My apologies for taking so long to get back to you gals but I came back to a mountain of work and state compliance tests I had to take for work so I actually had to do work at work, SMH. Then my house was a total mess from all of the gifts and I had to get that in order. So here goes...
Thursday
This was my last day at work and when I got off I came home to hang out with my sister, neice, and nephew before we all left to take the bridal party bowling. DH and I got t-shirts for the bowling event that read Team Vinson Rocks. It was a big hit! DH and my shirt had "bride" and "groom" embroidered on the back. We split the teams up (bride's team and groom's team) and bowled our little hearts out. B/c my little sis and I were in bowling leagues as children, they splt us up to be fair (whatever, lol). The bride's team won the bowling match. Here's a few pics from that...
MOH (BFF), Lil Sis from North Carolina, Me, & Matron of Honor
Then the bridal party wanted to go to Beale Street and hang out for a while. Well, I agreed b/c DH wanted to go but we couldn't stay long b/c we had programs and the infamous to-do list to complete. We ended up going to Wet Willies fro drinks and club 152 and partied til a whopping 1am before heading home. When we got to our townhouse it was operation put the programs together. I fell asleep on them quite a few times. But they burned the midnight oil and completed them. They finished the programs at about 4am which is when I woke up. My other lil sis and cousin helped me assemble the OOT bags and bridesmaids totebags filled with goodies. My mom came over at 6am to collect all of the OOT bags and drop them off at the hotels for the guests. She kept the leftovers at her house where the rehearsal dinner would be held and we would give the remaining OOt bags out there. By that time it was Friday morning and time for my 8am spa appointment. (NOTE at this point I'm working off of 3 hrs of sleep)
Friday
DH, lil sis, and I headed to our spa appointments. I had a facial and massage, lil sis had a facial, and DH had a manicure, facial, and massage. I left the spa and headed to the nail shop for a polish change. Lil sis and neice met me there after her appointment. DH headed to the barber shop (so I thought). Somewhere in between the spa and barber shop DH missed his 1 pm hair cut appointment and got bumped to 5pm and I dunno what he was doing in between time (probably sleeping since he got no sleep from doing the programs the night before). After the nail shop I headed home to change for the rehearsal which was at 3pm. I purposely told everyone 2:30pm so that we could be on time and what happens.... EVERYONE was on time except for the planner. This was the beginning of many mess ups on her part but I will get to that later. Rehearsal went smoothly and I started to cry when my lil sis/ MOH came down the aisle. It hit me that I was getting married. I was balling after that for like 2 hours and iterally an emotional wreck b/c I really was missing my Granny and great- grandmother who had a big hand in raising me. Anywho, we left there and headed to the rehearsal dinner. DH went to his 5pm haircut appt that lasted 3 hrs for whatever reason LOL. The rehearsal dinner went really well. Everyone really enjoyed the fish fry and there was sooooo much food. DH's aunts came in from Jackson, TN with all kinds of food. There was catfish, whiting, dirty rice, spaghetti, cole slaw, smoked sausages, chicken salad, stuffed peppers, alfredo, seafood salad, 7 layer salad, homemade yeast rolls, grilled peppers, upsidedown pineapple cake, and sock it to me cake. We ate gooooooood yall. After 3 hours DH finally shows up with the groomsmen and ushers and then we made our speaches, gave the bridal party their gifts, the parents their gifts, grandparents on DH's side their gifts and any OOT guests their welcome bags. Everyone really liked the presentation. After that I left to go to my hair appt which I was now 1 hour late for. I was getting my hair washed, rinsed jet black, pressed, and rolled the night before and styled the morning of. I was at the salon until 1am working off the original 3 hrs of sleep... I made it back home and guess what I had to do.... dang blasted escort cards SMH!! Luckily my other MOH (BFF), 3 BMs, and my Matron of Honor sent me to bed and did them for me... Love those gals.
Saturday/ Wedding day
I was supposed to be back at the hair salon at 7am only I overslept and woke up at the time I was supposed to be there. It was ok though b/c my cousin/ hair stylist booked the earliest appt on purpose for cushion time. I made it there by 8am and she finished my hair by 9:30. By that time I had already received a phone call from the MUA stating she was at the venue 1 hr early and if I could send the girls over. So I called my sis and had her send 2 girls over to start make- up. I stopped by the ATM to get the MUA remaining balance before heading to the venue. I had my sis take all of my stuff that I had packed the night before and store in a corner in the living room to the venue so it was already threre when I got there. I got to the venue at 10:15am and my line sister (lady in waiting) was there waiting on me. I sat right down in the chair and got my make- up done. My MOHs and lady in waiting went into the bridal suite and hung my dress on my custom hanger, staged my shoes w/ "i do" on the bottom, laid out my jewlery, perfume, and invitation for the photograpers so when they got there at 11am all that was already up. Those gals rocked! After hair & make-up it was time for more getting ready pics. By noon I was in my dress and ready for my 1st look with DH. My lady in waiting took me to him and gave me the best pep talk right before b/c I got super emotional right before. We did our 1st look and it was AMAZING!!! He didn't cry but he did get misty, lol. We exchanged gifts and HE LOVED THAT BOOK. It's on his nightstand ya'll. I also got him custom chucks, a heat massager, diamond dog tags with Song of Solomon 3:4 inscribed on the back (which he wears everyday). He got me 2 carat EACH EARRING diamond tear drop earrings that he designed himself that I wore that day. After the 1st look we had our photoshoot and then we were off to our separate rooms at the venue. My dad saw me in the hall coming back from the 1st look and almost fell out, LOL. That was the 1st time I saw my dad cry. I'm his 1st born ya know. It was a sweet moment. We took all of the bridal party portraits after and then it was time to line up. Side note: while all of this is going on my wedding planner is MIA. She was there in the morning when I was doing my getting ready pics but her "staff" (2 idiots) said she left to change her clothes and would be back for the ceremony. Anywho, wedding starts and it's my turn to walk. The doors open and I took a deep breath and took the first step towards the rest of my life. The ceremony was 15 minutes and it felt like forever, but I's married yall, lol. The reception was interesting. I still had no wedding planner and that meant noone to introduce the wedding party. Every time I asked where she was they always told me she's on her way... WTHeck?!! So my faithful lady in waiting introduced us and it was great. We had our 1st dance and sat down for dinner. 15 minutes went by before the bride/groom were even served. In fact, the 2 idiots who were the wedding planners "staff members" opened up the buffet before we, the bridal party or the parents even got their plates. So I flagged down my mom, and told her to fix it. She got on the mic and made it happen, lol. Then everyone ate in the right order, lol. At this point I'm pissed about my wedding planner so I motion for one of her idiots and aske her AGAIN where she is. She tells me she will be here at 3:30, that's when I went off b/c it was going on 5pm. I said what I had to say and moved on. My mom filled in the rest of the night and made sure the evening flowed the way we wanted. At 8:30pm the vintage Bentley arrived and so did, wait for it, THE WEDDING PLANNER. Yeah I know. She said she was in a wreck and that the ambulance took her to the minor med, um no boo boo the ambulance is gonna take you to the hospital. Get your lie straight. She had no pics of her vehicle and looked fabulous, not like she had been in a wreck. My mom is a paralegal and trusts noone and has already pulled the accident reports for that day and guess what no wreck at the intersection she stated. So we have a meeting scheduled for Tues to recoup some money back for DOC services and the grooms cake b/c it was wrong. Anywho we left in the Bentley and got dropped off at our hotel downtown. We took a carriage ride which was a 1st for both of us and it was soooo romantic. When we got back to the wedding night suite my MOHs had decorated it beautifully with flowers and we had champagne and then IT WAS ON!!!!!! And ladies, it was definitely WORTH THE WAIT!!!! BOOMCHICKA WOW WOW!!!
Me & DH 1st Dance
Me & Mommy AKA Superwoman
The Cake featuring the cake topper I blinged out
Vintage Bentley, Driver and "The Vinsons"
Sunday
We woke up and checked out of the hotel and headed to my mom's for the gift opening brunch. We were greeted with straw hats and leis to get ready for ARUBA. We got a lot of stuff off of our registry and enough cash to have a nice nest egg for the new house when we close. We ate and fellowshiped and then went to my aunt's house to do more eating and fellowshipping with OOT guests. We got back home at 11pm and DH had to finish homework and we both had to pack. Needless to say we didn't sleep that night but we did make it to our flight and had an AMAZING and relaxing week at the Riu Palace all- inclusive resort in Aruba!
I hope you enjoyed the ride that was my wedding weekend. Even with the wedding planner drama, my day was amazing and filled with love and I am married to my best friend. Married life is wonderful and we are really enjoying ourselves *wink wink. I followed all of the advice Princess gave in her recap about staying with DH all night. We literally held hands all night, gals. We also took breaks and went back to my bridal quarters to just have a moment to ourselves. I forced myself to eat even though I can't remember what it tastes like, lol. The only thing I forgot was the lip gloss, lol. So don't forget the lip gloss and mints (i remembered the mints, lol). And most importantly, enjoy your day, you are the guests of honor. Dance on the dance floor get some candy from your candy bar, and take multiple shots in your photobooth, lol.
View of pool from my honeymoon suite (sorry these pics are sideways)
View of beach from my honeymoon suite
DH & I sexy faces LOL
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