Wedding Day Morning

Waking up on your wedding day is pretty surreal. I was overwhelmed with every emotion imaginable. Everything I did seemed to be significant in some way. Even when I got out of bed and started looking around for a mimosa.

My mom, my sisters and I headed down the boardwalk in search of coffee and breakfast even though I wasn't hungry at all. The sky was majorly overcast but I forced myself to remain calm. Beach weather is always unpredictable and we had hours before the ceremony was supposed to start. We got back to the hotel with coffee in hand and things started happening quickly.

I showered, put on my white Bride robe and sat down to get beautified, orange juice and champagne in hand. Some of my girls stopped in while I was getting ready to chat and have a drink, which helped calm my nerves. The photog and videographer arrived and started doing their thing. I tried to tune them out as much as possible and STAY IN THE MOMENT, but it's weird having people constantly taking pictures and video of you during one of the most exciting and emotional days of your life.

Once hair and makeup were done, Geoff's brother Greg (the best man) stopped by to drop off a gift from Geoff.

Funny tidbit: One night we were out drinking before the big day and I drunkenly asked him what he was buying me for our wedding day. "I have to buy you something?" "Well, no, but I got you something." "Okay, what do you want?" "I want the Kate Spade necklace. You know, the Mrs. necklace."

Source

So that's what he bought me. I didn't even pretend to act surprised when I opened it but it was still very sweet and emotional.

 

Then it was time for a shot, which was disgusting, and finally putting on my wedding gown. Eeeek!

Next up: The Wedding Dress and Final Touches

Girls Night Out

Before I get to all the juicy wedding details, I've gotta talk about my bachelorette party. Obviously.

I think it's great that some girls do "bachelorette weekends" and head for the beach or Vegas or Florida with their friends. That's just not me, though. I couldn't imagine asking my girls to shell out hundreds of bucks for a bachelorette party, essentially. I honestly just wanted a great night out with my friends - no need to drain anyone's bank account for little ole' me.

We started at my friend Maureen's house where my girls had decorated, made sangria, and laid out a spread of amazing food. I'm in the middle of drinking my champs when I hear a ruckus at the front door. In walks my future mother-in-law and a whole slew of aunts and Geoff's grandmother carrying buckets of shots and HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE PENISES. As in, my future husband's grandmother made me chocolate penises for my bachelorette party. Whaaaa. Thankfully they only stayed for a little while - I did not want to drunkenly embarrass myself in front of them.



I'm classy.

Next up: Houlihan's Restaurant.

A little backstory: I met Geoff at Houlihan's (or Houli's, as employees tend to call it). He was a manager and I started out as a hostess (eventually served, bartended, and become a trainer). The story of how we got together deserves a post all it's own, but Houlihan's has quite the track record among our circle of friends. To date, one Houli's couple is married with a little one on the way. Three Houli's couples are getting married this fall. Another Houli's couple is getting married in March. And I'm only counting our friends! The restaurant business is a funny thing.

ANYWAY. It was only fitting that we hit up Houlihan's as a nod to Geoff and my relationship. I had a drink the size of my head and a few shots.

   

Next up, a bar down the street from Houli's called Top Dog. Our group took this espresso vodka shot...

 

...and one of my bestie's threw up. Right there in the bar. On some girls sitting next to us. And walked calmly away. *ahemAmy*

I got pulled onstage by the band which was great. Then I lost my balance and fell down, which was awesome. Apparently it looked like I "just decided to sit down. On stage." I imagine it looked a little something like this:

The usual drunken dancing and shenanigans ensued. Love my girls. :)

One of my very favorite photos from the night.

Things got very hazy after that. We MAY have been asked to leave. Womp womp.

Back at Maureen's house we continued with the debauchery and of course, had an *NSYNC dance party. I actually have video of this but there's no way in hell I'm putting that on the interwebz. I've got a reputation to maintain. :)

I had an amazing night with my favorite girls. Couldn't have asked for a better bachelorette party!

Next week on Wedding Wednesday: The Morning of Our Wedding!

Wedding Wednesday - Bridal Meltdown

I was not a bridezilla in the least. I mean, sure, I had my moments of frustration and annoyance, but that's normal. Weddings are freaking stressful and they tend to bring out the crazy in people you wouldn't expect. You're talking money and people's feelings and "doing what's right," not necessarily what YOU WANT TO DO. I picked my battles; I lost some, I won some. And our wedding turned out pretty amazing.

Well, except for what I refer to as My Bridal Meltdown. It was a doozy.

We got married in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Close to 200 people traveled several hours to attend our wedding. The immediate families got to Rehoboth on Thursday to begin our "wedding weekend." Everything was great - we hung out on the beach, relaxed and went out drinking in Dewey (the next beach down from Rehoboth and also where we stayed Thursday night).

Grapefruit Crush - Dewey Beach staple. Best summer drink ever.

 One of my favorite photos of us. It's my iPhone background. ;)

Friday we were supposed to check into our hotel but they kept pushing our check-in time back. Rehearsal and dinner was supposed to start late afternoon, so I said SCREW IT and decided to get ready at our beach house in Dewey. Then we got a call that our room was ready, so we rushed to the hotel so I could get showered and dressed.

Big effing mistake.

Somehow, I ended up in my hotel room with no hairdryer, no curling iron, no hair products, no makeup, no rehearsal dinner dress and no family members. No one was answering their cell phones. I took multiple trips up and down the elevator, evading our wedding guests, to find that my mom's car was locked with all my stuff inside and she was nowhere to be found. (Thanks a lot, Mom.)

I don't know, man. Something in me snapped. I had a meeting with our wedding coordinator to finalize details, then rehearsal and dinner immediately after. I would have no time to get cute and I was PISSED. I cried. I paced the hallways of the hotel, ducking down a stairwell when I saw some of our wedding guests. I seethed and smoked a cigarette and was generally acting like a big baby. 

Finally, I showered and went to the meeting with wet hair. I entered our venue (which was on the top floor of our hotel) to find our coordinator talking to some of her male staff. 

Coordinator : Hi there, bride. How's it going?
Me: I'm about to have a meltdown. *scary face*

I've never seen two dudes hightail it out of a room so fast. She managed to calm me down, saying she had all kinds of beauty products tucked away nearby. Our meeting lasted five minutes and I hauled ass back to my room. Thankfully my mom had magically appeared with all my shit. My sister made me take some yoga breaths. Then I got ready and that's it. That was my bridal meltdown.

It may not seem like this was a huge deal. But mere minutes away from the beginning of wedding festivities and I couldn't get ready? It seemed like the end of the world but it clearly wasn't. As my sister said, "You're the bride. Everyone will wait for you." (Although what asshole bride makes people wait for her? Really.) We met everyone in the lobby so our marriage license could be signed by the best man and maid of honor. Geoff appeared with a glass of pinot noir, which our wedding coordinator had sent down to "calm my nerves." Thank yoooou, delicious wine. 

Rehearsal went great, although I'd be lying if I said I wasn't still a little on edge. (Oh and the groomsmen were all drunk, which definitely helped my mood. What a bunch of yahoos.) We walked down the boardwalk to the Stoney Lonen for our rehearsal dinner, which was laidback and fun, just like we wanted it.

My uncle and I.

Me and my mamadukes.

 

Best moment of the dinner: my sister (and matron-of-honor) told us she had a very sentimental gift for us. And then proceeded to hand me a minature wagon full of sex toys. Hilarious and also embarrassing. I mean, my grandmother was sitting RIGHT THERE.

After dinner, we met up with some friends at a local bar and had a few drinks before heading back to the hotel. It felt amazing to let loose a little and have some fun before the next day's shenanigans.

So our one-year anniversary (8/18) is coming up fast. I find that I'm having trouble remembering certain details from our wedding weekend, which is why I'm blogging about them here. It was the most exciting and fun weekend of my life. I mean, all your family and friends in one place, celebrating and supporting your relationship? If I could go back and do it all over again, I totally would. Plus it would give me another excuse to wear my wedding dress. ;)