Our Wedding Day and Honeymoon Recap Alrightly, I'm back, and this is going to be long with lots of pictures! Buckle up! The wedding activities really started with the day before the wedding with decorating the hall. It took us about 2 and a half hours and when we were done I had to fight back the tears because I loved how it looked. We headed back to our apartments community room where we had the rehearsal dinner and went over the plan for the next day. We catered in Jimmy Johns and it was very laid back and relaxed and not a big fuss. It went very well. Brandon and I said our goodnights to each other and I headed to the hotel with the girls and he stayed at the apartment. The wedding day couldnt have been more perfect. The girls and I woke up around 7:30 and the first bridesmaid started getting her hair done at 8am. Makeup started at 9. Both the makeup artist and the hair dresser came to us at the hotel and it made the whole morning run smoothly. I went last and was done right according to schedule at 12:15. The photographer arrived at 12:30 and thats when I got fully dressed, the girls were already in their dresses. At 1:00 Brandon was led to the hotel lobby with one of the photographers and I was sent down to see him. The expression on his face was so wonderful and he looked amazing as well! I cried when we first saw each other, and caught a little welling of the tears in his eyes as well. After spending about 10 minutes just staring at each other and gushing over each other we got into the limo with the rest of the bridal party and headed to my grandparents apartment complex where they have a VERY nice lobby and community area for pictures. The flower girls and ring bearer joined us there and stole the show! Although one of my flower girls was just in awe over me and didnt want to leave my side for the rest of the night. Getting the pictures taken was a blast! Everyone was laughing and having a great time. We then all pilled back into the limo and the girls were dropped off at the hotel and the guys continued onto the hall. Once the limo came back we got in with the flower girls and ring bearer (who were SOOO excited about the limo ride!) and headed to the hall. I was rushed in and hidden behind a screen where we waiting for the ceremony to start. Right before we were about to start one of the flower girls came up to me bouncing and saying, ShanaI have to go potty!!! Hehe, delayed the ceremony by about 5 minutes but its a story Ill be telling her when shes older! The kids did do a great job despite their age, they did run about half way down the aisle before realizing they were supposed to be going slow and then the girls started dropping their petals. The rest of the ceremony went really quick and it was so beautiful and touching. There werent many dry eyes left after we read our personal vows to each other. Before dinner we did the speeches and my Maid of Honor gave another moving speech that had others crying, myself included! The best man also gave an equally moving speech. Brandon and I each gave a brief speech and then my dad took the mic and said a few words to everyone as well. Our reverend gave a prayer and then we ate! The food was AMAZING! We didnt do a traditional chicken meal, instead we opted to do beef barbacoa (shredded spicy Mexican beef for tacos), Mexican rice, beans, salad, corn, and tortilla shells with all the fixings. Everyone loved it! Our cake (beautiful) that we had later was also highly praised and we did get a chance to taste it as well. After dinner Brandon and I took off in my parents car for about a half an hour to just reflect on our wedding so far. I highly recommend doing that to get a chance to be with just your new spouse for 30 minutes to regroup your thoughts. It was one of my favorite parts of the night just driving around with him. When we got back many more guests had arrived and we did our grand entrance. We went right into our first dance which was Whatever it Takes by Kellie Coffey. We wanted to have a little more fun with the wedding party dance so we did that to Friends in Low Places by Garth Brooks and we all hammed it up a little. Brandon and his mom then danced to Faith Hills There Youll Be. Then came the part of the night that our guests will be talking about for a long time and hopefully Ill have on YouTube sooner or later once I get the video back; the father daughter dance. We started out with Unforgettable and then transitioned into a shortened version of the Evolution of Dance. My dad and I had a blast with it and only the DJ and my brother knew about it. Brandon and my Mom were laughing so hard and everyone keeps telling us how much fun that was. We were both a little nervous when we started in front of 200+ people to do that dance but once it got going it was a blast! We took a bow at the end and got a loud applause from our crowd. One more surprise for the guests later in the night with the garter toss, our best man was hiding under the DJs table and I was sitting right next to it. He kept handing Brandon different items (toothpaste, phonebook, water bottle, and the best things, handcuffs!) that Brandon kept throwing out from under my dress. The handcuffs of course got a loud cheer. Then he finally went for the garter. Our guests stayed on the dance floor until the final song, which was at 11:45 and went made it back to the hotel room exhausted and VERY happy with how the day went. As far as I know not a single thing went wrong. The next morning Brandon and I left for our honeymoon after having breakfast with those at the hotel at 9:30. I also surprised Brandon by cutting off about 8 inches of my hair that morning since both of us didnt like my long hairI feel sooo much better now with short hair! Our honeymoon was nothing short of amazing either! It was Brandons first flight and while he was very nervous before, he was loving it once we were in the air. I got him a window seat and he was glued to that window in awe of everything. Once we got to Fort Lauderdale in FL we went directly to our hotel, got something quick to eat and crashed for the night. The next morning we got up and got on the shuttle to our cruise ship. We met another couple on the shuttle from our hotel, who we found out later were only 3 rooms down from us and also our table for dinner! What are the odds of that happening?!? The ship had over 3100 passengers on it and with the crew there were about 4400 people on board. Brandons first time seeing the ocean was great, and I got it on video as well. The cruise ship had both of us speechless as well. There were about 14 bars, 5 restaurants, a full casino, an ice skating rink, a movie theatre, a stage theatre, 3 story dining room, multiple stores, 3 pools (one adult only), 7 hot tubs, fitness center, full service spa, mini golf course, rock climbing wall, full basketball court, and more; the ship did have 15 floors! The food was amazing and we both gained just over 5lbs in our 5 day cruise! (yikes!) Drinks were strong, but expensive since they werent included in the cruise price. And our excursions in Cozumel, Mexico and Belize City, Belize were amazing. Brandon is still talking about the saltiness of the ocean after snorkeling for the first time in his life in Cozumel. We also did a mini-jeep tour there along with climbing a lighthouse, seeing Mayan ruins, and crocodiles. In Belize we went into the rainforest and did a zip line expedition and then went cave tubing, which was like a lazy river through caves; that was pretty cool as well. We got back from our honeymoon on Saturday night and Sunday did the gift opening with our parents. Now we just have to write all the thank you cards and I have to go about changing my name once we get the certified copy of our marriage license back. Everything about both the wedding and the honeymoon was amazing and Im so proud to be married to my husband and am even more in love with him after the past couple weeks. I cant wait to grow old with him and see what our lives will bring us. We are already planning to go on another cruise for our 5th anniversary, a longer one, and if we have kidsthey are staying at home with my parents! Ive got a few pictures from my mom from the day before the wedding when we decorated and a few from the photo session and Ill throw in a couple from the honeymoon as well. Enjoy!!!
Totally fabulous!!! Shana, I am so happy for you, and thanks for sharing the pictures. Going back now to read the text ... ... Just wanted to be first with the reply ... fingers crossed now ... Edited to add. All sounds fab. Brandon looks a lot my Brother In Law ... I bet he's got a lovely sense of humour ... I can see it in his eyes. Oh, and I think your hair looks nice and choochie like that. Did you really cut it yourself? :wow:
Thanks Mirelly! And Brandon does have a big sense of humour, he keeps me laughing all the time. You should see the video from the honeymoon, he keeps coming up with quick witted sayings that has me giggling all over the place and keeps everyone who has watched it so far laughing. And I didn't cut my hair myself...I wish I was that talented! Actually one of my co-worker's girlfriend came to the hotel Sunday morning after the wedding and cut it for me in the maid of honor's hotel room to keep it a secret from Brandon. I like my hair so much better shorter! I think it flatters my face more than the long hair and it's so much easier to take care of.
Sounds like an amazing honeymoon, Shana! You looked so happy at the wedding, dancing with your new husband! You really make a cute couple!
Not really. I just wanted to see where Sach was during all the excitement. I figured she'd might have taken a picture with Shana
Oh it all looks so lovely Shana! Everything is so beautiful and you all look so happy. I wish I could have been there to see it myself! It sounds and looks like a blast! I have to say that you and Brandon have the nicest smiles. You both smile with your eyes and your faces light up. It makes me smile too. And is picture 15 of inside the cruise ship?? Those big ships just took my breath away!
Thanks Muffin! The photographer tried to get us to do a serious picture and I wasn't able to stop smiling, glad to hear it conveys in our faces! And yes, both pictures 14 and 15 are inside the ship. Picture 14 is on the main promenade on deck 5 where all the shops and several of the bars are. Picture 15 is in one of the glass elevators, probably around deck 10 or 11, looking down. There were 15 decks total on our ship...it was HUGE!
Shana you look absolutely gorgeous!! I'm so glad the day went well for you!! The pics of the honeymoon look awesome and I'm so jealous we haven't had ours yet. It sounds like you had a fabulous time all around. There's nothing like a well planned day going well.
Thanks Allie!!! When is your honeymoon! I bet you're anxious!! It was a great day, everything went perfectly to plan! I couldn't have asked for it to go more smoothly!
We leave on the 24th of March - Easter Monday. We're in Sydbey for 2 days, then cruising the South Pacific. So looking forward to it!! Only 33 more sleeps!!
Omg, Shana. I just spent about a zillion hours waiting for all those pictures to load on my (YES, I'M STILL ON IT!!) dial up.. and it was more than worth it. I'm so glad you had such an amazing day.. and I'm sorry I was absent from WS at the time. Congratulations to you both, and good luck (not that you'll need it!) in married life. xxx
