June 12, 2022 (continued)
During the cocktail hour, Sam, Mercedes and their bridal party lingered near the back porch, talking to people and getting more photos taken. Eventually Tina stole Mercedes away to remove the veil and expertly bustle her gown for the reception. Meanwhile, Kurt and his party-planning team made their final touches on the reception area. On the other side of the pasture, opposite the horses' barn, Kurt and his team converted the grassy space into a setup that closely resembled an outdoor nightclub. Under the protection of large, white wedding tents, all of the square guest tables were arranged in a horseshoe with fuchsia table cloths, and cerulean and white dinnerware and candles. The centerpieces alternated in height from table to table; some had tall vases full of clear, glittering marbles at the base and tulips, calla lilies and wildflowers pluming out of the top. Other vases sat closer to the table with similar floral arrangements.
The long, rectangular head table was situated at the plunge of the horseshoe and donned a pearl cloth with the themed blue and pink décor. In the center of the table formation, a large dance floor panel was laid under the open sky, and ahead of that was a stage where musical instruments, as well as a DJ were set up.
Off to the side, a short distance from the horseshoe scene was a long buffet table where a hot catered dinner was being prepared. At the end of the table stood and a white, triple square-tiered strawberry champagne cake with one large purple lily staggered on each tier. On the other side of the reception area were two booths. One was a photo booth—Mercedes and Sam decided to have one rented for their guests as party favors. The second was a video booth where guests were encouraged to visit throughout the night and record a video message for the happy couple. All of the messages would be burned onto a DVD for Sam and Mercedes to watch after they returned from their honeymoon.
By the time everyone sat down for bridal party introductions and dinner, the sun had set over the open yard. Kurt had been well-prepared for the coming night; suspended at every corner of the tents were large, dim, spherical lights. Early in the planning stages, Sam and Mercedes had told him about the natural brightness the stars would provide after sundown, and Kurt didn't want to rob them of that on the dance floor.
Following dinner, the attention went to the head table as the bridal party started on their speeches. Finn, Artie, Mike, Santana & Quinn passed the microphone back and forth to one another. Stacey went next, but ended her speech early due to the tears that overwhelmed her. Tina gave her a tissue and Mercedes offered her a sympathetic gaze while Stevie stood and took the microphone. Not being one for public speaking, he kept his speech intentionally brief and said, "Mercedes has been like a big sister to me and Stace. And it doesn't take much for anyone to figure out why she and my brother are where they're at today. It'd be kinda dumb to say 'welcome to the family' because you've been part of this family for a long time. So…thanks for making my bro happy. Love you both."
He handed the microphone to Tina while the guests clapped for his sentiments. The young Asian woman accepted it with a never-ending smile and scanned her gaze around the horseshoe. "I'm sure I speak for a lot of people here when I say I'm really honored to have friends like Mercedes and Sam. For those who don't know, we—along with most of the bridal party, all met in Glee club back in high school and have been close friends ever since. I could be here all night sharing stories about the things we've all been through together, but I really just want to say thank you to Sam and Mercedes for being amazing—as individuals and as a couple. I love you both to pieces; Mike, Little Mikey, Sawyer and I are always here for you two. Congratulations."
Everyone clapped, but the applause settled down as Tina said, "Before I hand the mic off to Sam and Mercedes, there's one more person who—in all honesty probably should have been in this spot instead of me. He was busy putting this whole day together, but if Sam and Mercedes are okay with it, I'd like to pass the mic to Kurt."
Kurt blanched as the guests clapped and cheered for him. Everyone at the head table, including Sam and Mercedes encouraged him to come forward, and so he did. He took hold of the microphone, smiling and blushing even though he secretly enjoyed the attention. "Well…hello everyone—I hope you're enjoying the evening so far." He looked to Sam and Mercedes and then back to the guests with his naturally rushed speaking pace, "Gosh, I wasn't planning to make a speech but um…here goes nothing." He laughed nervously and others faintly echoed it. "I don't know how many of you here know this, but back in our sophomore year, Mercedes—"
Mercedes froze while balking internally. He wasn't going to announce her brief crush on him on her wedding day, was he? Kurt, don't you dare she thought fiercely.
"…Was the first person I came out to. I hadn't even told my dad yet because I was afraid. But she was someone at school who always made me feel like I could trust her and so I told her. And her response to me was that I shouldn't be afraid to be who I am. It wasn't until she said that to me, that I even realized I was being fearful about a huge part of myself." He looked to Mercedes and winked at her. "Now I can honestly say—especially after knowing her for almost half my life that she practices what she preaches. I don't think I've ever known her to be afraid of who she is. And for the past 10 years she's been lucky enough to have someone by her side that's loved and appreciated that…and tons more about her." He raised his champagne glass toward the newlyweds and finished with, "So here's to you Mercedes, and to Sam. I truly wish you both the best."
Mercedes had one hand pressed adoringly to her chest as Kurt passed the microphone to Sam and bent down to hug his oldest friend. When he pulled away, she seized his arm and told him, "Get a chair and come sit up here."
Kurt smiled and shrugged, "If you insist."
"Don't I always?"
They wiggled their fingertips together and ended by stroking their bangs before Kurt sped away to find a spare chair. As he did so, Sam, Mike, Artie and Stevie had taken the stage and sat down on a set of vacant stools. The groom clipped the mic to a stand in front of him and slipped a glossy brown acoustic guitar into his lap. Sam looked to his brother, who was adjusting his own guitar, and then looked back to the wedding guests. "Hey everyone. First of all I just wanna say thanks for coming and being here to celebrate with Mercedes and me. Now I know Mercedes and I already said a lot of what we felt during the ceremony, but…music is what brought the two of us together. Glee club introduced us, but within the club we were encouraged to sing out our feelings. So Mercedes and I decided to sing a song to one another tonight. We didn't tell each other what were going to sing, but here's my song."
When Sam received a 'ready' nod from his brother, the groom quietly counted off and together they began strumming a soft, moderate tempo. Along with the first few notes, Sam's lips brushed against the grille of the mic as he softly sang—with backup vocals from his groomsmen—McFly's "All About You". They harmonized the call and response for the opening of the song, and then Sam took the lead on the verse.
"Yesterday you asked me something I thought you knew, so I told you with a smile, 'It's all about you.' Then you whispered in my ear and you told me too. Said, 'You make my life worthwhile—it's all about you.' And I would answer all your wishes if you asked me to, but if you deny me one of your kisses, don't know what I'll do. So hold me close and say three words like you used to do. Dancin' on the kitchen tiles—it's all about you, yeah…"
He and Stevie played around with their own guitar duet for the vocal break, and when the lyrics came back in, Sam and Artie harmonized into their microphones. "And I would answer all your wishes, if you asked me to, but if you deny me one of your kisses, don't know what I'll do, so! Hold me close and say three words like you used to do. Dancin' on the kitchen tiles—yes, you make my life worthwhile, so I told you with a smile…"
There was a short pause before Sam vocally led all the men back to the song's intro—which was also the end. "It's all about you…"
When he and Stevie strummed the final notes, Mercedes and their guests broke into applause. Most of them had never heard the song before so they assumed he'd written it for her, but Mercedes knew better. Still, it hadn't prevented her from tearing up. She and her bridesmaids stood up from the head table and wandered to the stage as Sam and the men returned to sit down.
"Damnit, Evans you weren't supposed to make me cry before I sang," she sniffled into the mic before softly giggling at her own sentiment. Their family and friends chuckled and smiled as Mercedes stared up at the stars and dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief. "Well, alright my performance might be a little nasally now but I'm ready." When she lowered her gaze again, she turned to make sure Tina, Quinn and Santana were ready. She beamed an affectionate grin at Sam while the DJ cued the upbeat music. Along with the beat, Mercedes hummed some scat into the mic and as she began on the lyrics, their guests started clapping along.
"Honey, honey, I can see the stars all the way from here. Can't you see the glow on the window pane? I can feel the sun whenever you're near. Every time you touch me, I just melt away. Now everybody asks me why I'm smiling out from ear to ear. But I know, nothing's perfect but it's worth it after fighting through my tears. And finally I put you first."
Whether anyone noticed the slight alteration to the lyrics didn't matter to her—she felt they were more fitting anyway. As she swayed in her dress, she belted into the microphone while pointing and smiling to Sam, "Baby it's you—you're the one I love, you're the one I need. You're the only one I see. Come on baby, it's you. You're the one that gives your all. You're the one I can always call. When I need you make everything stop. Finally you put my love on top!"
With support from her bridesmaids, Mercedes finished her cover of "Love On Top" to Sam. If there had been anything nasally about her singing, no one had noticed it. But from the moment lyrics first left her mouth, she didn't concern herself with how she sang. The entire time, she watched Sam smiling, clapping and bobbing his head; it was nothing but pure bliss on his face, and she felt the same way, just from watching him.
While everyone applauded for Mercedes' performance, she left the stage and came down to the dance floor. Blaine, their MC for the night, grabbed the microphone and said, "Beautiful song selections Sam and Mercedes. Alright if we could have Dr. Jeremy Owens to the stage for the father-daughter dance."
The brown-suited man heaved himself out of his chair and made slow but great strides onto the dance floor. He and Mercedes danced to Whitney Houston's "I Look To You". After their dance, Blaine called Sam and Mary Evans to the floor. Sam picked the lighthearted yet equally meaningful, "Angel" by Randy Travis for him and his mom to dance to. From there, Sam and Mercedes shared the floor for their first dance. Alicia Keys, along with some melodic backing from her husband, serenaded the couple with her timeless hit, "No One".
A blinding amount of flashes went off around the newlyweds but neither paid much attention. For the most part, their heads were lowered to one another as they swayed close. A few times, their heads rose to gaze adoringly to each other; at one point, Sam slowly twirled Mercedes out and then beckoned her back into his arms with a small tug of her hand. Toward the end of their first dance, their guests began to fill the reception space with clinking taps against their glasses. Sam and Mercedes mused at each other and happily obliged to the traditional request. Mercedes leaned into Sam with her lips lightly puckered. Sam bent and tilted his head to meet her luscious pair with a tender, but passionate kiss. They smiled against each other's lips as Sam momentarily lifted her off the ground again, and then another round of cheers erupted from their guests as he set her back to her feet.
The rest of the music for the night consisted of a mixture of country, R&B and Motown numbers Sam and Mercedes picked out themselves. A few party classics were thrown in—the Electric Slide and the Cha-Cha Slide to name a couple. Early on in the dancing, Sam found Viola—whom he still referred to as Ms. Jones—and Mercedes went to Dwight, and together they danced with their in-laws to Rascal Flatts' "Bless the Broken Road". For the most part, however, the songs had been upbeat and kept people moving all night.
During "Got to Give It Up" by Marvin Gaye, Mercedes got the bulk of their guests to start a Soul Train line. She pulled a timid Stevie out of his seat to come down the line behind Rachel and Jesse. Despite Stacey and Sam's blatant chortling, Mercedes managed to get Stevie through it with some uncoordinated disco moves. Lizzie and Mikey stole the show however, when they came down the row. Mikey had clearly inherited his dad's ability to move to any beat, while Lizzie mashed her year of ballet lessons with the funky beat.
The only breaks in all the dancing were for three traditional events. First was the tossing of the bouquet. Mercedes made a humorous request for Beyoncé's, "Single Ladies" to be played while all their single friends congregated. Her cousin, Vanessa caught the bouquet. During the garter retrieval, the DJ played a snippet of Usher's sultry, "Nice & Slow" while a lightly buzzed Sam ducked under Mercedes' dress skirt and emerged with the silky blue belt between his teeth. He turned his back to his friends, tossed it high over his shoulder, and then whipped around in time to see Puck catch it. Everyone cheered for the Marine's victory, and laughed when he wore the garter like a sweatband for the remainder of the evening.
Last but not least was the cutting of the cake. In addition to the three-tiered spectacle, Mercedes surprised Sam with a small chocolate groom's cake decorated like Captain America's shield. After he got a picture with his cake, he and Mercedes held the knife together to cut the first piece of the tiered cake. They had a sweet photographic exchange of the first bite, and then Sam and Mercedes ditched their forks to smear their remaining slice in each other's faces.
Dancing continued on after that but gradually their friends and family started to trickle out for the night. Mike and Tina helped Stacey and Stevie bring the wedding presents inside before they took their boys to head back the hotel for bed. Finn and Quinn, Santana and Brittany, and Artie and Jay left for the hotel not long after, with promises that they'd all see each other again soon. Of the former Glee club members, Kurt, Blaine, Rachel, Jesse and Puck were the last to leave. Blaine helped Kurt and his team put the backyard back in order while a blissfully buzzed Sam and Mercedes conversed with the others. Neither newlywed was at the point of incoherence, yet they hardly stopped smiling through their conversations.
"You guys, that was such a beautiful ceremony. And a really fun reception," Rachel said.
"Yes," agreed Jesse as he wound an arm around the petite brunette. "There was a total Southern Glam flair throughout that Kurt managed to pull off without being utterly tacky."
"Well…that was kind of the theme," Sam said while Mercedes was still trying to decide how bothered she should be by Jesse's borderline backhanded compliment.
"Jesse what are you doing these days, anyway?" she asked.
With swift confidence, Jesse told her, "Remember my plan to be a consultant for glee clubs around the country? Well I did that for a couple years, and then ended up in New York to assist a glee club in Long Island win Nationals. While doing that, I was auditioning for productions on Broadway. One starring role led to another, and now here I am. I still consult when I have the time, but for the most part I've been letting my star quality entertain higher-paying audiences."
Sam nodded thoughtfully while Mercedes fought the urge to roll her eyes. She didn't know why she'd hoped to get a short, modest answer from him at all. He was very much a male version of Rachel—there was no arguing that.
Rachel skittishly intervened, "Yeah, Jesse and I actually bumped into each other after I flew back from Vegas. We hadn't seen each other since we'd performed together in Beauty and the Beast so…we caught up, and I invited him here with me. By the way, I never really got around to properly thanking you guys for letting me bring him as my date." Her eyes were restless as she made a circuit of looking from Sam to Mercedes to the floor.
Promptly and unabashedly, Mercedes told her, "Well I wanna thank you for keeping our wedding drama-free. Hopefully the same thing can happen at the reunion."
Out of nowhere, Puck showed up amongst the group with a slice of Sam's cake and chimed in. "Reunion?"
"Y-yeah, the 10-year McKinley High class reunion?" reminded Rachel.
"Oh," he mumbled around the cake, "I dunno if I'll be there or not but if I am, I don't wanna waste a trip home just to re-live the stupid stuff."
"I definitely second that," Mercedes impudently stated while reaching to pluck her garter off his head.
"Amen," added Sam with a smile. "But Rachel, Jesse, Puck, thanks for coming today. It meant a lot to us to have you guys here." He then fixed his eyes on the Marine and asked, "Jay and Artie already left so, uh…you need a ride to the hotel?"
"Nah dude. I called me a cab already, so…I'm good."
Mercedes saw Rachel and Jesse edging towards the front door, so she told them, "We'll see you soon, Rachel. Good to see you too, Jesse." Her attention also was derailed by Puck though; she found herself eyeing the cake on his plate. With a reprimanding gaze, she told him, "Puck I know you're a big, bad Marine now but if you eat all of Sam's cake I will kick your butt in this dress."
The two Broadway stars took turns hugging the bride and groom and then headed for the front door while Puck snuck off to find more cake. He quickly returned to Sam and Mercedes when he recalled a question.
"Mercedes, hang on a sec. I've been wanting to ask you something all day."
Smiling and curious Mercedes said, "What up, Puck?"
With a very deliberately contemplative grin, he asked, "Do you like Twister?"
The following are a list of some of the many songs DJed/performed at Sam & Mercedes' wedding reception. The ones with the asterisk are the songs/lyrics actually used and mentioned in this chapter & the previous chapter, "Keeps Getting Better":
"You Are My Lady"—Barry White & Luther Vandross
"My Girl"—The Temptations
"All About You"—McFly*
"For You I Will"—Monica
"Nice & Slow"—Usher*
"P.Y.T."—Michael Jackson
"The Way You Make Me Feel"—Michael Jackson
"Forever and For Always"—Shania Twain
"No One"—Alicia Keys
"It's Your Love"—Faith Hill & Tim McGraw
"Prototype"—OutKast
"Love On Top"—Beyoncé*
"Single Ladies"—Beyoncé
"Could It Be I'm Falling In Love?"—The Spinners
"Got to Give It Up"—Marvin Gaye*
"I'm Yours"—Jason Mraz
"Love Like This"—Faith Evans
"Because of Your Love"—Kenny Chesney
"I Hope You Dance"—Lee Ann Womack
"Let's Stay Together"—Al Green
"Kiss"—Prince
"Bless the Broken Road"—Rascal Flatts*
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody"—Whitney Houston
"I'm Every Woman"—Whitney Houston
"Ribbon In the Sky"—Stevie Wonder
"Love Rollercoaster"—Ohio Players
"Always & Forever"—Heatwave*
"Angels"—Randy Travis*
"I Turn To You"—Christina Aguilera
As always, PLEASE LEAVE REVIEWS! I'm curious to know what you all thought of the Samcedes Southern Glam wedding/reception! Also, I'm working on the honeymoon; while I have plans for that, I'm still kicking around ideas for "where" they're going to go for their honeymoon. I'd love to have some suggestions!