Our Wedding.

June 24, 2017. Our wedding.

On this day the wedding of our dreams became a reality. It was perfect.

When Adam proposed to me on April 2, 2016, we decided that we wanted a destination wedding. We went back and forth between Hawaii, St. Martin, Mexico, or anywhere in the Caribbean. After a month of research, we decided on a location: Tulum, Mexico; venue:  Dreams Tulum Resort & Spa. This decision led us to our perfect day!

The Venue.

Dreams Tulum Resort & Spa is located approximately 5 kilometers north of Tulum’s city center. It is an all inclusive resort with much to offer. The grounds are immaculate! Literally, the most beautiful resort I have ever seen. From the moment we arrived we were treated like royalty. The staff was so kind and attentive.

The true rockstar though, our wedding planner, Nayeli!  She was my guardian angel during the entire wedding planning process. She was prompt with email replies for the entire year leading up to the wedding and made me feel at ease. She is so kind, organized, and a genuinely nice person–what more could you ask for in a wedding planner?! Once we met with Nayeli on Monday, 5 days prior to our wedding date, everything was in place and ready to rock n’ roll, just as we had hoped!

The Wedding Week.

Adam, Dustin (my younger brother), and I headed south to Mexico on Sunday June 18th. My parents met us in Mexico on Monday, and the five of us spent the next few days in Playa Del Carmen! We had an airbnb rental that was right on the beach, and a 2 minute walk to 5th Avenue. 

On Wednesday is when the real party started. We packed up and headed south to Tulum! The majority of our 50 wedding guests were arriving on Wednesday…which only meant one thing, Wednesday night was likely to be a s**t show. We met two of our friends for lunch and the drinking and good times began! Shortly after, we met in the lobby and waited for the rest of our family and friends to arrive. One by one they strolled in, and with each arrival the noise decibel increased…significantly!   

The best part of our wedding week were our guests. Honestly, we had the funniest, loudest, best crew! It was so great that we were able to spend a full 3 days with everyone prior to the wedding! I truly think this improved our wedding. So, shout out to all of our wedding guests- you da best! Thank you for coming and celebrating!!

Okay, back to Wednesday. After we were all settled into our rooms, we met at The Sugar Reef Bar. We made more introductions and consumed more cocktails! We all the went and had a nice Italian dinner at Portofino. And after, the party continued!

Thursday morning the group who so desired, went to the Tulum Ruins! Wow, what a sight! The ruins were much larger that we expected, and the situated right on the coast. It was beautiful!

Thursday night, my sister in law, Jonna, threw me a surprise bridal shower with my mom, mother in law, and all the girls! It was such a sweet and much appreciated gesture!

After the bridal shower, we gathered the guys, and headed into Tulum! We went to Batey Mojito Bar. This is a MUST if you are in Tulum! The mojitos were fantastic. Cane sugar was being ground fresh directly in front of the bar out of an old VW Bug converted to do the job.  Another fun, crazy, drunken night in the books! The town of Tulum is so cute and eclectic–next time we will spend more time exploring there!

Friday morning Adam and I enjoyed a couples massage at the spa at Dreams. It was heavenly, and much needed! Who knew a wedding could be stressful? (Joke.) After our massage we headed out to Cenotes Dos Ojos. For those who are unaware, a cenote is an underground cave or cavern, and in the Yucatán Peninsula, they are filled with fresh water. What a fun day spent with our friends and family snorkeling in the freezing water!

Friday night, with the help of our wedding planner, Nayeli, we coordinated a dinner with all of our family and friends who were staying at Dreams. We were able to spend quality time with everyone, eat delicious food, indulge in cocktails, and relax prior to our big day!

The Wedding Day.

Pre-Wedding.

Adam and I woke up Saturday morning, spent quality time together, had breakfast, and relaxed prior to my spa appointment. This was such a special time for us. We did not want to get caught up in the stress of a wedding. We wanted to be sure that we were relaxed and focused on each other. Mission accomplished! 

As I headed off to meet my mom and mother-in-law at the spa for our hair and make up appointment, Adam headed to the pool to relax- oh, and write his wedding vows! (He is not a procrastinator or anything!) The lady in the spa who did my hair and makeup was the sweetest, and she did such a wonderful job! Even with the language barrier she was able to give me the perfect look I was dreaming of!

Momma- Thank you for keeping me calm throughout the day 😉

Remember how I mentioned the staff at Dreams was phenomenal? The spa staff had a golf cart waiting for me to drive me back to our room. That is great customer service!

When I returned to our room, my handsome husband-to-be was finishing up getting ready. I could have cried right then, this perfect man in front of me was about to be my husband! My heart was so full.

After I assisted Adam with perfecting his bow tie, he poured me a glass of champagne and headed off to the pool side bar, where all our guests were meeting.

      

My Handsome Groom!

Once Adam was out of site, my parents showed up to our room, and we started to get me ready!

Side note:  Having both of my parents there with me in the moments prior to getting married was SO special. My biggest supporters were by my side in true fashion, making sure everything was a perfect as it could be. And let me say, my dad, who is the rock of our family, was having a very hard time. He had tears in his eyes every time he looked at me, which made it almost impossible for me not to burst into tears!

Our photographer, Teo, showed up to the room, and we instantly connected. He was so professional and I felt at complete ease.  Teo and my dad stepped into the hallway while my mom helped me get into my wedding gown. (So many emotions were running through my head; I was excited, nervous, and above all, head over heels in love with Adam, which is really all that matters!) Once my wedding gown was on, Teo captured pictures of me and then pictures with my mom and dad. I was focused on making my dad laugh so I didn’t cry ;)! Those pictures turned out so beautiful, and I will cherish those memories for the rest of my life.

The Ceremony.

Nayeli then came knocking, and it was show time! She led my parents and me to a shaded area near the ceremony location. My mom went with her, and my dad and I were able to watch our guests be seated! Now, this is when my nerves and tears started to come. But I kept calm, hung out with my dad, and waited patiently!

While the guests were being seated, we played acoustic and reggae beach music. We wanted our beach wedding to be as relaxed as possible. We even encouraged our guests to have a cocktail with them- to keep hydrated of course.

“One look at you; my whole life falls in line.”

We chose the song, “I get to love you” by Ruelle for me to walk down the isle. It is truly a beautiful song. Once I heard the music and those lyrics, a wave of emotion rolled over me. Luckily my dad noticed this, said “You’re okay” complete with a smile and squeeze of my hand. At that moment nothing else mattered. I was walking with my dad to meet the man of my dreams!

Our Wedding Ceremony location- what a dream!!

Walking down the isle, I lit up when I saw Adam! I also snuck some glances at our guests- how loved and lucky were we that all these people came to our wedding!?

Our wedding was special in the fact that the judge spoke Spanish to us and Nayeli translated into English. I actually found this to be extra special and cultural since we were getting married in Mexico!

Adam and I asked my brother, Dustin, to say a few words at the ceremony. He nailed it! He read from 1 Corinthians and then spoke heartfelt words to the both of us. 

We then read our vows to each other. I went first, and read my vows to Adam, promising to always love him. Adam went next, and his vows made my heart swell. During his vows all I could think was “How did I get so lucky in love?”.

After our vows, we went through the reading with the judge. When she asked if Adam took me to be his wife, he replied with, “Si”, which made everyone laugh! He’s funny.

We then signed our marriage certificate and even had to place our thumb prints on the certificate with ink!

Once the formalities were complete, we exchanged our rings! And then we finally heard, “Adam, you can kiss your bride!” And that is exactly what he did!

We then walked out to “Marry You” by Bruno Mars! Our ceremony was truly perfect!

After the ceremony, Teo was able to get a large group picture of us with all of our guests. Our guests were then escorted to the cocktail reception on the other side of the beach, and Adam and I took our pictures! Adam is not a huge fan of pictures, but Teo did a great job getting him to relax and captured some absolutely amazing photos!

Cocktail Hour.

We then joined all of our guests at cocktail hour! We had a Mexican Trio playing during cocktail hour, and they were great! Our signature drink was a mojito, but the open bar was available to make anything our guests desired! The hor d’oeuvres were delicious; they served ceviche in a puffed pastry and baked apple rings with goat cheese on top. So good.

The Reception.

The reception was about to get started, and Adam and I walked in to “Hooked on a Feeling” by Blue Swede! So fun! We sat down at our sweetheart table, able to see all of our guests and the toasts began.

My dad spoke first, and man, did he do an amazing job. His speech was heartfelt, a tear jerker, and full of love and joy! He captured the attention and hearts of most, if not all of our guests. Shout out- I love you, Daddy!

Next, Adam’s mom, Kathy, spoke. She was so sweet, kind, and loving with her speech. I am truly lucky to be a part of Adam’s family! I was for sure blessed with a great mother-in-law!

Dinner was then served! Bon appetite! I honestly do not even remember what I ate, but what I do know is it was delicious!

While our guests were eating, music was playing, and Adam and I started to get the party started! We started off in the photo booth we rented! The photo booth was honestly the hit of the night! Complete with props and printed photos for our guests! Best part? We were given a USB thumb drive with all of the photos! What great (and some disturbing) memories that were captured!

We then moved onto the cake cutting! We had a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. Heaven in my mouth. We were cute and nice to each other with the cake cutting! No cake smashed in either of our faces- thank goodness!

Our first dance. “At Last” by Etta James played, and we danced. What a magical moment, it was as if were were all alone, dancing on the beach. Ah- I am wishing I could relive this moment as I am writing this!

The father-daughter dance. “I Love Her First” by Heartland. This song is so special to me and my dad. Every time it plays, I cry happy tears! I will forever cherish this moment, and am so thankful for my relationship with my dad.

The mother-son dance. “Forever young” by Rod Stewart. Kathy and Adam have such a special bond. The first time I saw Adam with his mom, it made my heart melt. Yes, he is a momma’s boy, but he has SO much love and respect for her! That is exactly the type of man I wanted to marry- jackpot!

After the three dances were complete, we got the party started with “Jump Around” by House of Pain! With in seconds we had most of our guests out on the dance floor dancing, jumping, and singing! For three hours we drank, danced, and took full advantage of the photo booth! The DJ was great, he played music that kept the party going! We were highly impressed. The wait staff was wonderful! They took such great care of Adam and I, as well as the wedding guests! They kept bringing us drinks, water, and were even serving shots on the dance floor!

Our wedding was perfect, for us. It was everything we dreamed of, and more! While my lovely husband was slightly inebriated after our wedding, he kept saying, “Let’s do this again tomorrow! This was the best night ever!” God, I sure do love this man.

Thank you, to my parents who made our wedding everything we could dream of and more, and to our guests who came to Tulum to celebrate with us! We love you all!!