The wrapup

The morning after (Yes, Loretta, we had confetti)

The wedding has come and gone and we are left with some wonderful memories.  As I wrote a few weeks ago, I hardly got any decent photos, too busy in that whirlwind of hosting and events, seeing so many family and friends, many for the first time in several years, and meeting new family and friends.  Although Cleveland is where we raised our family, our extended family mostly lives on either coast. Understandably, for the ten days we hosted guests, it was one long gabfest.  I've received and pored over many hundreds of photos from friends and family in the last few weeks and have started this post several times, but without *those shots* I would have taken for the blog, it's been difficult to choose an appropriate selection to share.

Happily, our photographer has a blog and has recently written about Molly & Chito's wedding so for those who are interested, I'm going to let you visit her post and then I'll elaborate on a few things. 

Isn't this sweet?  It's a bouquet of origami cranes that a friend of Molly's, with whom she spent time in Japan, sent for her to use at the rehearsal on Friday night.  That was followed by a dinner for the families and close friends and then, a rockin' karaoke party at the hotel, for all of the guests who had arrived that day...a fitting event for so many of their friends whom they had originally met during their early time together in Japan. 

 

The wedding was just lovely.  Because of the logistics of friends and family flung far & wide, Molly & Chito had a *supporting cast* instead of a wedding party...a group of their closest who helped out with readings, ushering and reception events.  His sister and her brother stood up for them.  The Old Stone Church is a beautiful Cleveland landmark, worth a stop if you are ever in town.  Right on Public Square, it has a rich history and gorgeous, original Tiffany stained glass windows. They could not have been more welcoming to us.

The reception was right across the street, a godsend since the temperature hovered around 100° that day.  Daylight when it started, as the evening progressed, the sky darkened and the city lights came on, providing a beautiful background to the dance floor as framed by the wall of windows.

If you've been a mother of the bride, you know that it takes a long while to tire of going through the many photos again and again.  However, reception photos of a dance floor full of people...family, high school BFFs, college roommates, the many JET pals, co-workers from Japan, family friends...*worlds colliding!*...make for boring blog fodder.  How about a few details?

Molly carried the cutest clutch at the reception.  It's modeled after a vintage book of the same name.  Here's the back ~

It had been at our house for months, but did I get a shot of it, either here or that evening?  No, I had to crop someone else's shot taken in the bride's waiting room and snag the flip side from a website.  See what I mean?

There was a token wedding cake, for photos, and delicious cassata cake served for dessert, but the star of the show was a spread of Italian cookies...fifteen types, 70 lbs!  (Do I have a good shot of the whole cookie table?  Noooo....)

We had these cute bags made up (from here...highly recommend!) so that our guests, most from out of town, could take some with them, back up to the hotel rooms, or the next day, on their long trips home. 

We're still hearing about them as friends and family reminisce. And probably try to drop those few pounds from that weekend.

The first page...

For their guestbook, Molly brought an album, specialty paper/stickers and an instant camera from Japan.  Several of her friends took photos of guests as they arrived at the reception, after which they were guided, developing photo in hand, to a table where each wrote a message to the couple and added their entry to the book.

As the evening progressed, the camera made the rounds for some candid shots which prompted funny captions added by friends.

Last Saturday, there was a Tokyo wedding party for all of their friends, family and co-workers who couldn't make it here and they added more pages.  The book and camera are slated to accompany them to Sydney at a later date, for a family celebration there.  The never-ending wedding...

It was a most memorable event, made even more so because of the efforts of so many friends and family to join us from around the world.  The dance floor was still full at midnight as the last song was played and the next morning, many joined us for a goodbye breakfast before they left for the airport or packed up their cars for the long rides home.  As one of Molly's friends told me before departing, "You know it was a great wedding weekend when no one wants to leave."  That's kind of how I felt...'All that planning and it's over already?!" 

Comments

[Redsoxgal]

Beautiful Jan, just beautiful!! I know all the work you put into this for such a long time made it so special and what she wanted,and a huge success! I am so happy you shared this. I read Molly's wonderful blogs for many years,so I especially enjoyed seeing this chapter in her life!! So happy for you all.... Chito is a lucky guy,he married into a special family!I am sure Molly did the same...congratulations to you all!

[Anita]

What a beautiful wedding! Thanks for sharing the joy in their smiles!

[Thimbleanna]

Oh Jan! I have tears! What a gorgeous wedding -- and what fun! It all sounds SO perfect. Those months of planning and prep paid off -- the details are just beautiful. Molly and Chito look so happy and in love -- what an adorable couple. Congratulations to all of you!!!!

[Sally]

What FUN!!!! Everything and everyone was just beautiful. Loved it all, so tasteful and delightful. Thank you so much for sharing! (will most likely send your blog link to my daughters for inspiration ;)

[Janet]

It all sounds like so much fabulousness and such a happy celebration. Thanks for sharing these little pieces of the wedding. I loved a lot of the ideas like the clutch, the cookies and the photos. Molly looked beautiful.

[blackbird]

Oh, Jan, it looks so wonderful!
Congratulations!

[Carole]

It looks like a fabulous event. Best wishes to Molly and lots of love to you and your family!

[Sharon]

It sounds like an amazing time, as weddings should be. I love the last pic of the couple, how beautiful!

[Tonya Ricucci]

beautiful and fabulous!

[Jennifer]

Congratulations to the whole family. What a beautiful wedding!

[Sujata Shah]

Jan,
I enjoyed this post so much. Beautiful smiles all around. Congratulations!

[mariko]

So wonderful! And my favorite thing is Molly and Chito look like they were having so much FUN!

[mathea]

Lovely pictures - you all had a great time it seems! I was hoping for a picture of the mother of the bride, though ;-)

[Elizabeth]

You can't help smiling looking at these photos. They are obviously so happy. This is a beautiful wedding.

[Annie]

I'm teary eyed reading this, Jan. It sounds like the absolute perfect wedding. Job well done, Mom! Congrats to the beautiful couple!

[Rachele Stucker]

Wow, those are lovely pictures! I had to leave a comment and mention that Martin & Osa Johnson, the explorers whose "I Married Adventure" book is featured on Molly's clutch, were my cousins. Martin's mother was my great-grandfather's first cousin, and our family are big Johnson fans. So nice to see that they have inspired others as well! There is a museum dedicated to them in Chanute, Kansas (The Safari Museum). It's a great little museum, and their story--especially Osa's--is fascinating. I lived in Japan, Korea and France after having grown up inspired by my famous explorer relatives, and I'm just thrilled that they were a part of such a special day!

[Dixie]

Ahh, such sweet photos and so much happiness! Harrah to you and your family, and so happy for you all! I will always remember this as the year of the weddings.

[Maryjo]

I'm so far behind but found this while scrolling through my Google reader -- wow! congrats to all -- what gorgeous and fabulous photos! It sounded like it went off so smoothly, and everyone just looked like it was the best day for all! Yay yay!

[Maryjo]

P.S. good thing I wasn't there ROFL -- I would NOT have left the cookie table :)))

[Pam Cope]

Dear Jan, thanks so much for sharing your family and their wonderful day with us. Your daughter is so beautiful, I love her dress, the church, cookies, guest book and her QUILT! What did you wear? Best wishes to Molly & Chito on the next chapter in their big adventure.

[Monica]

Stunning! What a beautiful couple!

[Lauren]

Judging by the gorgeous wedding photos, these two are destined for a long happy futuretogether. Their love for each other just glows. You must be one happy, proud Mum.

[Vicki]

Wonderful!! So happy...

[Andee in AZ]

Love the guestbook idea...sent that on to my daughter in case she wants to remember to do that at her someday wedding!