After becoming the Baldridges and taking our first photos as married couple at sunset, joining our reception felt too good to be true. It was so much fun! All of our favorite people were in one place, everyone was enjoying a delicious dinner, and our incredible 9-piece live band got everyone dancing. We wanted our reception to feel like an easy, romantic summer party under twinkling string lights on the sweeping lawn of a family home.
We decided to have long tables with low floral arrangements and cozy votives candles (battery powered because of California’s fire risks) so that guests could easily carry on conversation across the tables and not be blocked by large flower arrangements.
As guests moved through the buffet and ate dinner, we were able to stroll from table to table and quickly hug and speak to each of our guests. It was really important that we get some face time with everyone there, since so many people had traveled so far.
As dusk fell, we had our first dance as a married couple! We danced to Let’s Stay Together by Al Green, which we’ve always said was “our song” since 4 or 5 years ago :)
Our band did a great job covering the song!
Having a great live band was one of our biggest dreams and splurges for our reception. It was so worth it and everyone raved about how good they were! We used the Lucky Devils Band.
After our first dance, everyone joined in and I was SO happy to see everyone dancing.
Our dance floor under a canopy of oak branches and beautiful lights was so magical. I was so glad we were able to pull off a big outdoor dance party!
We took a break between the band’s sets for some toasts. Our siblings gave a group toast, my mom said a few words, and lastly Grace and I got up to thank everyone for coming.
Later we cut the cake and popped some champagne!
I had our custom wedding cake toppers made through this Etsy shop
We had so much fun and truly never wanted our reception to end! But having a big sparkly grand exit and beautiful getaway car to look forward to helped, and in the end, driving away from our wedding was the best feeling of all because we knew we were stepping into newlywed life. I’m so glad we had an amazing party to celebrate our marriage, but real married life is even better. We’re so grateful!
All photos are by Jesse Marble and Jimmy Marble for Our Labor of Love