To say that “our wedding day went very well” would be a
gross understatement.
“OUR 4 DAY LONG
WEDDING EXTRAVAGANZA SPECTACULAR WAS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL AND FANTASTIC!”
For those who couldn't make the journey to Indy, we completely understand. But we can't thank you enough for your kind words and well wishes! They mean everything to us. Your thoughts and prayers for our wedding day were definitely felt because the big day went probably as close to perfect as you can get, and the sun shined super hot for us and there was nary a cloud in the sky.
I wanted to give a quick recap of these past 4 days because just talking about Saturday would leave out a lot of the other activities. For those that missed it, here's your opportunity to check out the festivities, and for those that were there, here's your opportunity to live it all over again (which I know I wish I could).
Let me preface this by warning you that these are not the official photographer pictures. These are from our collection of facebook friends using the #toddleighwedding and from our Wedding Party App. Be sure to visit this site again soon for links to the photographer's pictures and how to download them.
Todd and his groomsmen celebrated like the classy gents they are. They threw him a bachelor party he'll never forget. I don't know exactly what happened (what happens at the bachelor party - stays at the bachelor party) but at the end of the night, they were all happy to send off their friend into marriage. Todd and his friends visited a variety of Indianapolis establishments and looked good doing it.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Leigh met up with those who came into town on Thursday and did some high quality Rusyn-Andrzejewski-Wiese-Zacharias family bonding. We went for pizza at Bazbeaux, followed by gigantic beers and live music at The Rathskeller, and then margaritas at Bakersfield on Mass Ave.
We were all feeling the results of the fun the next day, which is only a sign that we had a great time.
Friday - July 17th
On Friday, the rest of the wedding party, friends, and family started to arrive.
A bunch of us met up for delicious southern style lunch at Georgia Reese's for lunch, and got some hilarious advice from the owner.
As we headed back to The Sheraton, we started to feel some rain drops and hear the thunder starting to rumble in. Not a great sign for an outdoor rehearsal. And what I hoped was going to be a little storm turned into this...
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| courtesy: Brian Wilkes Fox 59 |
And thus began the biggest storm I've ever seen in Indianapolis. Many of our guests got rerouted to different airports and then bused into Indy. Eventually they all got in safe and sound, and I was beyond thankful for that, but it made me worried that the weather might not be as nice as they predicted for the big event.
The rehearsal went very wonderfully as we practiced walking up and down the aisle and even practiced a quick kiss.
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| Rehearsal during the thunderstorm |
We had the rehearsal dinner at The Rathskeller and enjoyed delicious food and great company. Come to the Rathskeller for the beer, but stay for the sugar snap peas. Todd's father Greg gave an wonderful speech about how we're all taking a trip together to celebrate love.
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| Dinner at The Rathskeller |
And of course, we can't stop and won't stop partying, so we listened to some awesome live music at the Rathskeller and met up with more friends at Bakersfield for more margaritas. By this time the rain had slowed, and even if it hadn't, nothing was going to stop our party. We finished the night at the bar of The Sheraton when some of our stranded guests had finally arrived safe and sound.
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| Family and Friends reunite |
Saturday - July 18th
The sun came out in full force on Saturday, making it the hottest and most humid day of the year in Indy. I think it was because we had so many prayers and good wishes for our wedding that the sun made sure there was not a cloud in the sky for our big day.
Lindsey - my maid of honor, made these easy to use stencils of hot air balloons that we traced with chalk to make an aisle runner for the ceremony. That was when the day started to heat up and any puddles from the day before dried up. Courtney - our wonderful wedding artist (who designed our save-the-dates, invites, and pretty much anything you were handed that day) added her own little flair at the entrance with Leigh & Todd. Overall it looked fabulous and better than any carpet or rug.
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| Fact: coloring with chalk has no age limit |
Special thanks to Julie Borden and Flawless faces by Nikki for doing the girls hair and makeup. We all looked absolutely gorgeous.
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| This was the girliest day of my life, and it was incredible |
In case anyone was wondering how we followed traditions:
My Something Old: my necklace Todd gave me that I've had almost as long as we've been dating.
My Something New: my wedding dress
My Something Borrowed: Gold nail polish borrowed from my bridesmaid Aimee and applied by Lindsey (pictured)
My Something Blue: My blue sapphire promise ring also given to me by Todd.
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| Scotch, scotch, scotch, i love scotch, down in my belly, it's so good. |
The gents dressed to the 9's and drank scotch out of their fancy monogrammed scotch glasses. Early in the morning they went to Red's Barber Shop and got straight razor shaved and buffed. All of them were incredibly handsome.
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| A Gorgeous gang of great people right here. |
I would just like to pause for a second, and dish about what an INCREDIBLE, FABULOUS, AND SUPPORTIVE wedding party we had. I'm pretty sure they all became best friends (if they weren't already) and they were thrilled to be a part of our big day. We couldn't have picked anyone better to stand besides us as we said 'I do'. We both had amazing bachelor/bachelorette parties, and we were just completely spoiled to have an amazing group of friends. And they even survived wearing tuxedos in the heat!
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We saw 3 other weddings taking pictures on the monument throughout the day.
We were clearly the best. |
After some sweaty pictures with family and friends on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, the wedding party adjured to the Sheraton bar, while Todd and I tied up some loose ends and made sure everything was ready to go.
At 5pm, the big shebang started up. The music played, and the doors opened. The wedding party led the way, followed by a beautiful balloon girl who got some help from her big cousin, and then Todd and I grinned ear to ear as I walked towards him. We wrote our own vows where we expressed our love for each other, and how important we are to each other. We exchanged rings and roses and gave our roses to our mothers and grandmothers.
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| It's a beautiful thing baby! |
We were surrounded by our friends, family, and views of the beautiful city that we call home. It was absolutely wonderful and the heat was only a small side effect of the incredible weather. The wedding we'd spent over a year and a half planning for finally came together. It was beyond incredible.
After a few quick pictures and delicious hors d'oeuvres, the party officially kicked off!
My dad, Bob, gave a wonderful speech encouraging everyone to send us into marriage by partying hard. And we have an absolutely beautiful blessing from Todd's grandfather Norm.
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| We were dancing the night away! |
Our first dance: "Fly me to the Moon" - by Frank Sinatra
Father-Daughter dance: "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" - by Aerosmith
Mother-Son Dance: "My Wish" - by Rascal Flatts
Dinner was incredible, and then the maid-of-honor Lindsey gave an emotional speech about the history of our friendship, and Tim the best man gave an unique and impromptu speech about how we're a great couple and great friends. Todd and I made excellent choices for who should be our best man and maid-of-honor. We love them very very much.
We then were entreated to an original Andrzejewski song, as is tradition. They featured their own instruments, and with the help of 'Jose', everyone sang two beautiful songs with live music. They were to the tune of "My girl" and "(They Long to be) Close to you." I have asked for a copy of the lyrics, and when I receive them I will post them. They were incredibly creative and fun!
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| The t-shirts were a perfect touch |
I won the dollar dance, despite Todd and groomsmen Jackson's impressive dance moves, and bridesmaid Aimee caught the bouquet. My grandparents, Carson and Beverly, won the anniversary dance by proudly announcing they were married for over 60 years. They gave us some wonderful advice about always being fair. We hope our marriage will last just as long.
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| You haven't lived if you haven't had a cupcake from "The Flying Cupcake" |
Then the party accelerated crazy fast. Guests enjoyed dancing and cupcakes provided by The Flying Cupcake, along with our photo booth from Top Hat Photo booth.
Click here to view and download the pictures from the photo booth.
We danced the night away and we partied so hard that we broke the A/C in the ballroom. Some guests (including myself) decided to shed and change clothing. Some also chose to don head scarves and play ninjas. But the humidity didn't stop us from dancing on tables and piling in 6-7 at a time into the photo booth.
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| these are fabulous! |
At 9 pm, the IPL building lit up Monument Circle with a heart just for us. IPL has a contract with the Sheraton, it was an absolute perfect accent to the scenery.
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| Even for a phone pic, this is pretty awesome |
DJ Sound solution kept the night going strong with awesome music. We were having so much fun that even he was dancing with us. I think that's the sign of a good party.
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| These are only a few highlights of an amazing night |
At the very end, we finished the party strong with one last dance. But we kept the party going as we moved to Kilroy's on Georgia Street. Our local friends from Fox 59 and WRTV 6 escorted our gigantic blob down the street where we completely filled the place. Todd and I and a few people also made our way to Olly's and were out til like 3 am. It was a pretty epic end to an epic wedding.
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| Are you going to the after-after-after party? |
Sunday - July 19th
For those that didn't have to travel early in the morning, we had breakfast in the Sheraton filled with pastries. We also sang happy birthday to Todd's aunt Linda. We were honored she was willing to travel all the way to Indy on her birthday.
It was a very nice way to say good bye to all of our friends who came to celebrate with us. We wouldn't have had such an amazing party without your love and enthusiasm. Thank you all so much!
Lots of love,
Leigh & Todd Andrzejewski (officially)
