Wedding With Dinosaurs!

Friday night I went to the most amazing wedding ever, and it went a little something like this:



But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The bride is Cake Wreck's very own Number1, aka "the other Jen," who moved away about a year and a half ago with her boyfriend Aaron [sob], but then they came back to Orlando for the wedding [yay!].

I'd been teasing Jen about her wedding cake, of course, until she broke the news that, though she would like one, there would be no wedding cake. A former CW writer without her own wedding cake? AW HECK NO.

So I cajoled her into sending me an inspiration photo, and then got John to do all the work ordering it from a local baker I've admired for ages now, Mercedes of Bake Me a Cake.

I won't keep you in suspense: the cake was awesome:

John also picked up those silver servers, and as soon as I saw the design I knew I HAD to embellish them with tiny colorful rubber bands:

This will be the first of many apologies for my terrible photos; the venue was as dark as your average laser tag arena - so, really dark.

Now, back to the dino-riffic stuff.

The wedding was held in the Orlando Science Center, in the dinosaur room - er, in case you hadn't picked up on that part. Heh.

However, first there was a cocktail hour in a huge exhibit room next door full of earthquake and hurricane simulators and such, plus they'd set up lots of retro games on small tables like these:

So for the first hour everyone drank wine and played games. :D

(I also spent a lot of time stalking the waiters with the hors d'oeuvres trays. Turns out little gourmet Bugles filled with mozzarella and fresh tomatoes are AMAZEBALLS.)

You could also get your picture taken on Mars with a variety of ridiculous props:


The guests had been instructed to "dress fun," so a few came in costumes, while others just wore bright colors. John wore his bright pink Cheshire shirt and striped vest. :D

We'd also been given glow bracelets on arrival, so everyone glowed prettily in the dark:

Check out the fun kitschy rocket on the card box!

The theme was kind of a science/dinosaurs/stars/colorful kid stuff mashup - just a few touches here and there, really, with lots of bold, bright colors.

Jen and Aaron were there greeting everyone as we arrived, and spent the first hour mingling, too,  spreading hugs and laughter and shining like diamonds (almost literally in Jen's case - you'll see in a minute.) Yep, no hiding the bride away here! Having them out made everyone so much more relaxed, and gave it more of a party atmosphere than a stiff-and-formal wedding.

After an hour we moved into the Dino room for the ceremony. I wish I had a video of how they came down the aisle, because it was hysterical.

Ok, picture this: A guy mounts the simple low platform with a boombox, holds it to the microphone - completely deadpan -  and pushes play. The opening chords of Seal's "Kiss From A Rose" begins to play. "By ya yaa, ba da da da da daaa..."

Everyone cracks up.

Then, to the sound of our giggles, Jen and Aaron saunter up the aisle, hand in hand.

HELLO BLURRY.

It takes them all of 10 seconds to get to the platform, at which point the guy abruptly stops the music and we all laugh again.

Now, LOOK AT THE BACK OF HER DRESS:

 

IT'S SO FLUFFY!! AAAAIIEEE!!

The wedding was performed by Aaron's brother, who's also a minister. No sermon here, though; as John pointed out later, it was more like the Best Man's Toast with vows and a ring exchange thrown in. He opened with a quote by Doctor Seuss, and soon had us all giggling and sniffling by turns with references to Doctor Who (see how he's dressed??) and personal stories about Jen and Aaron.

Then the couple did their own vows, and we were all crying and laughing with them, too.

At the end, Jen and Aaron went skipping down the aisle to our cat-calls and applause:

ACTION BLUR.

After this came the EXTRA fun part: DINNER. 

(I have my priorities.)

The centerpieces were lab bottles filled with colorful floral beads, and everyone got astronaut ice cream to take home. Each place setting had a tiny square of canvas for us to decorate with markers while we waited to eat. (The couple collected the canvases later - I think they're going to assemble one giant mosaic!)

The food was self-serve, and included - get this - a macaroni-and-cheese bar (with toppings like bacon and broccoli), mini slider sandwiches, couscous, mandarin orange salad, and sweet potato fries. Served by the Triceratops, of course:

It was also freaking delicious. I think every formal event should have a mac-and-cheese bar now.

After dinner was a dance party (I don't dance. But it's fun to watch!), with a break after an hour or so for flambeed donuts with ice cream and - aw yeah - cake:

I've decided to just embrace my funky messed up photos. Look, IT'S ART.

The cake was a combination of red velvet - Jen's favorite - and almond, which was like pound cake, it was so dense and moist. In other words: NOMZ. Amazingly enough that little cake somehow fed everyone there, too, with two tins left over to spare! Considering John and I expected it to just be an extra for the couple and the family, I was SUPER thrilled about that. (There were about 80 guests there, and the cake was an 8 inch cube.)

As you can see it was hard for me to grab any good pics of Jen and Aaron for most of the night, but before we left I was determined to try again:

The blushing bride in her dancing hi-tops. :)

If you know Jen then you know this outfit is really just a glammed up version of how she usually dresses - makeup and all. She's the most colorful person you're ever likely to meet - in every sense of the word. And I can't even tell you how much I miss this girl.

Her skirt, train, and corset were custom made by an Etsy seller, but Jen added all of the rhinestones on the bodice. (I hear that took a while.) Also, if you looked very closely on the back, you'd see two googly eyes hidden in with the rhinestones. Ha!

And I JUST noticed there's a toy dinosaur in her hair bow. Awesome.

Here's one from the wedding photographer that shows off her hair and makeup a lot better:

Photo by Hannah Glogower

And here's Jen's dapper new hubby, Aaron, who is the sweetest sweetheart ever:

I know it's kind of weird to blog about a friend's wedding, guys, but I figured this one would be right up your alley. Hope you liked it!

Oh, and I'll end with one more official/professional shot  - because LOOK THE DINO IS EATING THEIR HEADS:

Photo by Hannah Glogower

Hee! This one better be getting blown up and framed, you guys!