Saturday July 19th - wedding day

7am hair stylist arrives. ouch.

9am makeup girl arrives. still seems early.

throughout the day, merediths parents are in and out bringing food and anything we could possibly need. steve - merediths dad - was proudly wearing his 'father of the bride' tshirt all day. cheryl was running around making sure everyone had everything they needed.

so, the hair guy. let me start by saying that i didn't want to have him do my hair. i really didn't want to spend the money. so, before i left on my vacation extravaganza, amber helped me figure out what to do with my hair. then, when i got there, i had yet to remaster the look that amber was able to pull off and once i saw everyone else getting as fancy as they were, i wanted to make sure i was looking like i was put together for the wedding. so, i caved. $75. yeah. that's why i didn't want to spend the money. that hurts! however...




marcos is the guy who did our hair. he's a miracle worker let me tell you. he did this amazing job on my hair that i never knew was possible. i saw him a few days before the wedding. he asked how i wanted it to look. i said, "i don't know, big curls?" and his response was, wash it the night before, no product, sleep on it wet." my thoughts were, "oh crap this won't end well."

morning of the wedding, marcos arrives and does everyone elses hair first because mine would take the longest. when it was my turn, i showed him a photo of this girl from a tv show that i love and i said, "i'd love to do my hair like that but i don't think mine will do that." he said, "we'll see." 45 minutes later...


no kidding!! it was the most amazing job i had ever seen!

this is the picture that i showed him and said i liked her hair.

a little side note about marcos, i sat and talked with him for a long time throughout the day. i LOVE marcos. he's incredible. he's originally from belize - which i love. also, he speaks about four different languages because his mother is french and his father is... something else, i can't remember. also, he and his partner have been together for years. they have had eight foster kids. they have four right now. it's amazing what he is doing. i was so in awe of why he does what he does. he was so amazing!


the wedding was amazing. to say the least. meredith was gorgeous. obviously. her husband mike made her dress. he designed it, i guess i should say. she was the most laid back bride i have ever seen. she had a nightmare week before the wedding and she recovered well. multiple times through the day i'd say, "mer, do you need anything?" and she'd say no. finally, she said, "yes. wine." we all laughed a little bit and then she said, "no, seriously, wine." so we went on a mission.

the wedding was gorgeous, it wasn't too hot. everything was outdoors. this was my highlight... are you ready? the guy i walked with was 6'5". no joke! i got to wear heels and still be shorter. it was amazing! plus, he was really goodlooking. plus, he was funny! the downside was that he was married. but at least she had red hair! :)

i managed to hold it together the entire ceremony which was amazing. the girl behind me though, holy cow! she was bawling before we even got to our spots to walk in. then, she was sobbing the entire time. so that was comic relief for me! once the ceremony was over, it was on to pictures.


i love this picture but it doesn't have mike or meredith. they were off taking pictures and this looked like a photoshoot with the black dresses, tuxes and white house behind us. i like how random it is.

meredith and me

meredith in the dress mike designed

i LOVE this shot. this was my idea :)

meredith right after she got married

mike and meredith

the boys acting like bodyguards


kristi, rachel, ingrid and i

meredith and one of the flower girls

rachel with her flowers

i LOVE this one too. all three of the ones i love, the photographer wasn't even around for. funny how that works out. but i love this one. that's all. :)


reception


so, the reception. it was incredible. outside, fountains, perfect weather, great people, good food. it was perfect. at one point mike sang a song to meredith. i've seen this done well and i've seen this done.... not so well. i LOVED what mike did. all of a sudden we hear a guitar strumming behind us and mike is walking up with a guitar. meredith looks at the bridesmaids and says, "who knew about this??" none of us did. so she turns to mike who is still strumming and says, "mike, honey, you need a microphone, they won't hear you." to which his response was, "they don't need to hear me, i'm only singing to you." i managed to hold it together for 90% of the day and the song broke me. i love to see my friends marry incredible men. it makes my heart happy. this was one of those moments. as mike sang about how "she smells of sea breeze and every time she leaves" i just couldn't hold it together. i was so proud of my friends. plus, i've known mike for four years now. we've hung out, we've laughed. it was a good moment to see him loving her, the way she needs to be loved.

then there was dancing, then cutting of the cupcakes. it was good.

if i could have a perfect wedding, it would be exactly how meredith and mike's went.