Our Reception
Early Years · Engagement · Wedding Planning · Wedding · Reception · Honeymoon
We had our wedding reception on August 9 in Mesa, just days after returning from our post-wedding roadtrip. We had decided long ago that since we were having a small ceremony in Yosemite National Park, we needed to provide a reception back in Phoenix for the rest of our friends and family to attend.
A simple get together
We wanted a simple get together to celebrate the marriage with friends. It didn’t need to be fancy or expensive, it just needed to provide an opportunity for us to share the event with the important people in our life.
We kept things simple but personal – instead of a traditional guestbook, friends and family were encouraged to sign a full-sized ASU football helmet. Kim had also prepared (in the car during our roadtrip while Scott drove) several dozen scrapbook pages that guests could write a message. It was these types of details that really made the reception uniquely ours.
A surprise guest
As the reception got started, Scott greeted the guests while Kim changed into her wedding dress in the bathroom. Wearing his suit, Scott retired to the bathroom to switch out his shirt. Friends Kate and Joel helped get the crowd lined up in two long lines from the doors to the hallway leading to the bathroom. 
After a signal, Kate started the projector and the ASU football entrance video started planning. At the right moment, Scott and Kim made their entrance into the reception, lead by a surprise guest – Sparky!
They ran down the line, as the football team does, slapping hands and greeting the guests. After enjoying the moment, we all moved over to a photo area we had set up. We then took a series of group photos in front of an ASU tailgating scene. We also had an oversized poster on the wall of Yosemite Valley that we posed in front of too. After we had gotten some photos and guests had a chance to admire Kim’s dress, we made our way back to the bathrooms to change into more comfortable clothes.
The activities
After the surprise guest, we described the wedding and showed a slideshow of photos taken by family members of our ceremony. 
We also talked a bit about the roadtrip we just returned from and showed a video of our “Scott and Kimmie” photos, a ritual we have of taking a self-shot of the two of us at each National Park unit we visit. Much of the reception was spent visiting with friends and family at the tables or in line for the food.
Of course, a wedding reception doesn’t pass muster without the cutting of the cake. And while, we didn’t have the most expensive cake around, we did have a memorable one. Or rather, two. One of them read “FINALLY! –Kim” and the other read “How about next year? –Scott.” It certainly made for a laugh. And yes, Scott did push cake into Kim’s face, landing a great shot on the nose that Kim managed to snort in at just the wrong time.
After everyone had gotten cake, we went back to visiting with everyone – nearly forgetting to do the required dances. It’s unfortunate that several folks had to leave before they could witness it, as Kim’s dance with her father was quite emotional and definitely one of the highlights of the evening. Scott and Kim’s first dance was less moving, shall we say, as Scott was badgered into the doing it by the crowd. And he had to dance to a country song, of all things!! We then opened up up the dance floor to all who remained and started winding down the party.
A good time
All in all, the reception was a success, even though it probably didn’t meet the expectations of any professional wedding planner. We had a good time, made it uniquely ours, and didn’t blow a ton of cash on it. It’s simplicity allowed us to focus on why we were holding it in the first place – to celebrate this long-awaited moment with those we care about.
Thanks to everyone who came to the reception to share this with. And special thanks to Molly for hosting the venue for us, Kate and Joel for flying across the country to help, Sparky for rearranging his schedule at the last minute, and our parents for helping out every step of the way.
Watch a slideshow of the reception or view the entire set. You can also check out the “Scott and Kimmie” slideshow we showed during the reception.
Reception ideas that weren’t meant to be
- Filming our wedding ceremony and replaying it at the reception – a videographer would have cost more than what we spent on the ceremony and reception combined.
- We had hoped to show the professional wedding pictures at the reception, but we didn’t give the photographer a clear deadline, so we had to rely on snapshots our family took.
- The original idea for the reception was a picnic in the pines in Northern Arizona – we scrapped it due to the logistics of getting everyone and all the supplies up there.
- We checked into holding the reception on the ASU campus, and even considered trying to have it on Frank Kush Field at Sun Devil Stadium – in the end, renting any serious location just wasn’t worth the cost…we’d much rather use that money for future trips. And anything outdoors wasn’t going to work due to the heat.
- Buying offsets for the carbon footprints of the wedding, reception, and all guests travel impacts –
we ran out of time, and well, money to do it. - We had planned to record a time lapse video of the reception, but Scott couldn’t get the software to work properly once we got to reception location.
- We had several reception activities planned – we ended up scrapping them during the reception due to time constraints and the fact that we wanted to spend more time visiting with everyone.
- Scott thought he had gotten away with not having to dance.
Early Years · Engagement · Wedding Planning · Wedding · Reception · Honeymoon