the act of catching a pass in football; the manner in which something is greeted; a formal party of people; as after a wedding

Yes, we are home from the honeymoon, unfortunately earlier than expected. I will explain the situation in chronological order, which means it may take a few posts to get to everything.

We had an absolutely PHENOMENAL time at our reception. However, what they say is true: it all goes by in one big blur. Before you know it, the night is over and you are just plain exhausted.

After the wedding, we finished up our outdoor photos and walked over to the Liberty Theatre for our grand entrance. I thought it would be funny to have our bridal party and ourselves announced in wrestler fashion (I even made up silly nicknames for everyone!) but Andy gently vetoed me and instead we just had the DJ say everyone's name as they walked in. It was very nice, and I'm sure we made the right choice, as my bridesmaids may not have found it as amusing as I did. :) However, I did still force my sense of humor on our bridal party by picking out their entrance music ("Too Legit to Quit" by M.C. Hammer)! For Andy and myself I chose something more nostalgic - "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by The Beach Boys, the opening tune of a cd he had made for me once upon a time.

It's a pretty strange yet magical feeling to have 130 pairs of eyes glued to you. I was just happy I didn't fall with everyone watching, although my feet did get a bit tangled over my dress as I was going up the stairs.

We had a tiny little snafu after we arrived at the head table, too. First of all, we were short one chair, and secondly, Andy and I had forgotten to ask his dad to come up after us and say the blessing for the food, so we just stood there sort of awkwardly for a minute until we found Rick and got him up on stage to pray. Luckily, Amy was able to grab a chair from somewhere at the side of the stage. This was also when I got the first inkling that our DJ was not particularly quick on his feet. It would have been nice to have him make a smoother transition, although I shouldn't blame him entirely as I didn't state that explicitly in the schedule I had given him. Also, I may be wrong, but he seemed to have some trouble saying my name. As a matter of fact, I thought he called both me and my husband "Andy"...hopefully our guests knew which was which!


Then we all filled our plates with fried chicken, baked potatoes, mac & cheese, and corn. The food was delish, but I could hardly eat a thing. After everyone had a chance to get munching, we asked them to uncork the champagne bottles on their tables, and Amy and Jason said their lovely toasts. We were so happy to share this beautiful day with our good friends!!!

Afterward, the DJ made his first big "oops" (and this one was very explicit on the schedule!) by announcing our first dance, when we had intended to cut our cake right after dinner. Not a huge problem, so we rolled with it, but I had to delay for a moment while Mom bustled my dress. And even though Andy and I hadn't really practiced, and we didn't jaunt out to any special moves, our dance was perfect. The song we chose was "I Can't Help Falling in Love with You", sung by the incomparable Michael Buble. Definitely a memory to cherish.

Next the DJ asked Andy's mom, Maureen, and my step-dad, Gary to come out for our parent dance to "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. ("Oops" #2: It would have been nice if he would have waited to start the music until Gary was actually on the dance floor!) Of course, this was still a wonderful few minutes for the two of us to connect to the very dear people in our lives.


After our two special dances, I started off to mingle with some folks. One of my tiny regrets of the evening is that I didn't get very far! I wish I would have made more time to say "Hi! Thanks for coming!" to every single person, but I definitely missed a few. I think that Andy at least stopped to talk to many of the people I didn't make it to.


Then before too long, it was time to cut the cake, which tasted just as good as it looked! Andy and I didn't play the "smash-it-in-your-face" game, which was nice, too :) I thought it was a pretty cute idea to have the DJ play "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch" during this time.


My mom should get most of the credit for arranging that table, as she made the punch and the mints (yum!), and bought the napkins, plates, forks, nuts and bowls.

My friends and former roommates Cassy and Megan were dolls for putting up with my last-minute cake-cutting instructions. They did a wonderful job, as did Andy's sister Joanna, who was unexpectedly thrown into the role of a "day-of coordinator", which she fulfilled very gracefully, and for which I will be eternally grateful!!!

When it came time to toss the garter, it seemed the boys were nowhere to be found. (Unbeknownst to us at the time, they were out decorating a car - the wrong car, as a matter of fact. More about that later.) Eventually we had some guys lined up and ready to go, and Andy slipped off my garter to the tune of "Girls Night Out" by The Judds - "Oops" #3 on the part of the DJ, who mixed it up with my bouquet-tossing song, which was NOT supposed to be "Wild Thing" by The Troggs. Sigh.

Andrew, my friend/hair stylist Kim's son, was the lucky garter-catcher. I sincerely hope that at his tender age he is not the next to be married! The same holds true for my cousin Makayla, who caught the bouquet. Note to brides: it's a good idea to practice throwing that thing, as I did a pitiful job. It went up, not out, when I tossed it. Oh, well.

I really enjoyed doing the dollar dance next, as it gave me a chance to converse with many of the charming fellows that attended our wedding, although the groomsmen were conspicuously absent for most of the dance (Remember the getaway car decorating? They still weren't quite done with car #2 at this point).


It was also sweet to see Andy leading his sisters and his niece around the floor.



All of our non-formal dances were fun too. Who can resist the Cotton-Eyed Joe, the Cupid Shuffle or shakin' it to a little AC/DC?




The only thing that made any of the reception mildly less enjoyable for myself was being stuck in a beautiful dress that felt a lot like an oven. I wouldn't have taken that thing off for anything (oh, man, I can't even tell you how much I loved my dress!), but I would have sincerely appreciated having an air conditioner installed in the skirt.

Suddenly, it was 11:00. Our DJ played "You Look Wonderful Tonight" (in my humble opinion, you can't end a perfect evening without Eric Clapton), and the last of our guests started heading out the door. Andy and I weren't ready for the party to end, but we were so worn out we couldn't have stayed much longer anyway!

This is when we finally saw the impressive "decorating" job to my car done by Andy's friends.

Keep in mind they mistakenly did the same thing to Andy's parents' Mini Coop first!


It was quite a sight.

Unfortunately I had been chauffeured around by my accommodating maid of honor all day, and had absent-mindedly left my car keys back at the hotel, so Andy and I had to take his dad's other car to the hotel, get my keys, come back and pick up my car, peel off enough cardboard and aluminum foil to make the thing drivable, run through the automatic car wash so that the shoe polish didn't ruin the paint, and then finally arrived at the Lyons Mansion and had a chance to relax.


A beautiful, beautiful day.

Our Big Day

Whew! Andy and I definitely had an exhausting weekend and are ready to get going on our honeymoon. We were planning on leaving Wednesday but we are thinking about heading out tomorrow instead. I don't even know if I have the strength left to do a full wedding recap, but I'll try.

After a somewhat hectic Thursday night and Friday morning (bachelor party boys greatly interfered with my prep time!), I headed to Ft. Scott, car loaded down with more wedding decorations, clothing, and toiletry items than any one person should ever be in charge of at one time. I arrived at the Liberty Theatre about 2:30, and my maid of honor, Amy, helped me to set out all our guest table centerpieces, as well as arranging the head table and the cake table decorations.

A bit later the rest of my family, my bridesmaids, and Andy's family came over to finish up with the final touches. Then we all set out down the block for the rehearsal at the church.


The rehearsal went very smoothly, although Andy was about as nervous as a person could be!

I don't think he was having cold feet, though, just ready to finally be married!

Afterwards we had dinner, which was delish. It was barbecued pork loin, baked beans, potato salad and yummy rolls, catered by Sugarfoot and Peaches. Maureen, Andy's mom, did an awesome job with the decorations, too.


After hanging out for a bit, everyone else went home while Amy and I spent the night at bridesmaid Amanda's house in Pittsburg. They of course got roped into doing the last-minute wedding task of folding programs, but at least we all had a glass of wine to make the experience slightly less tedious.


In the morning the three of us ran into Wal-Mart for a few supplies. It seemed like a good photo opportunity, except that some man behind us thought we were snapping his picture. Whoops!


I was a little worried about the rain that morning, but after we got settled into our room at the Lyons Mansion Bed & Breakfast all I saw were pretty blue skies. Then I was worried that it was going to be terribly hot and humid - and it was. But that sort of comes with the territory for a July wedding.

Nevertheless, it was nice and cool inside "Preecia's Velvet Hideaway" and the accompanying sitting room where Kim Stewart beautified us ladies.



And I could not have loved my hair more, even if it was made of pure gold! She did an awesome job, and my do didn't move once all night. I was a little bummed that I had to cover it up with a veil (loved my handmade veil, too, though - ah, the difficult decisions of a bride).

I had butterflies in my stomach all morning, but they started going C-R-A-Z-Y about 4:30, when Megan Dittmer, the female half of our team of wedding photographers, arrived. That meant it was time to put on the dress! Amy helped slip it over my head, Mom zipped me up, Amanda hooked on my jewelry, Loren slid the garter up my leg, and Hannah fastened my shoes. At last, I was ready to roll!


Somehow we managed to get me and my poofiness down the stairs and out the back of the mansion.

Then we got started on photos of me and the girls.



Before I knew it, everyone was back in the car and on their way to the church. I couldn't believe it was really happening! One by one, my mom went in, then my maid of honor, bridesmaids, flower girl, and then...it was my turn!

Wagner's "Bridal Chorus" from the opera Lohengrin played as I put one foot in front of the other and made my way down the aisle, locking eyes with Andy first and then trying to absorb the happy faces of all our friends and family. It's difficult to describe a moment so special.


Rex, the pastor that Andy grew up with, welcomed everyone and said the opening prayer, and then Andy's sister Joanna read a special passage from the Bible. Everyone joined in one of my favorite hymns called "The Love of Christ is Rich and Free", which represented how Andy and I feel about marriage and its connection to our relationship with God. Rex spoke about all of the things that meant the very most to us at that moment, and then it was time to exchange the vows. Such a powerful experience.


We had a few foibles when it came to the exchange of rings. Andy couldn't quite get mine over the knuckle, and for some reason when it was my turn I got flustered and reached for his right hand instead of his left. Thankfully those are easy things to laugh about!


We lit our unity candle and took a moment to pray together as Olivia sang "The Wedding Song (There is Love)". And then, at last, all of our guests were introduced to the new Mr. and Mrs. Biery!



We let everyone exit, then came back outside amidst cheers and rampant birdseed-throwing (most of which seemed to make its way down my dress!).


Andy and I climbed into his parents' adorable Mini Coop and drove around town for a minute, then we came back inside for more group shots.

Our photographers also captured some amazing portraits of us as a couple.


And then it was party time!


The reception description, however, will have to wait for another day, when the Mrs. has yet more time and energy.

Personal Note

I need to acknowledge that the past few weeks have been a very difficult time for me and my family due to the death of my grandmother. While I don't feel comfortable blogging about such intensely personal matters, I would like everyone to know how blessed I have been by their thoughtful words and prayers.