Okay – so I finally have a few minutes to breathe and am writing the full recap. Beware - it's very long!Saturday was the big day! I had my hair and make-up first thing. It was pouring rain, so despite it being three blocks from my hotel, I had to take a cab. They were a little slow getting us all done (about 10 of us had hair and/or MU appts, and they only had 4 stylists). They did have coffee, fruit, mimosas, and other snacks for us though, so it was a fun time overall. By the time it was done, the rain had stopped so I walked back to the hotel with two of my BMs to quickly clean up the suite so it would like nice for the photographers. They arrived along with the BP flowers soon after that and they got busy shooting us getting ready. I wrote a quick card for my husband and gave it to the photog to deliver to him after we finished my shots. I hopped in my dress and then did a quick pic with me and each BM before sending the photogs away to my husband’s hotel.
The bridal party then headed to the church. We gathered in their lounge area to wait for the ceremony to start. This is the one and only time all day that I felt overwhelmed and wanted to cry. My dress felt like it was still too big on me (after numerous alterations that week). Luckily I had safety pins and double sided tape in my emergency kit, so my dad (of all people!) took charge and worked some magic that made me much more comfortable. Phew! Before I knew it, we were lining up and heading down the aisle right on time. The ceremony itself was perfect. It was absolutely my favorite part of the day. I was stressed that I would trip or cry or sound really shaking when saying my vows, but I strangely felt very calm and present in the moment. I wouldn’t change a thing about it. The best moment was during the homily when our Reverend asked my husband and me to turn around and face our guests and take in the moment that all these ppl are here b/c they love us and wish to support us today and throughout our marriage. I just loved that. After the ceremony ended, we recessed out of the church. When we got to the front doors, our coordinator told us to listen, and we heard the church bells ringing loudly. She said “those bells are for you!” and my husband grabbed me and gave me another kiss.
We then headed back to the church’s lounge and waited a few minutes for the guests to all clear out, and then headed to the alter to get some pictures with the wedding party and our immediate families. We then went outside to board the shuttle that was supposed to be waiting for us to take us to the reception, but it was nowhere to be seen. The best man called them and it turns out there was a mix up and all of the buses had already left for the reception! They immediately called one of them back to the church to pick us up, but it meant we would have to wait about 15 mins. It ended up working out fine, though, because we used that time to do up my bustle and touch up my make-up, which I would have just done at the reception straight away anyway. We also got some nice pics of me and my husband on the church steps.
We got to the reception location about 15 minutes into the cocktail hour. Things seemed to be going well, but I immediately noticed that the signature cocktail was not on the bar anywhere, nor was the champagne. The caterer contact found me and asked me if things were okay and I mentioned those two things, and she played dumb. I didn’t want to deal with it then, though, so I didn’t make a big deal. I only stuck around the cocktail hour for a few minutes and then snuck off with the photog/videographer and my husband for some more pics around the venue. We did these while the guests started migrating upstairs to the reception room. After they were all up, we lined up the wedding party for the grand entrance.
The rest of the night went by so fast! We did dinner followed by a short (<5 min) video slideshow that my cousin made (it was a surprise), then speeches, the first dance, and finally open dancing. The DJ was AMAZING. He got everything we specifically requested exactly right and made great judgment calls on everything else. In fact, all our vendors minus our catering manager were absolutely amazing. The DJ even found this obscure blue grass cover of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ that my husband and I requested for our last dance song. About 30 seconds before the song ended, my husband slyly spun me off of the center of the dancefloor where we were and he disappeared. I continued dancing with friends until the song ended. Everyone started cheering and I turned around, and my husband was standing there with a wheelbarrow covered in white velour and pillows with tin cans and a “Just Married” sign on it. He told me to get in, and I gladly did (my feet were so sore by that point). He wheeled me away to the elevators and then outside to the buses that were waiting to take us on to the after party bar. I had no idea that was coming, so it was a fun little surprise for me.
I won’t go into all of the rest of the details of the night, but we partied until about 4:00 AM, first at the bar and the hotel hopping, before I finally convinced my husband to go back to the hotel with me. Aside for the bus forgetting us (which didn’t end up mattering) and the small catering mistakes that no one other than us really realized, it was a perfect day!
Getting ready at the salon
Getting bustled while waiting for bus
Best man about to do his grand entrance right before us
First dance from afar
Sneak peek from our photog
Another sneak peek
And of course, the wheelbarrow getaway!
