4am: Woke-up freaked out and thought, where am I? Then, I remembered I was in my hotel suite the day of our wedding. Then, all of a sudden, it dawned on me that I never told our photographer, Jean-Marcus Strole, to be at my house at 8am. I decided to text Janel Ellefsen, our wedding planner, about it so she could figure it out and slept off and on.
6:00am: Took a shower and Salon Maison (hair and makeup) got to my suite to begin the transformation process of 9 women.
7:00am: Chantelle, BM, arrived to make everyone happy with amazing breakfast of champions and my perfect and super special Starbucks order: N, WC, F, Stirred, WM, @140.
Post hair and pre makeup
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| Work in progress |
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| Adding the finishing touches |
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| Hair |
10:00am: All hair and makeup was done and we just had to stay put and wait... I am not great at that game. I was extremely anxious and nervous for what the day would bring.
10:30am: Lights, camera, action...
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| Mother and daughter |
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| Bride with Chantelle (BM) and Vanessa (MOH) |
11:00am: Once I saw my groom, all my anxieties were gone, and the first look at the bottom of the escalator at The Westin Bellevue was magical. Although all our family and wedding party were present for that indescribable moment, it was as if it was only Mike and I there, and no one else.
After an extensive session of family photos, it was time to head to Holy Family Catholic Church for our wedding ceremony.
Sometime between 12 and 1pm: My dad and I had to get into our 1962 white Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II. It was a production to get me into the car with my dress. It was not the most comfortable task, but it was worth the struggle.
2:00pm: The ceremony began and walking down the aisle with my dad was surreal and gone in a blink of an eye. While walking down the aisle with my dad, I remember seeing familiar faces, but excited to be able to see my groom at the altar. Once I was able to see him, he was the only person I could lay eyes on.
The ceremony itself was wonderful and unforgettable. Father Nagel, Lauren (our jr. bm and cantor), LJ (first lector), Chantelle (second lector), Kelly (third lector), and the presence of the rest of our wedding party, family, and friends, made out ceremony better than what we could have ever asked for.
Around 3pm: Mike and I got into our Rolls-Royce to head to Sahalee Country Club. While Mike and I and the wedding party were having picture taken, our guests enjoyed cocktail hour. For cocktail hour, there was wine, beer, and Caipirinhas. Caipirinha was our signature drink, our favorite cocktail, which our guests enjoyed to the fullest and some were victims of their ninja effects (silent, but deadly).
Sometime around 5pm: It was interesting to see how roles had switched. After having planned our wedding for more than a year, I magically, did not care about the little details anymore. the only thing that mattered to me was that it was our wedding day and regardless of whether all the little details would be perfect or not, it was the happiest day of my life because I wad marrying my best friend. At that moment, no program, no cake, no centerpiece would take away from the perfection and the meaning of our wedding.
Surprisingly, Mike would be the one concerned about the little details and addressing them with our wedding planner.
Mike and I made our grand entrance to the reception. I had never been the focus of so many people and felt privileged to see that so many people who care about us where there to share with us, the most important day of our lives supporting "us".
When we sat down at our sweetheart table, we thought the decoration arranged by Janel was perfect! Merchant Designs, AA Party Rentals, Anna's Flowers, and BBJ Linen did an excellent job and it would not have looked as perfect without Janel.
As any other traditional wedding, we had a first dance (By your side - Sade), father and daughter dance (Daddy's Little Angel), son and mother dance (Para tu amor - Juanes), cake cutting (The Way You Are - Bruno Mars), bouquet (Put a Ring on It - Beyonce) and garter toss (Bottoms - Pussycat Dolls). Our DJ, Braden Landon was AMAZING! Without knowing the Latin music genre, he mastered it. Our Spanish-speaking guests complimented his natural talent. We had so much fun partying it up.
Our wonderful and tasty cake by Creme de la Creme had 2 flavors: Red Velvet cake (Bride's favorite) and Dark and White Chocolate Raspberry gateau - The Bottom And Top Layers Are White Cake, Filled With Belgian Dark Chocolate Mousse. Middle Layer Of Chocolate Cake And Belgian White Chocolate Mousse Sprinkled With Raspberries. The cake was so good that some of our guests HAD to try both flavors or have seconds. Mike and I were thrilled that all our guests enjoyed the cake.
11:00pm: Our last dance (At Last - Beyonce) had unfortunately come very fast.
11:30pm: We were saying goodbye to all our family and friends, who came from Chile, Peru, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Canada, California, and Oregon, for our wedding.
12:00am: We arrived to our hotel suite
In perspective: There are little details that come to the wedding day, are not perfect. There will be something that goes wrong or not as planned. However, in my experience, those little mistakes that only people who are involved in the wedding planning notice, do not matter. The only thing that matters or the only thing the bride and groom focus on, on the day of your wedding, is the overwhelming feeling of love for each other and joy.
Special thanks for all our family and friends who sincerely support us on our step of our evolution as individuals and as a couple.
Thank you to all our vendors and Janel for putting up with me :)
***Thanks to our wedding party, specially to Vanessa, Chantelle, and Ann for being there ;). Thanks for sharing my joy and frustrations with me. I love you girls very much!
Love,
New Mrs.
After an extensive session of family photos, it was time to head to Holy Family Catholic Church for our wedding ceremony.
Sometime between 12 and 1pm: My dad and I had to get into our 1962 white Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II. It was a production to get me into the car with my dress. It was not the most comfortable task, but it was worth the struggle.
2:00pm: The ceremony began and walking down the aisle with my dad was surreal and gone in a blink of an eye. While walking down the aisle with my dad, I remember seeing familiar faces, but excited to be able to see my groom at the altar. Once I was able to see him, he was the only person I could lay eyes on.
The ceremony itself was wonderful and unforgettable. Father Nagel, Lauren (our jr. bm and cantor), LJ (first lector), Chantelle (second lector), Kelly (third lector), and the presence of the rest of our wedding party, family, and friends, made out ceremony better than what we could have ever asked for.
Around 3pm: Mike and I got into our Rolls-Royce to head to Sahalee Country Club. While Mike and I and the wedding party were having picture taken, our guests enjoyed cocktail hour. For cocktail hour, there was wine, beer, and Caipirinhas. Caipirinha was our signature drink, our favorite cocktail, which our guests enjoyed to the fullest and some were victims of their ninja effects (silent, but deadly).
Sometime around 5pm: It was interesting to see how roles had switched. After having planned our wedding for more than a year, I magically, did not care about the little details anymore. the only thing that mattered to me was that it was our wedding day and regardless of whether all the little details would be perfect or not, it was the happiest day of my life because I wad marrying my best friend. At that moment, no program, no cake, no centerpiece would take away from the perfection and the meaning of our wedding.
Surprisingly, Mike would be the one concerned about the little details and addressing them with our wedding planner.
Mike and I made our grand entrance to the reception. I had never been the focus of so many people and felt privileged to see that so many people who care about us where there to share with us, the most important day of our lives supporting "us".
When we sat down at our sweetheart table, we thought the decoration arranged by Janel was perfect! Merchant Designs, AA Party Rentals, Anna's Flowers, and BBJ Linen did an excellent job and it would not have looked as perfect without Janel.
As any other traditional wedding, we had a first dance (By your side - Sade), father and daughter dance (Daddy's Little Angel), son and mother dance (Para tu amor - Juanes), cake cutting (The Way You Are - Bruno Mars), bouquet (Put a Ring on It - Beyonce) and garter toss (Bottoms - Pussycat Dolls). Our DJ, Braden Landon was AMAZING! Without knowing the Latin music genre, he mastered it. Our Spanish-speaking guests complimented his natural talent. We had so much fun partying it up.
Our wonderful and tasty cake by Creme de la Creme had 2 flavors: Red Velvet cake (Bride's favorite) and Dark and White Chocolate Raspberry gateau - The Bottom And Top Layers Are White Cake, Filled With Belgian Dark Chocolate Mousse. Middle Layer Of Chocolate Cake And Belgian White Chocolate Mousse Sprinkled With Raspberries. The cake was so good that some of our guests HAD to try both flavors or have seconds. Mike and I were thrilled that all our guests enjoyed the cake.
11:00pm: Our last dance (At Last - Beyonce) had unfortunately come very fast.
11:30pm: We were saying goodbye to all our family and friends, who came from Chile, Peru, Puerto Rico, Slovakia, Canada, California, and Oregon, for our wedding.
12:00am: We arrived to our hotel suite
In perspective: There are little details that come to the wedding day, are not perfect. There will be something that goes wrong or not as planned. However, in my experience, those little mistakes that only people who are involved in the wedding planning notice, do not matter. The only thing that matters or the only thing the bride and groom focus on, on the day of your wedding, is the overwhelming feeling of love for each other and joy.
Special thanks for all our family and friends who sincerely support us on our step of our evolution as individuals and as a couple.
Thank you to all our vendors and Janel for putting up with me :)
***Thanks to our wedding party, specially to Vanessa, Chantelle, and Ann for being there ;). Thanks for sharing my joy and frustrations with me. I love you girls very much!
Love,
New Mrs.
