the "back and forth" which wasn't something we necessarily had in mind while planning
- My brother was my Man of Honor, and his speech brought everyone to tears
- My dad and I danced to Proud Corazon from Coco, and my mom and brother joined in for the last verse. People loved this and interestingly many cried at it.
- My parents LOVED our coordinator and everyone was super pleased with our photographer and her assistant. Having vendors with compatible personalities to you and your family is SO HELPFUL.
The photographer gave us a "sneak peek "of photos.... which is 76. So I'll just share a few here, if you want to see anything specific I can add some additional photos in the comments.
just married!
He said "you may now kiss each other" which I really liked as opposed to "the bride"
sweet dip
my Catholic mom in the hora 
I wasn't able to get the napkin to my husband because we were afraid of falling and apparently he didn't know what it was for! (and he's the Jewish one lol) 
freaking beautiful venue 
Our most perfect, perfect wedding party
Dress shot (dress was from David's Bridal, their alterations team was great, my sales person wasn't the best, but it was worth it for the price and value)
We went out for additional pics at sunset - worth it! 
kissing my husband! 
We didn't do a first look, but we didn't need it. She got so many pictures
We ended up spending just under 20K. High cost of living city in a low cost of living state. Our parents generously bankrolled it, so a couple of the higher ticket items were things they wanted, that of course we included as they were paying.
As I mentioned we didn't do a first look -- and even though there were no big reactions or anything, I'm still glad with the choice we made. The ceremony ran way shorter than we planned, so we were able to greet everyone during cocktail hour. Since we couldn't start until 6, a lot of the babies left early, though a 3 y/o and a 92 y/o both stayed out until 11pm.
Family pictures are the most stressful part! Give a family member on each side the list and have them help in corralling people -- and just accept that this part is the most medium thing of the whole wonderful day!
Thanks for all the help!
