After our fun exit, we scrambled into a Town Car that we had reserved for the 10-minute drive to the hotel (LOL). We arrived and immediately laid into the champagne in our room, a delightful surprise courtesy of the Drake (and welcome, as we had each had maybe two drinks total at the reception). This was such a nice way to decompress together, and something about which we had been very intentional when we planned not to attend any sort of after-party.
The next morning, we got up, gathered our things, and made it to 8:00 AM mass (!) as it was Sunday and we are crazy Catholics. Then we headed to the Majestic where we were hosting our farewell brunch. My parents and sister helped us set up the delivery from Panera Bread, and we spent the next two hours chatting with our friends and family before everyone headed to the airport. This was a really nice way to thank our out-of-town guests for coming.
Slightly blurry Birthday Friend, taking home some candle holders along with a mistletoe-lookalike arrangement that I had ordered from our florist*
Of course, the thanking had really just begun. We had tried to keep up with writing our thank you cards as we received gifts, but even so, we had a pretty substantial list to tackle after the wedding.

The inside says: ?I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.? – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Sixpence’s Advice Regarding Thank You Notes

Keep a very detailed list in Excel of who gave you what, a...