Our Wedding: The Reception...Down-Home Blues and Dancin' Shoes!

Happy Friday!!

I was going to hold this post for Monday, but thought I'd start your weekend off with a look back at the GOOD-OLE TIME we had at our wedding reception. BUT you have to tell me what you think! I don't know you're here unless you say so:)

I hope you enjoy the trip with us back to our sultry, southern, summer celebration...complete with down-home blues and some dancin' shoes!





After the cake cutting and first dances were behind us, our band kicked it up...and Sean and I danced back out onto the dance floor to kick off the party.





It wasn't long before guests young and old were coming together to dance to the feel-good bluesy classics our band played.


The moves...and the temps...were steamy hot. Our lead singer kept cool with her fabulous red fan.


My poor matron of honor was so ill (not that you could ever tell from the pictures!) so she could not stay past the start of the reception. Luckily, she was able to stick it out long enough to get 2 pics with her life-long best.

I hated to say goodbye. And really hated that she had to miss this party...



I loooove how this picture highlights the ruffles.



One of my favorite pictures from the whole night...


There were so many great moments that night.
Here are just a few of my favorite highlights.

Like Meghan's daddy, Tony the Tiger, saving his best dance moves for his dance with the bride.


Meg loved it!



Trev and I hit the dance floor for 'Mustang Sally'



Beautiful little Bella shined with me in the center of the dance floor.

As is wedding tradition, Tay gave the band's drummer a breather and became our personal rock star for a song.

I made a wardrobe change...

...And revealed my dancin' shoes. White Converse Chuck Taylors to match my guys, but with peach ribbon laces.

And with those on, I was really ready to cut loose!

Here, you see Sean's sweat towel hanging from his pocket and Trevor's around his neck. Sean's dad screen printed small towels for us to give as favors.

They read:

It's like I've waited my whole life
for this one night
It's gonna be me, you, and the dance floor.

Next, we had a pop quiz.
Caleb said, Ooh! They know the answer!

Apparently, Nina said the answer was Cupid Shuffle!
And I thought...'I'm really gonna need to hike up the dress for this one.'











I rocked those ruffles like an accessory!





Logan started a "solo-dance circle" with this move...



The groom had his moment in the center.


And so did the bride.


Then we joined together to bring everyone back out.




For some reason, this picture really reminds me of the 'Dirty Dancing' late night staff party. I can just hear "Do you love me?" playing!

"Nooooowwwww...that IIIII...
Can Daaaaaaancccee...

Watch me now, HEY!


Me and Fred have been dancing together since we were 5!



So many wonderful couples had a blast.

Pam and Snake. Dylan and Melinda.


Devin and Nina


Caleb and Ashton


Trevor and Whitney


Dustin and Ashley


Logan and Ashley... :)


Logan and Mrs. Pam... :)



And finally, Logan and Sara.
Her face makes me laugh every time!


Meghan with her best friend's new husband.



With all these special people enjoying themselves, my world was happy.
I sang in my happy world.


I danced by myself.


And everywhere I looked, I saw smiles.


Smiles...


And more smiles.


I smiled a little.

Okay, I smiled a lot.

And I laughed a lot.

You might say Sean was content as well...

We could have danced all night, but eventually the evening wound down.

{Me and Nina}


{Me and my little brother, Steven}

We would have loved to stay wide-eyed and danced forever.

...But all good things must come to an end.

I wish I could have bottled up the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of that night to keep forever. But these pictures are pretty priceless too.

I hope you enjoyed reliving our reception with us!

See our wedding page for more.

~The Grays

Photography by: Canon Reed, Miss Bey Photography, The Wedding Belles Follow @ktgray13

The Grays' Home Theater

The upstairs bonus room in our house was destined to become a home theater. And now... home theater it is!

It's been a dream of Sean's to have a movie room for a looong time. He even bought a vintage-style standing popcorn machine via Ebay auction when we were still struggling college kids...just at the chance that one day he would have a movie room to put it in. We popped batches of popcorn using that machine for movie nights in our beat-up rental; spreading a pallet on the crunchy carpet to watch a $1 red box special on our 27-inch screen.

We knew the bonus room would be the perfect fit for our movie room.

Here it is BEFORE:



And NOW...

It's so cozy and cool...and I love the trembling of the sound just like at a real theater.

Sean painted the walls in Wild Truffle, a gorgeous, rich espresso color I fell in love with.
A space was left for the "screen"...


...which is actually just Behr paint in "Silver Screen" with a frame made of MDF molding.


It was hard to capture on camera, but the picture is amazing! It's a 7 foot screen.


He fixed us up with dish and dvr in here so we can watch our tv shows too! You have not seen One Tree Hill until you've seen it on the big screen! (OMG Clay has a baby!??)


He installed the surround sound and projector system himself, running wires through the ceiling and into the attic.



Our favorite movie atmosphere is definitely at the drive-in. We are still working to add natural, outdoorsy touches here and there to give it that comfy, summer night at the drive-in feel.

Another view before:



And After:


To get started decorating, we used 2 sofas accumulated from college and covered them with red slip covers. The chaise lounge was given to us and just happened to coordinate.

I brought the long wall shelf from the art room, painted it black and stained the wood top dark walnut. We keep the "Snack Bar" stocked with movie candy and popcorn fixin's.


Sean's parents gave him a mini fridge for the movie room for Christmas...which is always chilling some bottled cokes of course:)


During our final big move from that rental house to move back home, our friend/roommate let us go through his HUGE collection of movie posters that he accumulated from working for Muvico.


We used inexpensive grapevine orbs that we placed a light kit in and Sean dropped down from the ceiling.



I made the "Now Showing" sign by spray painting an oval canvas with chalkboard paint, drilling holes around the edge with a large bit, and pushing Christmas lights through the holes.

The sign, the lamp, and the lighted branches all turn on and off with the press of a controller button. 1, 2, 3...

Sean hooked them up to a controller you buy for Christmas lights and it's so convenient. And it makes you feel really cool.

I got the tables from a relatives house and they started out like this:



And with black paint and walnut stain, became this:


He completed all the technical work over Christmas, then went out of town for a basketball tournament. I had all the decor in place as his birthday surprise when he got back.

We put in the work and love the reward.


We've already enjoyed many movie nights in here, from Transformers 3 with his family, to The Help for girls' night, to lots of movies just the two of us. And even to my cousin's birthday party!


It's one of our favorite rooms in the house.


"The End."

~The Grays

Follow @ktgray13

Paint Chip Organization

Any DIYer...home improver...painter...should do this to their collection of paint chips.

I've rubber banded them, tucked them in the pocket of a folder, stashed them in random drawers...but this one is the perfect way for me.

I bought Binder Rings from the jewelry section of the craft store. The ends separate and close easily...Not like split rings that you find on a key ring.


Took a hold punch to the corner of each paint chip and placed them all on the ring.


I can flip from one to the next so quickly when trying to determine a color. Right now, my stash has mostly blue greens and grays for my upcoming spring break master bathroom re-do.


Now, they can hang on my key rack, stow away in my purse intact and go with me to the paint store whenever I'm ready.


The lady at Home Depot mixing my paint for the staircase project was very impressed when I flipped to the selected riser color and handed it to her, I must say!

Take Care,
Katie

Follow @ktgray13