ᴄʀᴀᴡғᴏʀᴅ ᴡᴇᴅᴅɪɴɢ: 03/26/16

the details ★ the rings

the bouquets

the bouts

★ finer details

the vows ★ denise “You have been my best friend, mentor, playmate, confidant and my greatest challenge. But most importantly, you are the love of my life and you make me happier than I could ever imagine and more loved than I ever thought possible.... You have made me a better person, as our love for one another is reflected in the way I live my life. So I am truly blessed to be a part of your life, which as of today becomes our life together."

★ logan

“You have been my best friend, mentor, playmate, confidant and my greatest challenge. I will, in good times and bad, cheer for the Tar Heels. But most importantly, you are the love of my life and you make me happier than I could ever imagine and more loved than I ever thought possible.... You have made me a better person, as our love for one another is reflected in the way I live my life. So I am truly blessed to be a part of your life, which as of today becomes our life together."
ceremony notes

Those who came to the wedding would be staying at Maui Coast Hotel and were given the code "Crawfords take Maui" for a discount on their hotel rate, as stated on the open invitation here. The hotel is only a ten minute drive from the venue for both the ceremony and reception.

The ceremony lasted for 20 - 30 minutes. Most notably was the debut of Haley Crawford, Logan and Denise's newly adopted daughter being pulled in a wagon by Robert and Soledad Falco's girls, Hayden and Rebecca, down the aisle. Haley is almost four months old and this will be the first time most of the people at the wedding will be meeting her as Denise and Logan have kept mum about it during the adoption process.

Readings at the wedding reflected Denise's Roman Catholic faith as well as the Hawaiian setting and included such readings as Tobit 8:5-7, Psalm 145:8-9, 10, 15, 17-18, Corinthians 12:31-13:8, John 15:9-12, The Key to Love before Denise and Logan exchange their vows. After the vows are exchanged, Denise, Logan, and the children will recite Blended Family Ceremony #2's vows to bond their family together as well as solidify their marriage and exchange their "I Do's".

After the ceremony is over, the guests will be ushered over to where the reception was taking place for cocktail hour.

The Reception

At promptly 7:00pm, the newly married couple was introduced at the reception as Now That We Found Love played as a tribute to the movie, Hitch and its end scene. There was no specific seating chart when the guests got to the reception and they were free to sit wherever they wanted with whomever they wanted to with the exception of the wedding party and the parents of the bride and groom. Prior to the reception, the wedding party had a small photoshoot. Rest assured, there were enough seats for all!

When everyone was seated, it was time for the first dances for the bride and groom. The newly minted Mr. and Mrs. Crawford chose John Mayer's cover of XO by Beyonce for their first dance as a married couple. After that, Denise's father in cahoots with the DJ grabbed the microphone and asked for Logan's permission to "steal" Denise for the father and daughter dance. For months, Denise and her father, Antonio, had been planning a little surprise for everyone at the wedding. The dance started off as the traditional father and daughter dance with Daddy Dance With Me before the father and daughter duo were surprised by "technical difficulties", the DJ apologized and put on another song before Denise and her father transitioned into a rehearsed routine that they had been keeping under wraps from everyone involved in the wedding with the exception of her mother and the DJ. After the wedding guests were treated to the dance skills of both Denise and her father, it was time for the mother and son dance between Logan and his mother, Patricia to Loves Me Like a Rock.

After Sol and Noah's matron of honor and best man toasts, the guests were treated to a sit down dinner with this menu. There was an open bar for those who wanted to drink but ID was required due to all of the children wandering about. Of course, for those who didn't want anything alcoholic, there was soda, juice, tea, coffee, and water. In the midst of dinner, guests were treated to a special show of a Hawaiian/Polynesian dance performanceWhen dinner was over, guests could treat themselves to the dessert bar to dine on fine sweets before the cutting of the cake. Or they could cut a rug on the dance floor until the garter toss and the bouquet toss, set to I'm Every Woman where hopefully a riot didn't unfold. I will be using a random picker to decide among those who comment who will be the lucky girl with the bouquet!

Logan and Denise had provided several ukuleles around the reception for guests to sign. On the dance floor, guests were treated to a variety of dance music picked by the couple but could also make requests to the DJ. Chances were, guests were subjected to the standard wedding dance staples: the locomotion, the cha cha slide, the YMCA, the macarena, etc. The dancers from before were front and center once again to help the guests learn how to do a very basic hula dance before the cutting of the cake to Sugar, Sugar by the Archies.

Then the guests were free to return to the dance floor to continue cutting a rug as it got late. At around 10:30pm, Denise and Logan went up to the DJ booth to take control of the mic and to thank everyone for coming. Chances were, Denise got terribly emotional when thanking everyone who had a party in being a part of her and Logan's very special day. The last dance of the night was to Love Never Felt So Good by Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake.

But wait, there's more! Before the send off, the dancers from before returned to perform a very special fire dance for the ceremony to end on a high note. Then around 11:00pm, it was time to send the bride and groom off with glow sticks and sparklers. Guests received gift bags and there was a shuttle waiting for them to bring them back to their hotel.