If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends

I think it’s safe to say that the reception was one big dance party, and the best one I’ve ever been to. All my favorite music, played by my favorite band, with ALL of my favorite people on the dance floor? Amazing.

These are the highlights from the wedding reception, which ended in me on the stage singing Spice Girls with some of my bridesmaids on stage with the band.

Started out with my mom and brother hittin’ the floor with the classic Kroeger moves (raise the roof, push it down, bring it back)…

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Meghan and David, keeping it classy …

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See, the Kroeger-clan likes to raise the roof…

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Not a wedding has gone by without me and my big mouth making it into a photo …

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I love this photo, not because we had so many alumni in it, but because we are MISSING so many more who were chasing down the bartenders serving our “specialty cocktail” (the Tim’s Wall) …

ali-kyle-481-2** ali-kyle-482* ali-kyle-485* ali-kyle-487-2* ali-kyle-490* ali-kyle-491* ali-kyle-492* ali-kyle-495** ali-kyle-501*ali-kyle-497*ali-kyle-498*ali-kyle-503* ali-kyle-504 2* ali-kyle-506* So much emotion on the dance floor… ali-kyle-507* ali-kyle-508* ali-kyle-513* Grandma, giving me a life lesson for sure … ali-kyle-514*

And, my FAVORITE photo from the wedding: Grandpa stealing food from Grandma’s plate while she is schooling me on something. I’ve never seen a photo that captures them as best as this one  …

ali-kyle-516* ali-kyle-519** ali-kyle-521* ali-kyle-522* ali-kyle-524* These dancing women are my coworkers …ali-kyle-526* ali-kyle-527* ali-kyle-530** ali-kyle-531**F ali-kyle-534* Yep, this happened … ali-kyle-538** ali-kyle-540** ali-kyle-541** ali-kyle-542* ali-kyle-545* ali-kyle-547* ali-kyle-549* ali-kyle-550* ali-kyle-552* ali-kyle-556* ali-kyle-557* ali-kyle-560* ali-kyle-561* ali-kyle-564* ali-kyle-565*

And … that’s IT for wedding photos!! Now, we can move on with being married, haha.

The Main Event

Now for the main event! When we started planning our wedding we knew we wanted it to be personal and full of love. What we weren’t expecting was just HOW personal everything turned out, let’s just say if you didn’t know “Kyle and Ali” too well before the ceremony, you certainly knew a lot about us coming out of it.

Our officiant, Rev. Bonnie, was fantastic. A few weeks before the wedding we met her for coffee and hung out for an evening talking about ourselves and learning about Rev. Bonnie. To put it lightly, she had used about everything we shared with her about us – from meeting during the Hurricane Ike blackout at UD, to Kyle sanding and painting my old kitchen table a couple months ago. She talked about how “impressed” I was with Kyle’s beer pong playing, and how Kyle thought I was the prettiest of my college roommates when we met (and who were all bridesmaids). So embarrassing but at least we all were able to come clean, right?

Brandon, one of Kyle’s best friends, gave a reading during the ceremony. When we called him to ask if he’d do it, he asked if he could write one himself. It was beautiful and perfect and certainly one of the most special moments of the day.

Rev. Bonnie sharing the embarrassing details…

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Brandon, making us cry…
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And, we’re married! ali-kyle-251*ali-kyle-252* ali-kyle-253* ali-kyle-255***

Let’s make this official!

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Still more photos and memories to share! Next we’ll post photos from the cocktail hour on the rooftop of Clarendon Ballroom.

The Walk Down the Aisle

I really didn’t think walking down the aisle was going to be as emotional and wonderful as it was.  Being with my dad, and seeing everyone I love most in the world all together in one room, and Kyle at the end of the aisle smiling was definitely the most amazing experience.

Our moms …

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ali-kyle-190 ali-kyle-191 ali-kyle-192 ali-kyle-193 ali-kyle-194 ali-kyle-195 ali-kyle-196 ali-kyle-197 Kyle, patiently waiting for his bride …

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And here we are!

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Next up on the blog: highlights from the ceremony!