Living Up to the Hype, Volume 1

The report from the morning (well, afternoon)-after-the-party:

I was happy to have stayed on schedule throughout my day, which culminated with a perfect French Manicure over at Dunwoody Nails (it was my first time in there, and it was awesome!). Bryan had done quite a bit himself yesterday as The Great Jeans Debate was put to rest by his purchase of new dress pants and button down shirts. He did a great job, but bargained with me about an hour before the party:

Bryan: "I will wear my slacks to the party, but I am bringing jeans with me in case I want to put them on at some point."
Me: "Ok, I'm still wearing my party dress." Nothing was changing there, there were no alternatives, party dress or bust.

When we arrived, we walked into Tatum and E's condo which had green lights lining the ceilings and corners of their back wall. A slide show of pictures from the 2 1/2 years Bryan and I have been dating was showing on the flat screen (with another slide show playing on the computer!). The background music was a collection of our favorites: Pearl Jam for me, Metallica for Bryan, with some Linkin Park mixed in.

The food was absolutely amazing. There were a range of options: veggie and cheese pizzas, meat lasagna, garlic knots, shrimp salad in cucumber "bowls", hummus and pita, stuffed mushrooms, mini-baked potatoes, a fruit and cheese plate. The utensils? Gold, of course.
The adult beverage options were also personalized: my favorite beer - Yuengling and Bryan's favorite - Smithwick's. There were also jello shots (pineapple, lemon, and lime) color-coordinated with our wedding (green and gold, if you haven't picked up on the theme yet)!

Let's talk about some of the things people made/brought. I'll start with the dessert table: Mary Beth made some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever - they were GONE by the end of the night, but I think I managed to get some crumbs into a plastic bag to take home with us. Mary Beth and Bob also brought an incredible fruit salad (which I was still eating this morning with my breakfast) and a cake with a picture of Bryan and I on it! Classic! Nicole and Dan made sugar cookies on which they decorated and wrote with green frosting both of our names and a variety of words: "Mr. and Mrs. Hoey" "Husband" "Wife" "Love" "10-15-10" "Bride" "Groom". They were beautiful! Nicole also made a Rhubarb Cake. Jon and Sonia brought brownies and blondies (blondies are one of my all-time favorite desserts! and brownies...well, we all know how I feel about them...LOVE). I think I covered everything at the dessert table, but if I missed anything, I apologize.


The finishing touches made the incredible night even more special. Tatum made a banner with a Countdown to the Wedding (238 days on the evening of the party). The banner was hunter green with gold lettering and gold decor. It was beautiful. Nicole and Dan made two huge boards - one where guests could write "Marriage Advice for Stephanie" and the other where guests could write "Marriage Advice for Bryan". The advice was priceless. Among the words of wisdom were:
"Fight naked"
"Never forget the romance"
"An angry wife is a miserable wife, keep her happy!"
"Take her to the gun show"
"Stephanie is always right" (This one was written multiple times, thanks everyone!)
"Keep the bank accounts separate and stay away from the Hogwarts"
"Don't ever get used to each other and always keep the ice, wine, and whipped cream in reach" "Do go to bed angry, just fix it in the morning"
"Make each other laugh"
"Do not talk about work when you get home; Every moment together is precious, so be joyous"
"Treat him as your best friend and love him like Eddie Vedder!"


There were, of course, some party games. The first was a champagne bottle-shaped pinata which I ultimately failed to break and led to Eric cutting it open with a sword. He told me not to feel bad because it was a "real-deal, Mexican-made pinata". And what was in this pinata? Chocolates, condoms, breath mints, glow sticks, and...personalized poker chips!!!! Poker chips with "Stephanie and Bryan, 10-15-10" on them!!! The message of the pinata: "If you want to eat chocolate while playing poker in a room with no electricity, have a breath mint before you practice safe sex."

The second party game was an "Engaged Couples version of the Newlywed Game". There were the easy questions: "Stephanie, who is Bryan's favorite band" (Foo Fighters - with Metallica a close second); "Bryan, who is Stephanie's favorite band" - you know the crowd was able to answer this one. Then there were harder ones, "If Stephanie were a character from the show Friends, who would she be and why?" (Bryan said Jennifer Aniston because she's the hottest. My answer was that I would be Monica - a neurotic chick that likes to cook.) The finale was the slightly embarrassing: "What is Bryan's favorite sexual position?" I actually took an honest stab at this one with a simple answer, but apparently the boys got more technical with this - "Well, it depends on where we are. If we are en route somewhere, if we're camping, if we're in bed..." Really? Bryan's favorite position depends on all of these things??...The explanation of this answer was finished with, "But honestly, any way that it's available". Ah, why didn't I think of that??


The funniest moment of the night to me was during this game, we were asked: "If Bryan won an all-expenses paid trip, where would he go?" My answer, "London is his favorite city, but he's wanted to go to Italy forever, particularly Rome." Bryan answered: "London is my favorite city, but I've wanted to go to Italy forever, particularly Rome." This was followed by asking Bryan the same question about myself. My answer was that I would go on tour with Pearl Jam. PJ will be in Europe this summer and if money were no option, I would absolutely follow them around. Bryan's answer, "Stephanie would go to Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker."

I was stunned. Of COURSE that is what I would do! How did I not think of that great answer? I reacted in this way to which Bryan ended up screaming (and when I say screaming, he did that thing where his words climb octaves as he completes his sentences) "I know her better than she knows HERSELF!!!"


The final thing I will share is one of my favorite parts of the night is where Bryan and I got to collaborate on a toast to everyone present. This essentially means I wanted Bryan to say a few things, but he told me to say a few things first. So I started and was interrupted 30 seconds in...by Bryan. Because you know, he hates public speaking.

It truly was a special evening shared by many of the most important people in our lives. Tatum and Eric could not have done a more amazing job. Let's face it, those two can make anything fun - watching paint dry would be fun with them. But they worked hard and put alot of time into making it an incredible night. They were the perfect hosts and had thought of everything ahead of time. Every aspect of what people contributed pitching in or even just being there to celebrate with us is SO appreciated and we really are looking forward to continuing to share this journey with our friends and family every step of the way.

I will post pictures once I figure out how to do it on this thingamajig I call a blog - this will comprise Volume 2 and I've got the whole day to figure it out so stay tuned!!!