I agreed, and set about the daunting task of planning, throwing, and paying for a wedding in two months time. I figured November was out of the question, so started looking at Saturdays in December. That year, the first Saturday was the 7th. I automatically vetoed that, because it's Pearl Harbor Day. (May seem irrational, but for a history nut like me, it made perfect sense to not want to marry on a day that caused us to actively join WWII, lol). Also out were the 21st (too close to Christmas) and the 28th (Christmas AND New Years). That left us the 14th. Voila! We had a date! My next step was calling reception halls. The first woman said "Dec. 14th of '03?" I said "No. THIS Dec. 14th." She laughed, and hung up on me. I called the next place on the list (The Imperial Room). He looked at his books, and said "I can work with you... I have a Christmas party that night, but if you can be cleared out by 4:30, we have a deal. How about a start time of 11?" "Deal!" Voila! We have a time! Reception starts at 11, so the ceremony will be at 10:30, 10 minutes long, and 15 minutes from the reception hall. Just enough time to have a Recieving line, and get to the reception. :) Off I went to David's Bridal, where *everything* I wanted was in stock. Hooray! The dress fit like a glove, needing only a tiny bit of hemming, and no other alterations. I had just my Maid of Honor, no Bridesmaids, so I gave her a color, and said "Pick what ever dress they have here in your size that you like." Ta da! No bridesmaid dress drama! My uncle owned a limo company, so his gift to us was the limo for the wedding. We used the Church we were currently attending, but it was without a Pastor for the time being. As luck would have it, a girl I worked with's father was a Justice of the Peace. He came over, we went over what we wanted, and the time limit for the ceremony, and got that ironed out. Jake and the guys went and got their tuxes (he wanted a zoot suit. If he'd allowed me more time to plan, I'd have done a full out Roarin' 20s theme wedding. It'd have been awesome. But alas, he gave me 6 weeks.) The flowers worked out well, also. Everything seemed to be falling right into place.
The Wedding:
I woke up at 6:30, and messed around with my MOH for a while. Then, jumped into the shower. I had brand new blue undies (my something new and my something blue) with "I'm Yours" written on them in silver rhinestones. Victoria's Secret, baby! My mother came into the bathroom and snapped a picture while I was drying off. No lie, it's in my wedding album. I'll show you when you come, lol. I got into a bathrobe, and walked across the lawn to my neighbor/hairdresser/makeup lady. Got mine, and my flower girl's hair done, and my toe nails painted. My fingernails had been done the day before (french manicure all the way, sweetheart). Then it was time to start wrangling me into my dress. I had two veils. One long piece that clipped into the bottom of my hair-do, that trained as long as the train on my dress. And a short, chapel length one to go over my face. On with my garter, petticoat, shoes, etc. Every woman in our family who gets married wears a piece of my great-grandmother's cameo jewelry. (My something old, and something borrowed). I chose the ring. We got into the limo, and were on our way to the church which was right down the street from my parents' house. Got into the church, and went upstairs to hide out until it was time, and make last minute adjustments to veils, hair, etc. I made someone look over the balcony to make sure Jake was there, because I wasn't going to face everyone if he didn't show, lol. Once I was assured that everyone showed who needed to, I was like "Let's do this thing!" Every one else made their ways up the aisle, and my dad turned to me and said "You wanna book it?" I said "Meh... I already paid the bills, let's do it." ;) Up the aisle we went. The ceremony was VERY simple, for fear that my mother would get up and wander away. I wouldn't put it past her. We didn't do a unity candle or anything like that. We did however, have a reading:
Have a seat upon a cloud
I woke up at 6:30, and messed around with my MOH for a while. Then, jumped into the shower. I had brand new blue undies (my something new and my something blue) with "I'm Yours" written on them in silver rhinestones. Victoria's Secret, baby! My mother came into the bathroom and snapped a picture while I was drying off. No lie, it's in my wedding album. I'll show you when you come, lol. I got into a bathrobe, and walked across the lawn to my neighbor/hairdresser/makeup lady. Got mine, and my flower girl's hair done, and my toe nails painted. My fingernails had been done the day before (french manicure all the way, sweetheart). Then it was time to start wrangling me into my dress. I had two veils. One long piece that clipped into the bottom of my hair-do, that trained as long as the train on my dress. And a short, chapel length one to go over my face. On with my garter, petticoat, shoes, etc. Every woman in our family who gets married wears a piece of my great-grandmother's cameo jewelry. (My something old, and something borrowed). I chose the ring. We got into the limo, and were on our way to the church which was right down the street from my parents' house. Got into the church, and went upstairs to hide out until it was time, and make last minute adjustments to veils, hair, etc. I made someone look over the balcony to make sure Jake was there, because I wasn't going to face everyone if he didn't show, lol. Once I was assured that everyone showed who needed to, I was like "Let's do this thing!" Every one else made their ways up the aisle, and my dad turned to me and said "You wanna book it?" I said "Meh... I already paid the bills, let's do it." ;) Up the aisle we went. The ceremony was VERY simple, for fear that my mother would get up and wander away. I wouldn't put it past her. We didn't do a unity candle or anything like that. We did however, have a reading:
Have a seat upon a cloud
and make yourself at home
You are now inside my dreams,
inside a book, inside a poem.
Where anything can happen
if you only make it real
Plunge into my waters
if you're not afraid to feel.
Take off your shoes and close your eyes,
relax upon my sand
Join me in my land of dreams,
reach out and take my hand.
Let me share my dreams with you
until you find your own
I'll take you there if you believe,
take mine out on loan.
Where birds are words so gracefully
they glide across the sky
Leave behind your worries,
here the rules do not apply.
Pick my flowers if you like
and plant a seed or two
Paint the sky in polka dots
if you do not like it blue.
Climb my trees, face your fears;
erase them one by one
See the world from up abovea
nd don't stop at the sun.
When the world starts raining down
and the sun is out of sight
Let your dreams control your mind
and help you through the night.
There's a place inside my dreams
for all who care to roam
So have a seat upon a cloud
and make yourself at home.
Danielle Rosenblatt
Our flowers were all white. Calla lillies for me, my MOH, Jake, the Best Man, Ring Bearer, and Flower Girl. Roses for the ushers, grandparents, and Jake's mom. Daisies for my mom, because they're her favorite. Lillies of the Valley for Faylene, because they have a special meaning to her. Our wedding colors were periwinkle and cream. That was that, and we were on our way to the reception. I accidentally wrote the directions out slightly wrong, so most people got lost, but it was okay, they found their way there in the end. It was a buffet dinner, and a cash bar (both of our families are full of big drinkers, and I wasn't footing *that* tab!) Lots of dancing, our DJ was great. The reception hall took care of everything! They made the cake (it had fresh callas on it too), did the meal, hired the bartender and waitstaff, even did the centerpieces, and laid out the placecards and favors! They also recommended the DJ for us. I forgot my purse at home, which was a bit unnerving when it came to the end of the afternoon and the DJ wanted to be paid (oops!) Luckily, the dollar dance had netted us enough money that we were able to pay the DJ and still have a few bucks left! The party moved to my parents' house afterwards, because they weren't ready to be done partying. By the end of the night, I was completely exhausted!
Our flowers were all white. Calla lillies for me, my MOH, Jake, the Best Man, Ring Bearer, and Flower Girl. Roses for the ushers, grandparents, and Jake's mom. Daisies for my mom, because they're her favorite. Lillies of the Valley for Faylene, because they have a special meaning to her. Our wedding colors were periwinkle and cream. That was that, and we were on our way to the reception. I accidentally wrote the directions out slightly wrong, so most people got lost, but it was okay, they found their way there in the end. It was a buffet dinner, and a cash bar (both of our families are full of big drinkers, and I wasn't footing *that* tab!) Lots of dancing, our DJ was great. The reception hall took care of everything! They made the cake (it had fresh callas on it too), did the meal, hired the bartender and waitstaff, even did the centerpieces, and laid out the placecards and favors! They also recommended the DJ for us. I forgot my purse at home, which was a bit unnerving when it came to the end of the afternoon and the DJ wanted to be paid (oops!) Luckily, the dollar dance had netted us enough money that we were able to pay the DJ and still have a few bucks left! The party moved to my parents' house afterwards, because they weren't ready to be done partying. By the end of the night, I was completely exhausted!
The Honeymoon
We went to Sandals Antigua. We were booked from Jan. 2-7. So, it's Jan. 2 at 3 am. We roll out of bed, and into his parents' car. They were driving us to the airport. We were scheduled to fly out at 6, and it takes an hour and a half to get to the airport in bad weather. We got there, got through security, checked our bags, and went to wait at the gate. We boarded when they called us, and then waited. It was snowing pretty strongly, but not a blizzard or anything. We were last in line to be de-iced, which meant that if we got off the plane, we'd lose our place in line, and have to start all over again. By the time we finally got in the air, it was after noontime. We ate breakfast around 1 pm. We landed in San Juan, and because of the delays from the de-icing, we had missed our connecting flight. We were put on standby for a flight that was scheduled to leave for the island at 8:30 that night. So, we wandered around the concourses, checked out the souveniers, ate some crappy airport food court pizza, and sat down at the gate to wait. At one point, I turned to Jake and said "I swear to you. If I spend the first night of my honeymoon in an AIRPORT in San Juan, Puerto Rico...I *will* divorce you when we get back stateside." I was serious too. I was NOT in a good mood. Luckily, there were seats for us on the plane. It was a 12 seater, and the flight from San Juan to Antigua took about 25 minutes. The brochures from Sandals said that the airport was 5 minutes from the resort. Which was technically true. What they fail to mention, is that Antigua has ONE road, and it's a ONE WAY road. And we had to ride all the way around the island to reach the resort. We spent an hour in a minivan older than I was at the time, going at breakneck speeds, completely ignoring the fact that every 20 feet there was either a speed bump or a pot hole. Finally, we reached the resort. *Aah!* Bliss! We were starving, and exhausted. We were greeted with hot towels, and a comfy reception area while they took care of our check-in procedure. At this point, all the restaurants in the resort were closed, so we weren't able to get anything to eat. There was an after hours grill, but that didn't open until midnight. So, we checked in, went to our room, showered, and waited for midnight to roll around, so we could get a bite to eat. We went to the grill, and it was food court type food... Over done hamburgers, stale pizza, nachos with fake cheese, that kind of stuff. We ate just to fill the hole, and went to bed, too exhausted to even move.
The next morning, we went to see the event coordinator, to see if we'd be able to do any of that fun stuff, like touring rainforests, or swimming with dolphins. Unfortunately, everything *we* were interested in, was booked solid until the day after we had to check out and go home. So, we didn't get to do any of those things. There was a pool table in the lobby though, and I owned Jake about 15-20 times before he finally gave up, and bowed down to my superior skills with a pool cue. We spent a lot of time swimming, eating, trying new drinks at different bars, and playing life sized chess. We went to the spa and got a couple's package. They started off with a champagne bubble bath for two, with local flowers sprinkled on top of the water. Then, there was a couple's massage, where they exfoliated us and prepped our skin to be in the carribean sun. Then, we showered and were given facials. It. was. heavenly. One day, we took a horseback ride tour of the island. That was incredible, and eye opening. The locals live in shacks, with no doors or windows, just holes where they should be... There are still sugar shacks standing, and ruins of a British fort, complete with cannons. The island is just breathtaking, and sad at the same time. Jake bought a hand carved dog that a local artisan had made from driftwood. It's beautiful, and he treasures it. I had my hair put into corn rows. Which looked not unlike the hair that Monica came home from Barbados with on FRIENDS. LOL Only shorter and blonde. We bought a few locally made necklaces to bring back, that we still wear occasionally. There was only one restaurant to eat breakfast at, and it was open air. Stray cats, and birds would come and sit right next to you, waiting for food. If you got up to get something, you'd come back to birds IN your plate, eating your food. We learned quickly NOT to leave our plates unattended. There were geckos EVERYwhere. There was a pool and a hot tub right outside our bedroom door. That was nice. We had to go home all too soon, and when we got home, it was STILL snowing!
The next morning, we went to see the event coordinator, to see if we'd be able to do any of that fun stuff, like touring rainforests, or swimming with dolphins. Unfortunately, everything *we* were interested in, was booked solid until the day after we had to check out and go home. So, we didn't get to do any of those things. There was a pool table in the lobby though, and I owned Jake about 15-20 times before he finally gave up, and bowed down to my superior skills with a pool cue. We spent a lot of time swimming, eating, trying new drinks at different bars, and playing life sized chess. We went to the spa and got a couple's package. They started off with a champagne bubble bath for two, with local flowers sprinkled on top of the water. Then, there was a couple's massage, where they exfoliated us and prepped our skin to be in the carribean sun. Then, we showered and were given facials. It. was. heavenly. One day, we took a horseback ride tour of the island. That was incredible, and eye opening. The locals live in shacks, with no doors or windows, just holes where they should be... There are still sugar shacks standing, and ruins of a British fort, complete with cannons. The island is just breathtaking, and sad at the same time. Jake bought a hand carved dog that a local artisan had made from driftwood. It's beautiful, and he treasures it. I had my hair put into corn rows. Which looked not unlike the hair that Monica came home from Barbados with on FRIENDS. LOL Only shorter and blonde. We bought a few locally made necklaces to bring back, that we still wear occasionally. There was only one restaurant to eat breakfast at, and it was open air. Stray cats, and birds would come and sit right next to you, waiting for food. If you got up to get something, you'd come back to birds IN your plate, eating your food. We learned quickly NOT to leave our plates unattended. There were geckos EVERYwhere. There was a pool and a hot tub right outside our bedroom door. That was nice. We had to go home all too soon, and when we got home, it was STILL snowing!
Next, A Surprise, A Sadness, and A Salvation.
1 comment:
Awww! I love to hear wedding stories! :)
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