Immediately following the ceremony, Renee and I adjourned to the activity center of the church. Our "Quest" worship service is held there and it's the place we think of as our worship home. We thought it fitting that to have some pictures there in front of the stone facing of the room's fake fireplace. Our photographer (Lisa Jenkins of St. Louis Color Photography and LJ Photography) did a fabulous job of capturing our day, with the help of her assistant Debbie and a second photographer Rebecca(?). She hustled us through the requisite family portraits in the main sanctuary shortly thereafter and soon we were en route to Old Hickory Golf Club for the reception.
(I must pause and mention that this is where I was so happy that I'd pulled the trigger on a new black Kia Sorento a few weeks earlier. Didn't really want to ferry my new bride around in a beat-up Mazda6 sedan. Thanks again, Zeiser Kia!)
Renee and I arrived at Old Hickory a little later than we'd planned, but we were met by a club official who had a golf cart waiting to taxi us up to the front door of the clubhouse. I helped Renee into the cart, then I hopped behind the wheel and took off. We walked inside the clubhouse and were met by our DJ, Jimmy "A Rockin' DJ" Hussey. We'd never met him prior to the reception so we were a bit taken aback. DJ procurement was completely my responsibility and I'd only had telephone conversations with him. He got the Wedding party lined up and then cued up the wedding reception standard, "Celebration" by Kool and the Gang. As the music pulsed, the wedding party was introduced pair by pair, then Renee and I entered the room to wild cheers and applause. I couldn't help but pump my fist a couple of times as I lived the moment I'd been waiting for.
The reception pretty much flew by. Renee's uncle Ed Smith prayed, then everyone ate lunch and cake. Renee and I danced our first dance to Karrin Allyson's ravishing rendition of "Say It (Over and Over Again)" I believe her version of this standard to be the definitive one and it was the perfect song to dance to. Jimmy's slogan is "your music, your way" and he delivered just what I wanted. I provided him a list of my favorite love songs and he picked and chose as he saw fit while drawing from his own library. I highly recommend him. Our flower girls and ring bearers found much joy in moving their little bodies to the music as Renee and I greeted our guests. Time constraints prevented us from greeting everyone but we trust everyone had a good time.
I splurged on a room at the Four Seasons hotel on the riverfront for our wedding night. It was a bit pricey, but definitely worth it. We had a deluxe room with a great view of the Arch and St. Louis skyline.
from matlockjohn.blogspot.com
