Hello Ladies
Well I am back as a Mrs and I am loving it! First let me say God is sooooo good. I am blessed and grateful for all of the love and kind words I received from you ladies on FB.
Warning I am at work and not suppose to be on TK
. I'm just trying to get this out before you ladies hunt me down for not doing a recap. Please excuse the spelling, grammar and non-use of paragraphs. (Tasha! LOL)
Friday Feb 24th
I ran around getting last minute items to take with me to the hotel. When I got back to where we are staying right now I packed up the car with all the things I would need over the weekend. Since we live about an hour away from the city where the wedding would take place I hit the restroom real quick before I headed down. Just as I dreaded Auntie Flo came to visit. UGH!!!!! Oh well there was nothing I could do about it. She was here and not about to leave. So I just prayed I didn't get sick that night. I headed down to the hotel and was met by one of my BM who helped me unpack the car and check in. My sister then arrived at the hotel and all three of us went to pick up my dress from the cleaners. We got back to the hotel about 5:00. Rehearsal started at 6:00. I was not able to do my hair or change for the rehearsal. I cleaned up and headed out the rehearsal. It was great to see the whole wedding party and everyone was so happy for us. My dad was super excited to get the music together and "cue" it up so it would go smoothly the next day. He wanted the ceremony to go perfectly. The rehearsal was quick and easy. We headed over to dinner at a local restaurant right next to the hotel. We laughed, ate, and joked for the rest of the night. It was great. I gave my BMs their gift. A pair of shoes that I selected for each of them that I felt matched their personality. They all loved them. We had so much food left over that I packed up a plate for us and gave the rest 6 containers to my dad. LOL We all headed back to the hotel. The guys went to FDJs room and the ladies came back to my room. We started to make the names for the centerpieces. (Note to all brides. FINISH ALL TASKS AT LEAST TWO DAYS PRIOR TO THE WEDDING!) I noticed that FDJ (hubby) had left his camera in my purse so I called his room to let him know. He came over to the room with all the guys and to my HUGE SURPRISE in walks Tasha (Soon2beSands) and her FI (Gabe). I didn't even recognize her at first. I thought to myself who the hell did this negro bring up in my room. LOL I looked back down and kept working on my centerpiece names. Then looked up and saw Gabe, I recognized him right away but it did make sense. It couldn't be Gabe cause he lives in ATL. I looked up again and saw Tasha and LOST IT!!!! Let the screaming begin. LOL I could not believe that her and BIL came all this way just to come to my wedding. It was crazy I dang near punched her in the face trying to hug her. LOL To say I was surprised is an understatement. I WAS FLOORED!!!! What a blessing God granted me with to have my sissy here for my big day. See my BFF who lives in TX could not make the wedding. She and I were both sad but we both knew her reasons for not being able to come and both were okay with it. Sad about it but okay with it. Tasha stepped right into her role as Lady in waiting with no hiccups. It was PERFECT! So after staring at both of them really taking it in they were here we sat and talked for a while. Then everyone turned in for the night. I went to bed around 1 am. I actually slept very well. I woke up around 5 a.m. which is the time I wake up every morning for work. I can't turn the body alarm clock off on the weekends. UGH
Saturday Feb 25th The big day!
The day started out great. We actually had church in my hotel room. God showed up and showed out. God gave me a word for my sister and I know some stuff was broken off of her. It was amazing! Then my sister who was the MOH and my niece went down to get my breakfast. My sister, niece and DOC (who was a friend) all stayed in the suite with me that night. It was great. We all ate breakfast and joked around. The mood was light and fun. I had to go to the bank to get the rest of the money for the different vendors but they would not let me leave the room because FDJs room was on the same floor and we didn't want to see each other. He was leaving the hotel to go get his shoes because I told him he could not wear those ugly shinny shoes they give you with the tux. LOL So after waiting for him to leave I went to the bank and stopped at the store. When I got back to the hotel it was time to start getting ready. My hair stylist was right on time. I sat in a chair and she started on my hair. I had asked her many many times to do a trial run but she said she knew what she was going to do for my hair. She has been doing my hair for 15+ years and I trusted her judgement. Well I should have been sitting facing the mirror while she did it. When she went to get the hair spray I peeked in the mirror and I HATED IT! I just started crying. It was a hot mess. Now she is running into the make up artist time. Both of them are trying to calm me down and I'm a mess. She was able to fix my hair but it still was not what I wanted. My make up artist worked her magic but we were running late. The wedding was to start at 4:00 and it was already 3:30. We still had to get me in my dress and drive to the church. My dress was a corset back and it was already laced for the photos of the dress on the hanger. Well since we were running late instead of unlacing the dress all the way they put a towel over my head and I dived into the dress. I got stuck. So now we are pulling and tuggin to get it on. Mind you I'm naked and the photographer is man so he's not in the room. No photos of my getting into my dress or shoes. At this point I just wanted to get to the church. We get the dress and veil on and head down stairs. The photographer makes me stop to take at least one photo.Which I am grateful he did. Now we are off to the church right? WRONG. One of my BM was to drive me in her 300 but the other BMs thought it would be better for all of us to drive together so instead of the 300 she brought her Denali. My dress didn't fit in the SUV! God knew what He was doing because I ended up riding over to the church with BIL and Tasha in their rental car. We got to talk on the way and she calmed me right down. We get to the church and I just want to see FDJ. I just want to marry the man I love so much. I am already 30 minutes late. FDJ HATES BEING LATE! So I'm rushing everyone to take their place and lets get the show on the road. I was peaking into the little windows to see my baby and he looked so handsome standin up there. I was so excited! Also right after the flower girl came down the aisle I had a surprise for my guests that I hoped would lighten the mood. Right before I came out I had them play a 20 second snip of "She's your queen" from coming to America. The whole church erupted in laughter. It was perfect. Then my song came on and my mother and father both walked me down the aisle. It was surreal. All the friends and family who had come out to support us. Tasha being there. FDJ looking so handsome in his Tux. I floated down the aisle and FDJ even teared up. The ceremony was perfect! We were man and wife. We were one. We took some photos and Tasha and Gabe drove FDJ and I to the reception
The reception
We arrived and I could see my cousin and friend heading to their car. Now this is a cousin by marriage and a lot of the family doesn't like her but I get along great with her. So I knew something had happened for them to be leaving. I was going to go find out what happened but FDJ took care of it. He went over to the car and told them to not trip on what others were saying it was our wedding and we invited them. They went back inside. My Dad cued the music and the WP entered to "I'm bringing sexy back" and FDJ and I entered to "I'm sexy and I know it." That got a laugh and we headed to our sweetheart table. That is when I noticed that no one was sitting where they were supposed to be. My DOC didn't use the seating chart that I gave her. None of the tables had desserts on them. They were all piled onto the cake table with the wedding cake. I was not happy but I let it go. People were seated and the show had to go on. The buffet was opened and people started to eat. After everyone finished it was about 7:00 and the photo booth was only booked from 5 til 8. People didn't realize what the booth was or that it was free until them. So I wanted to make sure people took pictures. So we waited to do our first dance. Meanwhile my dress kept falling down. I didn't completely flash anyone but it was low!. I was horrified because I kept having to pull it up and adjust the girls. If I could have changed anything it would have been to send someone out to get me a bra. The dress didn't need a bra but because it was not put on right from the beginning it was all bad. So now we are ready to do the first dance. My dad cues the music and I realize it is the wrong song. My DOC changed the song that morning to At last by Etta James! WHY??? I still don't know why. So I stopped looked at my dad and said out loud that's the wrong song. My dad was PISSED!!!!! He stopped the song and changed it to the right one "Let's stay together" by Al Green. I think for me that was the highlight of the night dancing and singing with my new hubby. The guest were also singing too it was great. Then the dancing started. My dad put on the wobble and the dance floor was packed. It was great! We danced and laughted and partied the night away. I had a great time.
The next morning we had breakfast with everyone who stayed at the hotel. My sister came by to help me pack up my car and give me some of the stuff she had in her car. That is when I found out that not only did the DOC not use the seating chart and change the first dance song. She didn't put out the programs or unity cross cards at the ceremony. My guest book or calendar was not put out at the reception. Also my sister had bought me a large frame with the matte to sign which was to be surprise for me. Well to DOC didn't put that out either. I was pissed but what could I do about it now right? So FDJ and I took Tasha and Gabe out to see Santana row (high end shopping in San Jose, Ca) then had lunch. We had a great time and I was not looking forward to the good byes but we both actually did better than I thought we would. I didn't cry until I got into the car. LOL
Now I can't wait until May to go out to ATL for Tasha's wedding!
Here are some of the photos. We have not gotten any back from our official photographer yet.
http://www.feurtography.com/photos/swfpopup.mg?AlbumID=21638983&AlbumKey=Q7hcDGIf you are on FB you can see more on my page.
www.facebook.com/catnichols