The Wedding

You know all those horror stories about weddings gone awry? Couples freaking out because the wrong flowers arrived, a guest is causing issues, the speakers sound weird, whatevs.

Yeah, our wedding wasn't like that. And this is coming from the most hypercritical human being on the planet. I can say, without doubt, that our wedding ceremony. was. awesome.

As soon as I rounded the corner by the lobby and started walking down to the beach, I could hear the pre-wedding jams Al and I had picked out: Regina Spektor's "Us" (also the background on the welcome DVDs distributed to our guests days before!), Elton John's "Your Song", Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes", The Spill Canvas' "All Over You", The Temper Trap's "Fader", U2's "City of Blinding Lights", Mumford & Sons' "Little Lion Man", and Kings of Leon's "Sex On Fire". Of course, each song was tied to special memories and moments of ours and I could feel myself getting so excited! (As if I wasn't already...this was just a whole new level of excitement! I thought my heart was going to beat out of my chest!)

I knew I was going to cry-perhaps a few, kinda cute glistening tears when Al recited his vows, or when I looked deeply into the eyes of my companion for life-but my eyes started leaking way before I even got down to the beach. Remember that picture I took outside of the lobby upon our arrival in Mexico? I was way up there and already crying. Yikes. I took a few deep breaths and my mom, Kim, Becky and Katy told me jokes to keep me from blubbering. (They did a good job, but it didn't help with the crying!)

My bridesmaids (first Kim, then Becky, then Katy) lined up and started walking down the aisle to the song we Al and I had chosen: Marie Digby's version of "Umbrella".

Then, the music changed, my mom squeezed my hand, said something really sweet I can't remember and we started walking. As Obadiah Parker's version of "Hey Ya" played, my mom and I cracked jokes down the aisle. She kissed me on the cheek and then I was up there ready to go!

First of all, Al looked amazing! His suit fit perfectly, and he looked so terribly handsome. I will always remember how he looked that day, and not just from the pictures. I was so proud that he was the man that I was getting to marry!

The officiant said a few words and began the ceremony. Of course, there were words spoken about what love means and the 1 Corinthians reading I said I never wanted read at my wedding. ;) It was all just perfect, though. Al and I held hands and listened while he spoke, and then it was time for our own vows! 

Al went first, then me, and we both opened up and said how much we loved each other and how we couldn't wait to spend our lives together. Al made it all the way through without crying (though I swear his voice cracked a bit at the end) and I began weeping (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration) a few sentences in. This was our effect on people:

That, people, is called success. ;) Even some of the male guests admitted to shedding a few tears. All in a day's work!

We then exchanged rings, a tropical storm hit, we kissed and we were married! Wait, what? Yep, you read that right, my friends: Tropical Storm Arlene, an unexpected guest, if you will. I have to admit though, it was pretty romantic to kiss my husband for the first time as a symbolically married couple in the rain. 

Luckily, it subsided pretty quickly after we headed up to the outdoor bar for a wedding toast. On our way up to the bar, we were even getting congratulation hollers and rounds of applause from other guests at the resort!

There were lots of hugs and congratulations all around! What a beautiful way to begin the celebrations!