hey guys! im back with one last wedding story...and this time im gonna talk about what youve all been waiting for...the actual wedding!!! woohoo!!!
the morning (and early afternoon) was spent getting ready...it was very important that we all looked our best for the princess' big day...once hair and make up was done it was time to get dressed...every one looked so pretty...especially my sister...words cant express how beautiful she looked!!!
next up it was time to take a few pictures with the photographer...there was one that he made her stand against a wall...he said make a sexy face...so she said i dont have one of those...haha!!!....too funny!!!...we took a few other fun photos...including one of all the girls running down the hall...that one came out pretty funny thanks to little sis...her face is a classic!!!
after the photo session it was time to line up for the ceremony...it took place on a really nice grass area with palm trees over looking the bay...it was supposed to be on a deck but when we got there the deck was all torn up...it was a disaster area...there was no way that the wedding would take place there...honestly, im glad that area was messed up because this new location turned out soooo much nicer than the original one would have been...anyway continuing on...we walked out of one of the rooms we had on the first floor and over to where the ceremony was to take place...i took my place with the rest of the bridesmaids and watched as my dad escorted the princess down the aisle...it was impossible to hold back the tears (in fact they are coming back a little right now just thinking about it...haha!)...she looked soooo happy...and the groom looked soooo happy...and i was just soooo happy for them!!!!...during the entire ceremony the bride and the groom were just beaming!!!...after all was said and done they were announced mr and mrs unpronounceable last name!!! =)
after the ceremony we took some more pictures...here's a few for your viewing pleasure!
then we were off to the cocktail hour...this part of the evening was held on a large terrace next to my sisters room on the 6th floor...it was the perfect location...the bar was open and we had a bunch of hou'r derves...lets seee if i can remember it all...coconut shrimp, clams, tuna tar tar, beef wellington, veggies, and pigs in a blanket (yeah, we like to keep things classy!...haha!)...it was all great!...before we knew it, it was time for all the guests to head up to the roof top where the reception took place!
after everyone left we kinda lined up and discussed how our grand entrance should go...we decided to bring a little bit of jersey to the island and go with the fist pump...prince charming's sister was very excited for this idea...probably because in south carolina she doesnt get to fist pump on a regular basis like the rest of us...haha!!!...
right after big sis announced everyone (btw...awesome job mc'ing the night big sis!) it was time for the first dances...the happy couple danced to a classic frank sinatra song...next was the father daughter dance...i dont think there was a dry eye in the house...it was a very touching moment...next up was the groom and his mama...he chose a more upbeat tune for their dance...very fun!!!...
what happened next is what made this wedding different than most...normally there would be a little bit of dancing then some eating then some photo op traditional things like the cake cutting and speeches and bouquet and garter tosses...we skipped right ahead to the photo op stuff...i dont remember the exact order of what took place but i'll talk about all of them so dont worry!...just an fyi, i liked this order to things way better...it got all the traditions out of the way so when we got to partying it was non stop...no distractions!
okay so back to the details...the cake cutting was pretty standard...they fed each other a bite of the cake (which i later discovered was one of the best cakes ive ever had in my life!)...they didnt smear it all over each others face so they really did keep it classy here...haha!...
the speeches were okay...well let me rephrase that...i thought my speech was okay, bff's speech was great!...little sis and i went first...we were a little shaky...we tried our best but i dont think it came across that well...oh well...i hope they understood...bff was up next with his best man speech...he practiced and practiced...and he recited the part he practiced so fast...it was like a race..."in life theres quantity and quality, we may not have spent a lot of quantity time together but we've spent a lot of quality time together" (takes breath...haha!)...after speeding through that he added some extra things that he didnt practice and they were all very nice...he even made the groom's grandmother cry...it was a great speech...im so proud of him...
next came the blessing...at the last second the wedding planner told big sis to do the blessing...big sis said "whoa i cant do the blessing!" but like a trooper she got back to her mc position and said "aaaand mommom will now be giving the blessing"...haha!...so she walked over to my grandma and handed her the mic without any advance notice...oops...good thing mommom is always prepared to give a blessing!...she did a wonderful job!...
next single ladies started playing...so that could only mean one thing...the tossing of the bouquet!!...we all gathered around and waited for the grand prize to be tossed...it came right too me but i didnt really want it and i knew that gg (girlfriend of tjd) really did...so i let it fall to the ground and i proceeded to pretend to try to get it...haha!...gg ended up with it and she was super duper excited...yay for her!...
naturally the next thing would be the garter toss...after the groom took it off the bride he didnt really toss it...i would say shot it like you would a rubber band...haha!...the people were expecting tjd to catch it...but things dont always go the way you expect, do they? nope!...the mayor caught it...then proceeded to run around like a jet after scoring a touchdown...classic!...haha!...so he was tasked with putting the garter on his brother's girlfriend...at the end tjd came over and pushed him outta the way...haha!!!...and with that our tradition portion of the evening had come to an end...
up next was dinner!!!...omg, the food was sooooo good!!!...it was buffet style because the hotel didnt have a big kitchen to prepare individual meals in...but this worked out better because we got to try all of the deliciousness!!!...there were 2 different salads...one with goat cheese, craisins and walnuts and i want to say it had a raspberry vinaigrette dressing...the other had mango and pecans and i dont remember the dressing...both were fab!...the sides were roasted potatoes (the best potato ive ever had!) and grilled veggies...there were 2 different pastas...for the main course there was lobster tail and/or fillet mignon...it was all soooo good!!!...i wish i didnt get so full or else i totally would have gotten another plate full...haha!!!...my mouth is watering thinking about it....mmmmm....
when dinner was done we got the party started!!!...we danced the whole night...everyone was having a ball...they played a bunch of top 40 stuff...once the party got going it didnt slow down...we were having so much fun singing and dancing...but i was secretly hoping for a slow song so i could take a short break...haha!...but no slow songs came...so i kept going...we did the electric slide...the cha cha slide...the ymca...and my fav the cupid shuffle...which i almost missed...gasp, i know!...
let me rewind a bit to tell you the story...the floor of the deck where the reception was held was all ceramic tile...nice and hard...people were drinking out of glass wine glasses and cups and stuff...some people were a little clumsy and dropped their glass...glass shattered all over the place...i was bare foot the whole night....i was doing pretty good avoiding the areas with the broken glass...i think it was the 5th one that got me...yep, that right a small shard of glass right in the heal of my foot...ahhh! boy did that hurt...so i had to hobble down a flight of stairs to the bathroom to try to get it out...i thought i got it all out so i started to head back to the party...it still hurt so i knew it was still in there...i was about to head back to the bathroom but thats when i heard the cupid shuffle playing so instead i ran back upstairs...i refused to miss it...haha!...the rest of the night i stayed off the heal of my foot...it wasnt until much later that night that i was finally able to dig it out...it was really deep in there...not fun...ugh!
anyway...back to the reception...at some point durring the reception all the deserts were brought out...as i said before the cake was so good...it was simple...yellow cake, strawberry filling (i think), and french butter cream...i think the french butter cream is what made the difference...who an i kidding, i love all cake but this one was special because of the french butter cream...it was different that what we would typically have...delish!...there was also a bunch of mini pastries and chocolate covered strawberries...my fav of the mini deserts was the mini lemon marange pie...i dont even want to tell you how many of them i ate...haha!...
sadly the party had to come eventually come to an end...i think the dj played for an extra half hour which was great but he couldnt keep going because of noise violations...boo...so we all had to leave...this is when kv decided he would teach me how to dance...he said its all about switching boxes, dont stay in the same square tile for too long...ya gotta keep switching...haha!...where does he come up with this stuff???...haha!!!
after the party i got changed and eventually wound up on someones deck (i think my parents but it might have been the one next to them)...there was a bunch of people there and we stayed up and chatted for hours after that...tjs told me a great story....i was laughing so hard that i was crying...there were a ton of other great stories too...it was a great was a good way to close the evening... =)
well thats it...thats everything i have to tell you about my sisters wedding on the fabulous island of st maarten...it seemed like everyone had tons and tons of fun the whole time!...i know i did!!!
before i go i want to give some credit for the photos...some are mine...some are little sis's...and some are the photographer's, his name is J. Vallette...he was great!!! = )
and finally...in case you missed them be sure to check out my previous recaps!!!
Vacation Part
