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Details!
Ah where to begin where to begin.....
Woke up with the girls on Saturday around 8am, totally envying the boys who I knew wouldn't be waking up until around noon. Everyone got showered, packed their stuff, and then we were off to the salon. For some reason, my nails were behaving wonderfully, and I had (and miraculously still have) long, healthy nails that looked great with my French manicure. I had gotten my massage and pedicure (red) the day before to save time. After that I got my hair done...basically she refined my curls and pinned them up so it was half up, half down. Then I got my make up done...It wasn't exactly what I would have chosen (there was no trial makeup!), but it did make my eyes pop, which I'm hoping will look cool in the pictures. The girls all got their hair done and looked super pretty.
Then it was off to Saratoga to dress w/ mom and take pics. The dress obviously did fit...I can't tell you how much I was hating all those damnable undergarments-they were a dress all by themselves! The top part didn't serve to suck me in or anything; I think the real intention was to make my boobs fill the dress better, but it was also super thick all the way around my waist (about 1/4 on each side, so it made me at least an inch thicker), which I didn't like. So...everyone got dressed, lots of pics, champagne toast, the whole nine....then, we were off to Albany.
I was...so...nervous...At that point, I wasn't even sure why. It was the strangest case of generalized nerves ever. I was afraid I'd walk to fast, that I'd faint, that I'd trip, or that I'd say the wrong thing, or ??? Anyhow, I was a huge case of nerves.
I remember waiting to go in, and when the doors opened...honestly...it was so surreal. I think it's the closest I've ever come to being a celebrity. I know that sounds strange, but when you're walking down that aisle, and 500 flashes are going off, and every single pair of eyes in the room is looking directly at you, it's just bizarre. You just have to look up, keep smiling, and keep walking, despite all the chaos. I just kept looking right down that aisle, at D. It's alot like having tunnel vision; I just blurred everything else out.
The church...was H-O-T, as in...no air conditioning. Everyone was melting, and I am SO glad I didn't pass out standing up there. D and I were both totally ecstatic, smiling the whole time. Everyone commented that they had never seen a groom so happy to get married, that they had never seen two people hold hands during so much of the ceremony, and that at the end they thought we'd jump up and down we seemed so excited. Hehe.. All in all, the ceremony was lovely, and there were only a few teensy, tiny glitches barely worth mentioning, so I won't.
Then...it rained. I guess it's supposed to be good luck? So we took a bunch of pics at the church, and then we piled into our limo (black) to take pics at our back up location. Let me just tell you, the limo was super cool! It was a huge stretch limo with an intercom, and we had champagne and scotch, and it was very fab. We shot some pics, and then....the rain stopped, so we got to take pics at the other locations as well, which was awesome.
Then...the reception!! Our coordinator greeted us at the door with champagne (more!) and strawberries and the biggest jumbo shrimp I've ever seen. Then it was announcement time...the family and wedding party got announced to XXX, and D and I got announced to La La Love You by the Pixies, which was cool. Then we got to mingle around during the cocktail hour and take some group shots, and then there were toasts! Then we had dinner (5 choices-I had filet mignon-SO good), and then there was dancing. D and I had our first dance to You Are So Beautiful To Me, and D and his mom had their dance to Mother and Child Reunion, and my dad and I had our dance to Forever Young. Then we danced the Horah, which is kind of scary. I had never been up in the chair before, and that was seriously discombobulating! I was so, so, so afraid I'd fall, especially with the dress and all. Then we did the bouquet-I tossed Jamie's because I was too in love with mine. Donielle caught it. I tossed the bouquet to It's Raining Men! Then we did the garter toss...and our housemate Mike caught it. For reasons I won't get into here, this is really, really funny. Then Mike had to put the garter on Donielle, which was really, really funny. Then of course there was all kinds of dancing and good times. We cut the cake to When I'm 64, and the intro to cutting the cake was that Grow Old With You song from the Wedding Singer. We both got a teensy bit of frosting on the other's nose and kissed it off : ) I can't believe how busy I was..I didn't even get a chance to eat my cake I was so busy running around, talking to everyone, and dancing! All in all though, everyone had a great time! The food was delicious, the bar was open for SIX HOURS, and the music was great!
Before I go on about the honeymoon suite and the honeymoon and all that, I have to go on about my bouquet for a minute because I LOVED it. Pink and white roses, stephanotis, pink and ivory sweet peas, and pink and white lilies...clutch bouquet. <3 <3 <3 It was the pretties thing EVER. As soon as I get some pics of it, I'll post it.
The honeymoon suite was GORGEOUS. Strawberries, champagne, huge multi room suite. WOW.
Then we took a day to pack and prepare to go to Mexico.
We arrived on Monday. The resort was breathtaking. Everything was marble, and everything was all tropical and resort-y looking....billowing white curtains, yellow/white/terra cotta tropical colors, flowers EVERYWHERE, fountains everywhere...
The room was beyond gorgeous. We had a seperate marble shower, and the shower was its own room. It had a seat in it and everything. *raises eyebrows*
HUGE in room hot tub.
Deck overlooking the spa and the ocean. Breathtaking.
The room was just gorgeous. I was shocked. It was so much prettier than the pictures online that I couldn't even believe it.
7 gourmet restaurants, 6 bars (one was swim up!), a zillion pools, tons of beach (white sand, turquoise water..), 24 hour room service, amazing spa..we never wanted to leave! As to the restaurants, all were delicious, but the Mexican restaurant was my favorite. Americanized Mexican food sucks in comparison....I was all about the lime soup, and their guacamole was unstoppable. Also, there is just something about oaxaca cheese, and they just don't use it up here. It was also fun to brush up on my Spanish! Strangely, alot of the staff were really impressed by my Spanish. Apparently alot of the other guests don't speak any Spanish at all, which I thought was kind of odd. It was amazing how much I remembered while I was there!
We spent the majority of our time laying out, swimming in the pool, and enjoying the beach, but we did venture out a little bit.
One day we drove to Cancun, and we got to take a speed boat for a forty minute ride out to the coral reefs where we got to snorkel for about an hour. It was amazing! The reefs were fantastic, and there were soooooo many tropical fish. Fortunately we bought an underwater cam to take lots of cool pics.
The next day we went to Chichenitza, which was the longest tour EVER. Twelve hours long. The ruins were about 2 1/2 hours away by bus. We were kind of disappointed because you can't climb the ruins anymore...there are a few you can climb, but not the main ones. Also, it rained, and our tour guide abandoned us about half way through the tour, so we kind of lost out. We also got to go to a restaurant, shop at a market/fair, and go to this underground pool/cave, all of which were really cool.
The 12 hour tour wiped us out so much (especially since D's knee isn't 100% from the surgery), so we cancelled our tour to Tulum.
We did go for some super luxe spa treatments though....and it was HEAVEN. We started out with a 35 minute marine wellness/hydrotherapy circuit and followed it with a Mayan Awakening treatment...Your whole body gets exfolliated polished, then you shower, then you're covered in a mud seaweed mix and heated covers for about 40 mins, then you shower again, and then you get a full body massage with a remineralizing cream...it was amaaaazing. Even D like it! It was actually his first spa treatment, and he was amazed by how soft his skin was.
Leaving was a drag. We eventually got to Philadelphia were our flight got pushed a half hour back over and over and over until it was eventually canceled around midnight. They ran out of hotel vouchers, and they said we'd have to sleep at the airport and wait until around 4pm to fly out. Instead us and two other people decided that was a bunch of crap, so we all decided to rent a car and drive the four hours to Albany. Our companions ended up being two mountain climbing ER doctors who were really cool. They did all the driving, and they refused to let us kick in for the car, all of which was really weird, but really cool.
And that's....about it!
<3 N |