MFW Gets Married Part 2

I left off part 1 of this wedding recap with a missing photographer. I should preface this with another short blurb… Just two days before the wedding, I received an email from said photographer asking where and what time the wedding was!! Oh.My.Gawd. How in the world did we get this far without ever discussing where and when she was supposed to meet us?! I am still in awe of that.

Finally, as I’m trying to get used to the idea of starting the ceremony with no professional photographer (after all, there were a minimum of five cameras between our guests), I happen to glance down the beach to see a girl walking extremely fast, with her camera bag flapping against her side. Whew! Crisis averted!

With everyone finally there, it was time to begin the ceremony. First, I walked back up the beach in order to prepare for my grand entrance.



As I stood at the boardwalk, waiting for the officiant to give me a wave when she was ready, I expected to feel nervous. After all, this was a lifetime committment I was about to make! However, instead of feeling nervous, I stood there with peaceful resolve. I knew that I was making the right decision to marry The Hunk.

When we found out I was pregnant with 'Lil Bit, we made a promise to one another that we would never get married solely for the sake of our child. Instead, we would wait until we were sure that we wanted to get married for no other reason than just to be with each other in the most sacred of unions. I felt that we were doing just that.

After I took a moment to ponder this, I saw the officiant wave. The photographer was already snapping photos of me standing at the boardwalk, and I let her know "This is it. Here we go."



I could hear the traditional Wedding March playing as I walked through the soft floury sand, but as I got closer to where The Hunk was standing, ironically, the music started fading instead of getting louder. I was so focused on looking straight into the eyes of the man I was about to marry, to try to speak with him as intently as possible without saying a word. Finally, I stood before him, placed my bouquet on the ground, and mouthed, "I love you" as we waited for the music to stop.



The ceremony began with a quote from William Shakespeare, "My bounty is as boundless as the sea,my love as deep: the more I give to thee,the more I have, for both are infinite." It was a great way to set the tone of our quaint little wedding.

After asking if we were ready to committ ourselves to one another, we said our vows. Both of us got a very teary-eyed and choked up as we made these promises to each other.



Once our vows were said, we were each given a bottle of sand. The officiant spoke of how our individual lives were now blended together. Our families are joined, our friends are joined, everything. We then poured our bottles into a bigger container, which now sits on our fireplace mantle.

Finally, the officiant pronnounced us husband and wife and family! We sealed it with a kiss. Or two or three. :)



And with that we were husband and wife.

Husband and wife!

The officiant kicked off a lively song while our families congratulated us....and then the CD began skipping. HA! I don't know what it is, but no matter what little slip-ups happen, The Hunk and I can always muster a laugh, although this time it didn't take much mustering at all. It was just damn funny.

Following the ceremony, we got some photos with our family. As we were taking photos, the officant said, "Where's the marriage license? I need to sign it." Guess what genius left the marriage license in the rental car?! Yep, you guessed it. Me. So while The Hunk and went to take our pictures, his family went to the restaurant, and my family went to grab the license and get it signed. Another close one!

Sadly, we didn't get as much time for pictures as I would have liked, but we had dinner reservations to make. I am trying to be patient in waiting to see the final product, but it is so hard! I'm really hoping she can tone down that horrible sunburn I so stupidly got. She did send me this awesome sneak peek!



I am so very thankful that so many of our closest family members and our best friend got to be there to share in our joy. I know it meant a lot for The Hunk's grandmother to get to see one of her grandchildren to get married!

Now for some awesomely funny pictures, MFW style!

I look like a super crazy lady with this giant knife, red eyes, and wild smile!


When trying to get a nice picture with my daughter, she decided to climb up me instead of just cooperating.


As usual, messing up what would have been an otherwise lovely picture:


But I don't always mess up pictures. I love this picture with The Hunk's grandparents. They are such sweet people.


Even with so many near misses, the ceremony and dinner were exactly what we had hoped for - a meaningful celebration of love, family, and downright fun. Oh, and I got to play princess for a day. What girl doesn't like that? ;)

Until next time,
MRS. MFW

MFW Gets Married Part 1

As I sit here on the couch, wearing The Hunk’s red track pants with the rattiest t-shirt I own, I can’t help but feel pretty. My husband has that affect on me, even when he isn’t here.

Husband.

The day The Hunk and I got married started out like any typical Florida vacation day. We woke up, had breakfast with our friend Cool Asian Guy (CAG), and headed to the beach. Perhaps most would feel a little disappointment at the clouds in the sky, but not me. I love the fact that the ocean looks, feels, sounds, and smells different each day.



We spent the next couple of hours collecting sea shells and having an unofficial contest to see who could wade deeper in the water. The water was so chilly that it actually made our muscles cramp up for just a little bit before going numb. It is an extreme case of “getting used to the water.” If you’re wondering who won the “contest,” it was me. I managed to make it until the water hit mid-thigh.





Following the beach, we decided to have lunch at the Old Salty Dog, a small waterfront restaurant featured on Man vs Food. Helga, our less-than-trusty GPS, managed to get us lost on the way there. It was almost 1:30pm by the time we got there. I should mention at this point that we still needed to pick up the cake and drop it off at the restaurant, pick up flowers, make the bouquet, iron The Hunk’s shirt, take showers, and make my appointment at 3pm to have my hair and make-up done. My head started to throb, but I managed to enjoy lunch and not stress out. I knew that no matter what happened, at the end of the day, The Hunk and I would become husband and wife.

Wife.

By the time we finished lunch and made it back to the hotel, the clock read 2:30. I took the fastest shower in history while The Hunk and CAG took the car to get gas, only to have bad luck with Helga yet again, only to end up at an empty gas station. They finally fueled up the car and made it back to drop the car off at 3:05. Yes, at this point I was already late for my hair and makeup appointment. Surprisingly, I wasn’t mad or even stressed. I simply got in the car, started driving, and called the salon. They were running late anyway, so it mattered very little that I was as well.

The stylist and makeup artists worked quickly, all the while commenting on how calm I was considering how late I was running for a 5:30 ceremony. “Eh, it’ll be ok,” I reassured them.

While I was at the salon, the boys went to pick up the cake. Where we live, you can get anywhere by hopping on the highway. In Sarasota, however, there is no easy highway access. It is all city streets. Very busy city streets with lots of congestion and lonnnnng stoplights. It meant that driving to places took twice as long as you thought that it should.

After I finished up at the salon and made my way to my dad’s hotel to put my dress on, I realized that I had never gotten the flowers! WHOOPS! Luckily, there was a Pulix on my way. I parked the car in the back forty and ran into the store with my fancy hair doo and expertly applied makeup while wearing shorts and a tank top. I turned many heads, that’s for sure. The floral department was just inside the door, so I hurried and grabbed three bunches of flowers and made my way to the check on line. Oh, shit! My wallet is in the car!

The woman at the register, who was wearing way too much not-so-great smelling perfume and a look of boredom on her hollow face, was not pleased. I threw the flowers down, asked her to hold them, and ran out to the car. Grabbed wallet, ran back, all the while receiving funny glances from passersby and fellow Publix shoppers.

I finally made it back to the car and on my way to my dad’s hotel at 4:57pm. At that time, my husband called to tell me he wasn’t going to make it to the beach by 5:15. “You’re going to be late for your own wedding?!” I then shut my mouth because I was, too! Still, the officiant and all of The Hunk’s family were just waiting on the beach, totally unsure if they even had the right spot.



When I replay the events that occurred in my dad’s hotel, I can’t help but laugh. My dad’s girlfriend and my sister helped me into my dress, put on my jewelry, positioned hair pins, and tied a bouquet all in the span of about fifteen minutes. We must have looked like a movie stuck on fast-forward!

After I was dressed and ready to go, I stopped and looked at myself in the mirror in silence. I wanted to remember exactly how I felt and looked at that very moment. I do remember, but it’s difficult to think of the right words to describe it. I think the best way to describe it at this point is to say that I felt that I finally looked as beautiful as The Hunk makes me feel every day. I finally saw myself how he sees me. Cheesy? Yes. But true.

We finally made it to the beach right at 5:30, when the ceremony was supposed to start. The Hunk and I reunited, each just beaming with excitement. Of course, 'Lil Bit, who had been staying with her grandparents was also excited to see us.



Now, everyone was there and ready to get the party started! ...Everyone except the photographer...

stay tuned....

Until next time,
MFW