The Broke-Ass Bride

A Fairie Tale Wedding, MaPo Style (Part 2)

I’m thrilled to bring you the “party time” edition of my bestie MaPo’s Fairie Tale Wedding! Missed Part 1? Wondering what a MaPo is? Find it all here!

But before we get to the partying – and oh, was there partying – let me rewind to quickly highlight a few wonderful details of the rehearsal that I left off the last post!

For instance, MaPo’s drop dead perfect Charlotte York inspired rehearsal look:

And a tiny peek at their insanely adorable and talented Day-of-Coordinator, the always fabulous Mrs. Emerald (aka Charlene of Sweet Chic Events) along with warm and charismatic Reverend Jim, aka Rent-A-Rev.

And the uniquely perfect bridal party gifts that MaPo made for each of us! Customized aprons! Mine said “Dana’s cafe: Would you like melty cheese on that?” – a callback to our shared love of all things melty and cheesy. Hunter’s said “Hunter’s Ice Cream Parlor: We do not tolerate lactose” – shouting out to Hunter’s inability to enjoy regular ice cream without, shall we say, unpleasantness. We absolutely luuurve our aprons!

Ok – so now that the rehearsal tidbits are settled – onto the PARTY!

We all came in, paired up, girls with boys. I walked in with the Best Man, Feta’s big brother Kalamata (who later gave one of the best toasts, evah – so funny and personal).

Then came the couple of honor!

I managed to make it through my toast to them without crying, which was quite a feat! I talked about how wonderful it was that we both helped eachother find our mates, and what a special treat it was that we now got to plan our weddings together. I talked about how every time I see Feta look at MaPo with his melty eyes, I know that they were meant to be. And it’s true!

I like to imagine MaPo is emotional in this shot, but really, she’s probably just swallowing wine

After all the toasts, which were all funny and emotional and perfect, MaPo and Feta made a toast and the bridal party all did a shot of Ouzo together. As a greek myself, I can tell you that Ouzo is an acquired taste, at best. It’s thick and strong and tastes like anise (black licorice). The faces we all pulled following that shot were priceless. You can see my reaction here, and I grew up with this traditional aperitif!

They cut their gorgeous and tasty cake….

And then they danced their first dance as husband and wife, to Let Me Roll It, by Wings. I loved it because it was kinda sexy but totally sweet, and MaPo sang to Feta the whole time, looking more blissed out than I’ve ever seen her.

The father-daughter dance was up next. When she was a little girl, her favorite show was Fairie Tale Theatre, and every single day she watched the Cinderella episode, her father would come dance the music from the Ballroom scene with her. Her very own Prince Charming. Having this song was a complete surprise to her father, and a very touching moment for everyone.

Look at what a princess she is!

After a delicious dinner we all busted quite a move! They had a friend man the “DJ booth”, having him run an iTunes setup which was not only budget friendly, but added a nice personal aspect to the night. The music choices were perfect, so the dance floor stayed packed all night.

I wish I had some pictures of the traditional greek dances we did, in honor of Feta’s heritage. My favorite was the money dance, where we all danced in a chain while Feta’s family members showered everyone with dollar bills! It was literally raining money – what could be better?

I was very happy to get to spend some quality time with the bride that night… loving on eachother.

Whoa – that’s a lot of love! Blame it on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol!

MaPo’s joy was infectious and radiant all night long.

Check my mom in the gold, just killin’ it on the dance floor!

All in all, it was just a mystical, wondrous winter fairie tale of a wedding night. I am all verklempt just writing this, and reliving the happiness of each fabulous moment! Best of all? The whole thing was so budget-smart – from her $90 dress to the artificial flowers to the friendor DJ – but not one minute of the wedding suffered for it. No one would ever have been able to tell. But, yo, I just did, cuz I keeps it real with you readers, hear?

Stay tuned for a MaPo bonus: Part 3 – photo studio shenanigans!

(all photos courtesy of my dad)