So I left Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago, wedding decorations in hand with some nerves about everything getting finished in time for our big day. Despite all those stresses we had the most amazing wedding day that I could have asked for. The whole weekend was pretty awesome and we had an incredible time getting to share the experience with all our closest friends and family. First off: to everyone that traveled from near and far to be with Keith and I that weekend... you're the best and it wouldn't have been the same without you! To those who couldn't make it, you were definitely missed, but we appreciate all of your kind comments and well wishes. We both feel so incredibly blessed by the outpouring of love from our friends and family this past week and we hope you all know that you all know that we couldn't be more thankful for all your support. I don't think I would have made it through the pre-wedding week without everyones kind words haha.
Here is what my week looked leading up to August 14th: Sunday afternoon I arrived in Boca and immediately got started on last minute wedding projects. My mom and I put our game faces on and crossed things off the list like pros. I got a chance to sneak away in the evening and say hey to Katelyn and Kirby who had driven from DC that day (and wish Kate a happy 22nd with a couple of beers) which was MUCH needed after feeling pretty overwhelmed by wedding tasks and lots of opinions. Monday I had some more things to get done but I was able to get away to have lunch with some of my long lost Boca Dance Studio friends. It was such a relaxing part of my week to get out of the house and have a chance to catch up with people I hadn't seen in years. Afterwards I met with a friend who was helping me with flowers and then I met up with an awesome group of girls to have dinner with Kate Smith at Chilis for her birthday. Afterwards we met up with a bunch of friends at the pub which was another much needed excursion. Tuesday was a day of fun minus any and all stresses compliments of my maid of honor Andi G! Andi, Kate, Kirby and I made the trek to Riviera Beach to ride the Rapids at a local water park (conveniently named the Rapids haha). Despite being rainy and overcast all day we had SUCH a blast and made it home with minimal sun burns thankfully. We each went home and showered away the ridiculous amounts of chlorine in our hair and then met up again with Katelyn's mother and sister for dinner at a local favorite, Rocco's Tacos. After dinner we picked up Robert and headed down to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up my then fiance from the airport. I was pretty excited to see him haha as was everyone else in the car. Wednesday was all business and left me a little bit on edge. We started by getting up super super early to go to the courthouse and get a marriage license (which turned out to be the easiest part of the day haha) then I went with my mother and grandmother to pick up my dress, get some plastic champagne glasses at Restaurant Depot; Keith made a Home Depot trip with my dad and then we took a breather and had Moe's for lunch. Afterwards my mom, Keith and I went to Whole Foods to order all the wedding flowers because all the plans we had made with a wholesale florist fell through (enter: crisis mode). After lots of deliberation over colors and kinds of flowers, a slight meltdown on my part when the flower lady tried to convince me I wanted roses, all was well and we made out with spending half of what we were going to with the wholesaler. Then came more errands and saying quick hellos to family who had got into town, the night finally ended with dinner at City Oyster with my new in-laws, Tami and Joe and more than a few glasses of wine haha. Thursday was a much simpler day. I vowed that Wednesday's stresses would not stand in the way of any fun that I wanted to have and once I finished a couple of last minute projects it was all up hill for me! More friends and family got to town, and once 5pm hit bachelor/bachelorette festivities got into full swing. My girls and I had SUCHHH a blast that night haha we started with some margaritas at the house, a lingerie shower with lots of goodies, dinner at Uncle Julios complete with more awesome margaritas and then lots and lots of dancing at one of our favorite clubs.
The boys.... let's just say that when I woke up on Friday morning I couldn't find Keith, and couldn't find anyone else that knew where he was haha. They started their night with dinner at City Oyster and ended it with a karaoke marathon at a random dive bar. Lots and lots of videos were taken and they spent Friday raving about what an awesome time they had. Friday was rehearsal day and started with hangover breakfast at my parents place which was an awesome way to recap stories from our Thursday night adventures. Keith and I were able to have lunch with our friend Dane who married us and his wife to discuss the ceremony since they were going to be running the show at the rehearsal Friday night. The rehearsal went SOO well. Deb (Dane's wife) gave everyone all of the information they needed to get things done at the wedding and thought of all the things I had forgotten. We would have been so screwed without her haha. She made getting in and out that evening such a breeze. Keith and I were also able to go over locations with our photographer so that we knew exactly where things needed to be set up on Saturday. Then! It was time to party back at my parents house. Our rehearsal dinner was seriously the coolest ever. Instead of going to a stuffy restaurant or renting out a hall, we just had everyone back to my parents place for a pool party/luau catered by Moes. We had such a great night just catching up with everyone that was in town, seeing family and friends that we hadn't seen in a long time and just enjoying having so many people we love in one place. Granted... we had to set a time limit for ourselves so that we could pack everything for our honeymoon and make sure everything was ready to be transported to the wedding in the morning... but we were still able to having some good times Friday night.
And that terribly long winded story leads us to.... our amazing wedding day :) Keith and I, with the help of family and our bridal party arrived at the library at 9am to meet the rental company and begin setting up for our 4:30 ceremony. Everything went so flawlessly that day and any time we reached a bump in the road (like forgetting to order napkins? haha) there was always someone who stepped up and went above and beyond to make everything work. All the bouquets and table arrangements got made, all the tables got set and centerpieces put together, all the ceremony decorations and the alter were hung and by 11:30 we were able to send everyone home to shower and get ready for the day to come. I had a nice afternoon getting my makeup and hair done (even though my hair took a little longer than planned) and made it back to the library with some time to take pictures with my girls beforehand and then before I knew it was was walking down the aisle with my dad smiling the biggest smile of my life. Our ceremony was such a blur was happy emotions that it's hard to describe in words. Yes it was very very veryyyyy hot outside, so thank you for bearing with us and putting our program fans to good use haha. Picture taking after the ceremony got a little hectic, but thankfully some clouds rolled in to bring the temperature down a few degrees. Our photographer and friend Chris did SUCH an awesome job the whole weekend. He was there to capture everything with no complaints and I cannot wait to see the finished product. Our reception was of course a blast with only very minor glitches, like the subpar lighting and the food taking a little while to be ready... regardless I personally had SO much fun and hope everyone else did too. Our BFF Robert did a very impressive job with the DJing and was very patient with the mobs of people rushing his table to request things from him haha. It was all a little bit surreal I would have to say... to see all of the months of planning I put in finally come to an end, and have my friends and family compliment my hard work. I can definitely say that it was the most memorable and happiest day of my life. All the worries and stress were just silly and no matter how many things went wrong I still go to marry my best friend in the whole world :)
(Photos are compliments of Keith's mom Tami, our friend Isaac, Cheryl and Amanda)
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