Our Grand Exit...

Yep, it’s that time…time to take our leave and say goodbye. I kid you not when I say that the night passed by in a blur. There were moments that the wedding and reception seemed to slow down so that I could take it all in, but at other times the night just FLEW BY! Before I knew it, a limo had arrived and pulled up in front of our reception hall. Since I knew that we didn’t get a limo, I was sure that he was at the wrong hall and I went out there myself to have a talk with him. Plus, it was 30 minutes too early…I still had dancing to do!

You see, we had a friend who’s brother owns a limo service. So we knew that we had a car coming, but G had already warned us that he would NOT be able to get us a limo for that night, just a car. That was fine with us, we didn’t care as long as someone else was driving – not that we were drinking that much, but we just didn’t want to have to worry about getting ourselves to our hotel. I went out to tell the limo driver that he was at the wrong hall and got the surprise of my life. Turns out that G’s brother had been able to pull a few strings (or had a last-minute cancellation) and was able to send a limo for us! Yippee!! What fun!!

He knew that he was early, and was fine waiting, so I trotted my happy self back inside to continue dancing away. Within about 30 minutes though, the DJ announced that this was the last song and then gave instructions for everyone to line up outside taking packets of rose petals along with them. I have to admit that I was sort of surprised at the lack of guests that formed the “going away” line…I’ve seen it repeatedly over the last few years, that it’s just not a trend for guests to stay and be there when the bride and groom leave the reception, but it was still a shock. The only wedding I can think of where I did that was when we had our kids with us and it was getting late…but whatever. There were still plenty of people left to form a good, solid line and we spent a few extra minutes alone on the dance floor to allow the line to form and the photographers to get all set up.

Oh, and in the 30 minutes that the limo driver was waiting on all of this to occur, our bridal party made quick work of getting our limo decorated for us. Check out their handiwork! I have to admit to being VERY relieved that all decorations were kept in the PG category, if you know what I mean!

Once the line was ready and we were given the signal, we rushed out and made our way down the LONG sidewalk to the limo…catching rose petals and goodbye wishes along the way… And yes, even rose petals thrown just so will hurt a bride and groom – did you see that look on my face? By the time that we got to the end, the petals were fewer and further between… But as you’ll notice, someone (REALLY don’t know who!) shoved a whole handful of petals down the front of my dress…I’m not really sure why? We said our goodbyes to the kiddos… One of them was completely ok with the fact that he was spending the night with Grandma…and the other one? Well, let’s just say that she had just put two and two together and come up with four. And four meant that she was NOT going with Mommy…and as fun as spending the night with Gigi and the girls had previously sounded, right at this moment it was NOT cool!

To try to stem the guilt flowing heavily through my heart, and to drown out the sound of her tears, I quickly made my escape into the limo…B on the other hand? Yeah, this was when he decided to make a “Thank You” speech to all of the remaining guests and to wish them all a good night. It’s too bad that the photographer didn’t catch me reaching out and pulling him into the limo and telling the limo driver to “GO!” on film…that would have been priceless! He was confused for a minute, until I explained about little J being so upset…then he settled in to play with all the buttons in the limo.

We had a good 30 minute drive to our hotel in downtown Austin that my new in-laws had gifted us with, so we settled in for the drive. At that point, the exhaustion was hitting me pretty hard and I was pooped! We talked about how great the wedding and reception went, how much fun we had and how much fun we thought our guests had, and of course we smooched a bit in the backseat. Before I knew it, we were pulling up at The Four Seasons hotel in downtown Austin and getting the “white glove treatment” from everyone that we saw.

Yes, it’s glamorous to arrive at your 5-star hotel in a limo…and a wedding dress…you’d be amazed though at how many people actually ask you if you got married. Nah, I just wore a wedding dress for a night out on the town…but I laughed each time someone asked us! We quickly checked in, went upstairs and settled in for the night…as man and wife!!!

**All photos courtesy of Christina Carroll Photography

Need to catch up? Here’s some links:
Girls’ Spa Day
Bachelor/Bachelorette Party
Setting Up the Venue…
Practice Makes Perfect…
Rehearsal Dinner
5 Minutes is All that I Need
A “Quick” Stop at the Hair Salon
A Sneak Peek at the Venue...
Arriving at the Venue...to Stay!
Getting Dressed
The Maids Pose for the Camera...
Oops - I’m Out of Order!
The Boys Smile and Say “Cheese!”
It’s Show Time!
Here Comes the Bride!
Becoming Man and Wife...
We’re Man and Wife!
Family Pictures
Now THAT’S Love!
The “Group” Says Cheese!
Now It’s Just Us...
It’s the Smallest Things...
Here Comes the Bride! And Groom!
Raise Your Glasses...
Our Cake Buffet
The Great Cake Cutting Debate
We Danced...
Two More Special Dances...
One Lucky Girl...and One “Excited” Guy!
The Many Faces of a Bride...
The Kids...
We Danced the Night Away!