Remember that song by Billy Idol? 😀 Well it was a nice day for a wedding, but it was a cold day!
Ashley and Matthew’s wedding last night was a black and white affair. They requested that the guests wear all black, so Ryan and I obliged, though my dress was covered by a not-so-cute back cardigan most of the night because it was so stinkin’ cold!

Me and My Date
The wedding was at the City Arts Factory in downtown Orlando and was the definition of a beautiful winter wedding.
When we arrived we walked up a decorated staircase into a large loft for the ceremony.

Black and White Entrance
We chatted with some of the people I used to work with at the Orlando Museum of Art for about 10 minutes before the ceremony began.

The Ceremony
Matthew’s face when Ashley walked down the aisle was wonderful to watch. Matt’s the lead singer/guitarist for the heavy metal band Trivium, so seeing him moved by the ceremony and his future wife was especially romantic. Later in the evening he said that when he saw Ashley walking down the aisle, that was the moment when all his nerves went away and he knew everything was right. So sweet!

Ashley Walking Down the Aisle
Ashley looked stunning and definitely added her own personal touch to the wedding. She wore an amazing handmade hat throughout the evening which suited her perfectly.

The Bride and Groom
After the ceremony we went downstairs for a cocktail hour when the ceremony site was flipped into the reception room.
I enjoyed several glasses of Reisling (gotta love wine that tastes like juice!) and a bunch of appetizers. Appetizer favorites were the spinach artichoke dip and the shrimp skewers wrapped in sugar snap peas that were passed around.

Appetizer Table

Enjoying Cocktail Hour
We were then ushered back upstairs for the reception. A delicious buffet of yummy smelling food awaited us.
We hit up the bar one more time and took photos with friends in a photo booth (so fun!) to wait for the food line to die down before filling our dinner plates.

My Plate
I filled my plate with lots of veggies, a small taste of the chicken dish and several thin slices of top round beef. I ate every last bite!
Ryan and I enjoyed dinner time and had fun catching up with our friends Ryan and Ken.

Ken and Ryan

Ryan and Me
As favors for the guests, Ashley and Matt had a neat candy bar set up where guests could fill up a mini to-go container with candies. Ryan and I filled our up and ate it all before we even left! I was addicted to the snow caps and Twizzlers. All the candy was black, white and red which looked really neat.
I really want to do a cookie bar at our wedding. Ryan and I both have a big sweet tooth and love homemade cookies. I think it would be really neat to use family recipes and have little tags on the cookie bins noting that these cookies are “Mimi’s homemade sugar cookies” to add a personal touch.
Here’s a picture (courtsey of Miss Martha) of what I’m thinking:

Cookie Bar
As if our sugar high from the candy bar wasn’t enough, Ryan and I made sure to indulge in wedding cake.
The cake was so elegant.

The Cake

Top Tier
Ashley and Matt were so cute during the cake cutting. No cake was smooshed into anyone’s face. 🙂
If you are married, did you smash cake into your spouse’s face at your wedding?

Cake Cutting
The main wedding cake was chocolate mocha which was delicious! They also had mini cakes on many of the reception tables with chocolate, vanilla and carrot cake flavors.
I ate a thick piece of carrot cake and sampled the others. The carrot cake was my favorite, followed by the chocolate mocha.

Carrot Cake
I love wedding cake! In the future I think I should skip dinner at weddings and eat seven pieces of wedding cake. That’s all I really want anyway.
Maybe we’ll do that at our wedding… no dinner… only dessert. Sounds good to me! 😉
Can you imagine this wedding menu:
Appetizer
Small brownie bites
Salad
A bed of chocolate chip cookie cake served with crumbled cookies pieces and a hot fudge sauce dressing
Entrée
Ice cream sundae, topped with whipped cream, chocolate and caramel sauce, garnished with candied pecans and a cherry
Dessert
Funfetti wedding cake
If I ever saw this menu at a wedding I would think I had just died and gone to heaven!
Today
I don’t have too many things on my to do list today which feels great! I want to clean up the apartment, run a couple errands and plan out some yummy dinners for this week.
I am taking the day off from the gym because I know a day of rest is important…however, I feel pretty energetic so I may attend a yoga class to release some energy. I hate stretching and always feel so antsy in yoga classes, but I want to improve. We’ll see!
Time for breakfast!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: carrot cake, cookie bar, wedding | 26 Comments »