I thought it time to finally blog about the wedding. It seems like so much has happened since then but really it was a month ago and it is still perfectly preserved in my mind and always will be. I will eventually blog about the honeymoon and share with you those wonderful memories but first I must tell you about our very special day. And the days leading up to it as well.
On Tuesday (Oct. 30) my Mother arrived in Tampa, we loaded up the car, checking the list three times to be sure and headed towards Anna Maria for a week of wedding preparation and festivities. Our beach rental was cute and perfect, situated exactly across the street from the gorgeous gulf. We unpacked, oohed and awed over the dress once more and decided to scope out the wedding venue for dinner. While we were there, sitting under the pavilion where our reception would be in just a few days we ordered food and sat back to soak in the year we had spent planning this very week’s events.
Wednesday morning we sat out with a few missions: We had to take the cake topper and ribbon to the Bakery (and while we were there taste the amazing pastries for breakfast at Bakery Di Europa!). Next we had to hunt down some last minute décor. We rolled back onto the island just in time to greet some family who had just arrived and to go hand out some last minute Welcome Pails. The welcome pails were orange pails that had lots of wedding info – printed up on cute paper, sunscreen, bath gel, beach balls, water balloons etc, and maps of the island. Each guest found one in their hotel room as they arrived on the island. That was Wednesday’s mission. That night a large group of us headed to the Sandbar Restaurant for dinner outside on the beach. We had a lot of fun and chatted about the wedding events to come. That night we went out for some dart and pool playing as more family trickled in from the all over the country.
Thursday morning a group of us ladies and a few guys (Aaron and Ashton, hee hee) headed to the Ellenton Prime Outlets for a bit of shopping. After lunch my Mom and I had to head back to the island while the others finished up shopping. We had to meet with our Venue Coordinator at the Beachouse Restaurant and then Kyle and I had to head to the North end of the island to meet with the Reverend who would perform our ceremony. Afterwards, we had to each go our own way to finish finalizing last minute details for the following day. I did manage to swing by the beach rental his parents were staying at and pay a quick visit to my future family who I had been all to busy to visit with earlier in the week.
Thursday night was the preordained night for my Bachelorette Party. The gals got all dressed up and had me wearing a veil and a hat, a feather boa and a light up necklace – all proclaiming me as a bride to be. We headed to dinner at Mexicali Border in Bradenton and we had a great evening. All of us laughing as we tried to figure out the best way to have my funny veil stay on my head.
Friday (Wedding Eve!!!) began with all the women jumping into 3 different vehicles and heading towards Sarasota for the Bachelorette Spa Day. We spent the day drinking Mimosas, getting make-up done, hair curled, mani’s and pedi’s, and massages. We were thoroughly pampered and primped when we left. We all wore our Bride and Bridesmaids shirts that I had made the wedding party. It was a relaxing and fun morning.
The guys planned a Deep Sea Fishing Trip for this time and 16 of them heading out into the ocean to catch some fish and smoke some cigars. Unfortunately it was a rough day at sea and few men were able to fish the majority of the time. (I told them that a spa day is always a safe idea.) Thankfully, they had recovered by that evening. After the spa day my Mom and I set off again to pick up the flowers from the florist and then we headed back to Bradenton to drop a few of them at the Bakery for the cake. A quick costume change and we were off again to the Beachouse for our Wedding Rehearsal. My Mom’s friend Letaza acted as our Wedding Coordinator since she has a lot of experience doing so. She was amazing and took charge starting at the Rehearsal. She had lots of cute ideas for the wedding party walking down the aisle and she put it all together fabulously as we all fought to hear over the noisy wind and waves. Directly after the Rehearsal, we all headed to the Rehearsal Dinner which we were having at a restaurant on the island. They had the room set aside for us with menus printed out especially for our event. They brought us champagne for a toast and really made the evening special. Kyle and I and our parents made toasts and thank yous to family and friends who had traveled so far for the wedding. We handed out our groomsmen and bridesmaids gifts and then a special gift for each of our parents. We had a clock with an engraving from Kyle and I that we had specially made for each set of parents. They loved them and we were so happy! After that, Kyle surprised everyone with a wedding gift to him and me of his and her matching watches. They are Movado and so elegant. He did such a good job. Between the speeches and the gifts, there weren’t too many dry eyes in the place.
After the Dinner we all headed to Kyle’s parents Beach Rental where his parents hosted a Wedding Rehearsal Luau for everyone who was already in town for the wedding. My little cousin Cameron greeted each guest at the door with a silk flower Lei and everyone enjoyed the Visiting with both families and friends. We had Tropical Drinks and Hawaiian Music to set the mood and everyone seemed to have a great time. All the planning was worth it for this wonderful day!
That night was another girl’s night and I headed to the house we rented for the Wedding Party and hung out with my Bridesmaids and talked while we stuffed little white organza bags with bright orange rose petals. After visiting for a while I returned home to get a good night's sleep before the BIG DAY!!!!!!!!
Saturday morning I woke up with so much excitement and anticipation! My Mom and I threw on some clothes and headed to the Beachhouse where the Bridesmaids and their recruited husbands met us to hang the paper lanterns for the reception. This was the only time we had to do it and we had quite a lot of fun watching the guys hang them up all around the pavilion.
After that we headed back home to prepare for the day. My Mom had planned a little Bridal luncheon while we all got ready and she had it decorated so cute. The photographer arrived soon after and we started primping and curling until we all looked perfect. We put our dresses on and headed across the street for some beach pictures and then sent the photographer off to meet the Groomsmen and Kyle to do the same.
Half and hour later it was time to go to the Beachhouse, Letaza and family members had decorated and set up everything while we were getting ready and it looked perfect when we arrived. Our guests were getting their pictures made in the Polaroid Guest book and finding their seats at the ceremony as I snuck into the restaurant with my Bridesmaids to stay hidden until the perfect moment. We started exactly on time and off I went! Over the bridge onto the beach where my Dad was waiting to walk me down the aisle to Kyle. I saw Kyle brushing tears away as we saw each other and we locked eyes until we met him. The ceremony flew by and then suddenly we were married!!! We took pictures and then headed to the Reception to dance the night away! We had our first dance, we cut the cake, we visited with friends and the entire night was magical. After we cut our cake, we had them bring out a birthday cake we had the Bakery make for Kyle’s mother whose birthday was the same day. She agreed to share her special day with us so we had a giant palm tree birthday cake made as opposed to a groom’s cake. It was a complete surprise and she really enjoyed it as right on cue our DJ sang the birthday song. We closed the night with “Now I’ve had the time of my life” from the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack and we hugged everyone and started off on our happy honeymoon.
Whew! That was so much fun to reflect on! I promise to account for our Hawaii adventures soon! Our wedding was so amazing and perfect. The weather cooperated and all of our family and friends had such a good time. They all keep going on and on about every amazing part and Kyle and I feel so very blessed. After a years worth of planning and coordinating the event I left that night feeling as if it all went 20times better than even I could have dreamed it.
Lots of Love!
L. Hall
Est. 11-3-07
