My first visitor of the morning was my now MIL. She was dropping in to give me some magazines to read and say hello. Our relationship has flourished lately and I am so thankful for that. She understands me a bit more and I understand her a lot
more, it eases so much tension we used to have.
Then promptly at 9, I had a knock at the door. It was all of my female relatives...I was shocked! My sister apparently set everything straight and told them to start behaving like they should be.
We all went and had a wonderful breakfast and then it was time to start primping.
My Aunt has always said she would only be doing my hair and my Mom's hair. She must have felt guilty because she did all of the bridesmaids, it was such a nice thing to do.
I had lots of downtime because we didn't meet with our photog until 5pm. I spent the day laying in the big bed with my 6 year old nephew watching some movie, I didn't pay much attention. Then before I knew it, hair and makeup time!!
We made a VERY last minute decision a few days prior to add a black sash to my dress so once I was laced up, that got sewn on.
We had been sweating ALL day! The suite was 3 rooms and everything was fine in two rooms but the hair and makeup room was so hot. We couldn't cool it down. My male family members arrived and pointed out that the vent was closed!!! We seriously
had the air running on like artic temps wondering why it wouldn't help!
The taxi arrived and it was finally time. At this point...I lost it. I was in the elevator and I just started crying and laughing.
When we arrived at the dock, we were the first ones there. So we were hanging around and this couple walked up and told me that today was their 35 wedding anniversary! I smiled and thought about what good luck that had to be! Everyone was
walking by telling me congratulations and how pretty I looked. I ate it up! I told my girls that I was having a big issue of letting this exciting chapter in my life come to close but this was one hell of a last day as a fiance/bride!
My AMAZING photographers arrived. Mary, the 2nd shooter, was there first. She took us girls down the dock and took some killer pics. At one point my cousin comes over and goes, "Seriously...tears came down my face on that last shot...these are
going to be stunning!"
The main photog comes and laughs, "Without fail every wedding, the girls are late and running behind, but you are EARLY and the boys can't get their shit together!"
My groom finally arrived and I peeked. Seeing him, knowing he couldn't see me was so amazing. My girls hid me and he started walking down the dock...when he saw me...I really have no words for this. Seeing the emotion in his face was so
amazing!
We had about an hour or so of pictures and then it was time to board the boat. I was the last one on and when I looked up the problem bridesmaid from the night before was on the deck where the ceremony was to take place...I was
like...get.her.down.NOW. That space was supposed to be blocked off! The girls and I were to be on the rear of boat, guests in front, and then lead up to deck once everyone was on board. She just didn't listen to my wishes on ANYTHING for the entire weekend. It was
very, very annoying.
Once everyone was settled, the photographers took me to do some solo shots. As we were finishing up, one of my girls poked her head out and said, "hey, are you ready to go get married!?" and butterflies hit, I was ready!
I remember is hearing the intro to Bruno Mars "Marry You" and starting our walk.
Interesting thing about our walk...we had to go up some stairs. The water was a little choppy, and welllll....I put my girls in 5in heels...it was rough! I
felt terrible.
The ceremony went SO fast...I cannot wait to see our video. I remember reading our vows that we wrote, and I remember smiling and crying...and it honestly felt like Justin and I were the only people around.
Our ceremony finished and the sun hadn't set yet, so, we decided to remain on the deck, have some pictures taken and do our first dance. Our schedule got all kinds of flipped around, but it still flowed nicely, and I didn't care at all.
During the first dance, I couldn't take my eyes off my new husband. We swayed back and forth to Alice Peacock "The Beginning" and I was completely lost in the moment. It was without a doubt one of the best moments I've ever had.
Then it was time for dinner!! As we walked into our dinner space I gasped a little. The one thing I've always wanted are chavari chairs. When we chose our venue, I decided I wouldn't book different chairs, I would just use what they had. I never
asked what they were but I walked into beautiful, dark wood chavari chairs. Score!!
We had 18 guests at our wedding, so seating worked beautifully. We sat in a rectangle formation. DH and I at a table, and then 3 tables of 6 filled in the space. My centerpieces were stunning, the cake table looked killer! Side note about the
cake...we decided to do cupcakes and then a small cake for us. We chose Publix and had Coconut Cream Cheese....final price...$36! Killer deal and BEST.CAKE.EVER.
Dinner was delicious!! We had Jerk chicken, mojo pork, fried fish with lime tartar sauce, black beans and rice, mashed potatoes, pasta salad, fried plantains and cuban bread. A few months ago I found a bride that had gotten married at the same
place and she raved about the fish. At the time I was like, eh it is fried fish, how good can it be? Holy cow---it was AMAZING!
Then it came time for toasts! The Best Man gave a nice and quick yet very sweet speech. But my sister....I am crying just thinking about it. My sister hates the spotlight, and she hates crying. She started her speech about how Justin and I were
such a great match and then, she lost it. Since her husband has been deployed she and my nephew have been with Justin and I a lot. Prior to our relationship, Justin wasn't keen on children but he and my nephew have the cutest, sweetest relationship.
Scotty calls Justin his best friend, he comes over and they snuggle and watch cartoons, and Justin gave Scotty his favorite childhood stuffed animal. My sister spoke of how amazing it is to have Justin in Scotty's life, especially right now and how
thankful she is for everything. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. The final toast was a quick one from Justin's Dad. I married into an Italian family and he offered a simple Per cent'anni! which means, "for 100 years!"
We went back up to the deck for dancing the night away! Everyone was having a great time, lots of drinks were had, and everyone had a wonderful time it seemed. My only disappointment at this point was my dj...he was really great most of the
night, but he must have gotten confused because played nearly everything on the do not play list. People danced, so I let it go.
After the last dance, all of our guests went outside and lined up on the dock for our sparkler exit. Walking towards all of the guests with their sparklers was so fun! We were able to get some really great pictures.
We did some final pictures on the dock and everyone was ready to head out. And all I wanted to do was go back to the hotel with my new husband. So, that is what we did!
The hotel staff had champagne and strawberries for us, my sister sent wine and chocolate cake....oh man was it all delicious!
