our engagement<3
our engagement party<3
my bridal shower<3
{recap}
The Thursday before the wedding we decided to stay in LB and be a little untraditional in the sense that Magno stayed with me(gasp!) as well as Annie & Jon. I figured I wouldnt be able to sleep without magno there to calm me down so we threw all traditions out the door & booked the room. We got there Thursday & had to leave almost immediately for the wedding rehearsal. It went smoothly & actually only took about 20 minutes.
It was the first time I got to see my cute little grandma from Washington in a few years, too. She was helping my dad with the last minute flower watering duties:) It was so cool having her here since the only time I usually get to see her is when I go to WA. After the rehearsal, we went to our families favorite place, domenicos. It was so fun & relaxing since basically everything we needed to do for the wedding had already been done by then. We enjoyed delicious pizza & good company, then headed back for the hotel where kramer awaited us completing my "de-stress" mission. We hung out at the hotel for a while & played scategories (haha) then decided to go walk kramer & tour the hotel. It was right on the water & so pretty. We found annies wedding location too! The hotel had a cute little Mediterranean themed area with really cute big outdoor beds and beatiful wood carvings! We all loved that hotel so much! We got back to the hotel and to my surprise, i had no problem falling asleep & slept like a baby. I woke up early the next morning & instantly felt happy. I wasn't nervous, stressed, or high strung....i was just happy. I went out on the balcony to enjoy the early sun with kramer & relaxed for a bit untill magno woke up. Once he did, me annie & jon went downstairs for breakfast while magno stayed with kramer. We had a DELICIOUS breakfast buffet before starting off the busy day. We were sitting amongst all the yuppy & (in my opinion) ridiculous dog breeders that feel that their life goal is to get a trophy via abusing their dog. It was the weekend of a big pet show, and i think every single person attending stayed at our hotel. Hearing their dogs crying from being kept in crates all day & seeing them being choked for not walking perfect was the low-light of our stay. ANYWAYS, we left breakfast & began the day. Me & annie left for our hair & makeup appointment which was a few streets away from the Ebell club. All morning, i noticed my chipped toenail polish which was so beyond unacceptable to me. The hairdresser said their was a nail salon across the street so i played frogger to get there but am glad I did. They not only had my exact color, but the owners were the NICEST people ever. It was two guys & they were SO happy for me even though they just met me. They took me through the salon to look for different colors introducing me to everyone there as the beautiful bride! Everyone congratulated me & i left thinking i was the most important person on the planet! Which, HELLO-i was(for that day=D) After hair and makeup, me and annie drove through jack in the box. We got about a million looks as if to say "WTH, is that a BRIDE at jack in the crack? HOW GHETTO"! it was pretty funny and i agree, pretty ghetto! hahah. Then we got to the venue...my wedding planner, the caterers, the videographer, the dj, and the photographer were already there setting up. I let them do there thing as I went upstairs to get dressed. We had to start photos almost right away. Right when we got outside, I saw the heavy fog rolling in & though to myself "could this be more perfect?" I absolutely love a foggy night and though it was so cozy & unusual. It only got thicker after the pictures too! After finishing pictures, we went back inside and i went upstairs to wait for the wedding to start. I was still not nervous at all and felt calmer than i usually do! I had my sisters & grandma up there, and even the officiant was hanging out up there cracking jokes with us. The wedding planner came up and opened the blinds for me to see the dinner room now that it had been set up. It was perfect! the table set up looked even more amazing in person and it was SO much bigger than I thought. The only ONE thing i would change about my wedding if i could do it over, is more flowers. I just really underestimated how wide and long the big table would be, but i still loved it. All the girls in the family came upstairs to the bridal suite to see me before the wedding & it was so special to see everyone seeing me for the first time. My aunt marie got tears in her eyes & almost lost it, which was the first time I almost did too! It really helped me to have all my loved ones with me before the ceremony. Finally, the wedding planner came to get us & we got in position to walk down the aisle. She was at the foot of the stairs giving us all signals of when to start walking. Once annie & megan had gone, MY SONG came on. I looked down for the wedding planner so she could give my the cue to start walking, but she was GONE. I kept waiting and waiting but didnt see her & there was a brief second where i panicked! My AWESOME dj must have seen that because he got my attention & gave me a thumbs up. I was still pretty frazzled though because i kept thinking to myself "ok really wedding planner lady? your gunna disapear right when i need you?!?!?" So i started walking down the stairs, and at the very last stair-it happened. i tripped. i didnt eat it, but i did step on my dress and trip. I almost immediately forgot about it though as I stopped in the back of the room and saw MY WEDDING. looking back on the trip down the stairs, i think it helped me because otherwise i would have been sobbing uncontrollably as my dad walked me down the aisle. I saw people, but i didnt see faces...i just saw magno smiling at me. I was so emotional and happy and complete! my dad handed me off to magno & we started the ceremony. Idk how, but i made it through without falling apart. It was so beyond perfect. All i saw was magno. I hope the photographers were taking pictures cause i honestly didnt see them, the guests, the officiant....anyone! Magnos vows were amazing & the ceremony was a little romantic & a little funny...just pefect for us. It went by in a flash yet & as soon as I kissed him, we were walking back out the door! After that, we got to go back up to the bridal suite & have a few moments alone, then the rest of the wedding party came up & we hung out for a bit before our grand entrances. Our grand entrances were so much fun! We wrote funny things about the wedding party & chose funny songs for them to walk out to...it was so funny:) We got introduced & as I walked into the dinner room i held onto magno for dear life so i wouldnt trip again! We immediately started playing the newlywed game which ended up being so fun! We took our seats & the speeches started. Sam, Megan, Marcela, and Peggy, me, and Magno said a few words & everyones speeches were great! again, a little funny and a little romantic-totally our style! We ate dinner, made the rounds to all the tables to say hi to everyone, then it was time for our first dance. We chose the song La vie en rose which is, we think, one of the sweetest songs of all time! Neither of us are good, or even mediocre dancers, but we enjoyed the dance & had a sweet moment to remember forever. After all the gooey stuff came the fun part! We danced the night away, cut the cake, through the garter, and tossed the boquet! I couldnt believe it when my wedding planner said the limo was there already! But once I thought about it, i was actually ridiculously tired. Alll the wedding guests formed aisles on both sides of us and cheered us back down the aisle & out of the venue. The limo driver greeted us with champagne, and the best part, FOOD from the caterer & took us back to the hotel. As we got out of the limo, a crazy tall blonde lazy got a little too close for comfort and started hugging me and congratulating me. She said you look beautiful Mrs. Jimenez & thats when i noticed her heavy french accent & I immediately loved her because of it. She was so french, ive never met a real french person!!! I still dk why she felt the need to rush the limo and get in our faces so fast, but i didnt care after she called me mrs jimenez in that accent:) it was a dreamy, amazing, beautiful, awesome, fun, & perfect night for both of us & i will miss the planning aspect of it but not the bills=D