Our Wedding Day

Many of you have heard me tell and retell the story of our wedding ceremony. In the event you haven’t quite had your fill, here’s your official wedding blog entry. This is where you take a moment to clear your calendar so you have time to read this one!

With a lazy start to the day, Nicole, Paige and I headed to the salon to have our hair done at about noon, which in retrospect was way too early. That left us with about 4 empty hours. With our hair curled, sprayed and pinned, we could not waste those hours away by the pool like our guests did. :( We did look beautiful, though, and we rested face down with our head on our hands so as not to muss the hair! Lots of TV watching, chatting and lazing about filled our afternoon. My sweet friend Amy came to check on us on her way from the pool to her room to get ready. She snapped a few pictures on the balcony of me in my "Bride" tank and my hair and I tried not to think about the fact that my make up wasn’t done. Paige opted to wear a little makeup and I’m sure none of you are surprised that Nicole said “no thanks”. She did, however, take us up on letting her wear her beloved sweatshirt for just a second ...

Breaking the “Groom can’t see the Bride” rule, Heath came back to the room to have lunch with us. We decided he would just get ready with us and that we’d take a picture of that “moment” he first saw me in my dress there in the room. It’s not the best angle, but you can see the surprised look on his face. Mission accomplished!
We took a few snapshots on the balcony from our room before meeting our guests in the lobby. It was perfect timing, when Julie arrived to check in on us. We didn’t have her approval of the whole Heath seeing me before the ceremony, but she did approve of how well we cleaned up! And then I believe we were forgiven. Oohs and aaahs and compliments all around helped fill the last few minutes before we were off! It must have been my excitement to marry this man, but we were some of the first ones down in the lobby! We had this grandiose plan the night before of having Heath see me for the first time as I came down the stairs in the lobby, but since we already did that part, we opted to take a few more pictures on the stairs instead.

We made a quick stop into the bar for a cocktail while we waited and perhaps to calm my nerves a bit. Let me just clarify that I wasn’t in the least bit nervous to marry Heath, but it was at this moment with my friends and family gathering in the lobby that I was suddenly VERY anxious about the taxis actually showing up! In the process of planning this most beautiful wedding ever, I had made decisions over email and signed contracts via fax. I had only spoken to the wedding coordinator once or twice by phone before leaving home and only once after arriving in St Thomas. In this moment of sheer panic, there was much internal dialog about the possibility that it had all been a scam, that these people took our money and ran! So, the glass of white wine came in handy … and then taxi and limo arrived! My sigh of relief quickly turned to disappointment, though, when I realized the taxi was an open air taxi. My beloved friends and family all dressed up, primped and prettied, had to ride in the heat and wind for the 20 minutes it took to make our way to Magens Bay. Really!?!? They all assured me that it wasn’t terrible, but while I sat in my air conditioned limo, I thought it was, in fact, terrible.

Cut to us arriving at Magens Bay and I see that we are driving into a public park with picnic tables and families swimming at the beach. For all two of you still reading, think Zilker Park minus the playground and that Barton Springs is actually one of the world’s top ten most beautiful beaches and you get the picture. Our chairs were set up on the beach and a little tucked away from all the St Thomas families. We were all glistening and the fans came in handy both to shoo away the heat and also block the sun. While we took a few pictures, our guests were seated.
It wasn’t until we began our walk down the rose petal isle that a cloud moved just in front of the sun and then a cool, light breeze rolled in over the water. As I slowly walked down toward my groom standing there on the sand with my sweet baby girls, I had every intention of making eye contact with each of my guests. This would be when the waterworks began. I was overwhelmed with emotions and touched that so many of our family and friends where here with us to share this day, that it was all I could do not to actually cry and smile instead. As Heath and I exchanged our vows, I continued to feel beyond blessed and loved. I truly felt that God was looking down on us and blessing our union as man and wife. It was such a sweet and romantic ceremony, so intimate surrounded by our small group of friends and family. It could not have been more perfect…

We enjoyed champagne on the beach while everyone captured the sunset on film with pictures of each couple.
Our photographer, Bridget Gallagher, took the most amazing pictures of the ceremony and of our entire group there on the beach at Magens Bay. Here they are again. Honestly, though, our wedding ceremony on the beach would not have been complete without a "mean face" photo opp!!