when ben and i decided to get married in punta cana, i started creating this vision in my head.. the music, the waves crashing behind us, the flowers, my groom at the end of the aisle and our family and closest friends surrounding us. the other thing i started to do was tell myself not to get disappointed if things didn't turn out exactly as planned.. after all, i planned the entire wedding through pictures and via email and we had never actually visited the resort. i had no idea what our wedding day would look or feel like.. but, it is an understatement when i tell you i was absolutely blown away. dreams punta cana resort and spa completely surpassed my every vision and expectation. september 7, 2018 was the most perfect day of my life.
remember the post awhile back about our engagement (here) when i told you i wrote it for myself so i could look back one day and relive every detail.. these wedding posts are exactly the same. because i have so many pictures, i'm going to be writing multiple posts about our wedding day and i can assure you that they will be filled with more pictures than you care to look at and more of my thoughts than you care to read.. #sorrynotsorry
okay, here goes. as i said, we planned our entire wedding via the internet and i really had no idea what to expect when we arrived at our resort. thankfully, we had the best wedding planner/coordinator who was with us every step of the way, including our wedding day. we met with her on wednesday after we arrived and discussed every detail, toured where our events would take place and met with our dj.
on our wedding day, ben and i met our families for breakfast, hung out at the pool for a little while, and then parted ways. i went to the spa with my mom, mother-in-law, grandmother and aunt for some pampering.. aka hair and makeup. after we were all dolled up, we went to a separate room to finish getting dressed. a few quick pictures and then off we went to the beach..
"Real isn't how you are made," said the skin horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real."
"Does it hurt?" ask the rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the skin horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the skin horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real," said the rabbit.
"Someone made me real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
okay, here goes. as i said, we planned our entire wedding via the internet and i really had no idea what to expect when we arrived at our resort. thankfully, we had the best wedding planner/coordinator who was with us every step of the way, including our wedding day. we met with her on wednesday after we arrived and discussed every detail, toured where our events would take place and met with our dj.
on our wedding day, ben and i met our families for breakfast, hung out at the pool for a little while, and then parted ways. i went to the spa with my mom, mother-in-law, grandmother and aunt for some pampering.. aka hair and makeup. after we were all dolled up, we went to a separate room to finish getting dressed. a few quick pictures and then off we went to the beach..
as my dad and i approached the ceremony location, i could hear the music we chose for our wedding party to walk down the aisle to (instrumental version of "marry me" by train).. my heart started to beat a little faster, butterflies started to fill my stomach.. there was a slight breeze on my face, the perfect amount of cloud coverage to keep us all from baking in the hot sun, random people lined the walkway.. and then, the song turned to "somewhere over the rainbow" by israel kamakawiwo'ole as we turned the corner and there he was.. my groom with the gentle waves crashing behind him, surrounded by our brothers and waiting patiently.
we choose our brothers for the wedding party (my brothers were "men of honor" and did a great job holding my flowers) and my nephew as the ring bearer.. the cutest little boy you've ever seen.
we wanted all of our parents involved in the ceremony and did just that.. my dad walked me down the aisle, my father-in-law was our officiant and our moms each did a reading.
my mother-in-law read an excerpt from captain corolla's mandolin:
"Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being 'in love,' which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two."
my mom read an excerpt from the velveteen rabbit.
"What is real?" ask the rabbit one day, "does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?""Real isn't how you are made," said the skin horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become real."
"Does it hurt?" ask the rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the skin horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the skin horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real," said the rabbit.
"Someone made me real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
the ceremony was perfection. ben and i each wrote our own vows and i thought for sure i would make it through the entire thing without crying.. until i read mine. i stared at ben and couldn't believe how lucky i was to be marrying the man of my dreams.. my best friend.. my whole world. and those words i said were the most raw and honest words i've ever spoken. i was overwhelmed by their meaning and my love for this man.
our wedding ceremony was a dream.. the resort staff organized each step without a single flaw, the weather was perfect, the company couldn't be beat and i got to marry the most amazing man.
now, time for picture overload. and stay tuned for more wedding posts!
"... i now pronounce you husband and wife..."
"benjamin, you may kiss your bride."
and off we went, as husband and wife, to stevie wonder's "signed, sealed, delivered."
cheers!
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