Our wedding 5-30-09

January 3rd 2009 Greg proposed in Sedona AZ. It was a breath taking view and a magical moment. I can honestly say I had never felt that way before. But nothing describes the feeling I had the day I walked down the aisle to marry my best friend.
We planned a dinner rehearsal the night before the wedding at the Caribe restaurant. We felt it would be a nice way for everyone in the group to mingle as well as find out where the ceremony would be held. Turns out it was a great success. There were many new friendships made and I heard lots of new AJ /Caldwell stories:)
While in Mexico we celebrated two birthdays, Truc Nguyen and Nate Johnston. After Greg and I had passed out our gifts to the wedding party, we presented Truc with a special gift for also being our officiant. We had a special hand made Iowa Hawkeyes cape made for him. He shared with us that his super powers were just being "awesome". The cape was shared by the other birthday boy Nate. Nate received a birthday shot which he had to drink thru a straw and did I mention it was on fire? Later on Nate had an allergic reaction to something and his face swelled up! Thankfully Kristen was there to save the day with her stash of Benadryl!! Maybe we should let Kristen wear the cape for a while guys:) Everything turned out ok.
We planned this event for the last five months and couldn’t have asked for nicer weather or such a great group of friends and family to celebrate with.
We stayed at the Barcelo Maya Palace in Riviera Maya Mexico. We had vacationed there last year so we knew what a beautiful resort it was. The service was amazing and the walk to the beach was maybe two minutes. Did I mention it was all inclusive:)
I always hear about brides stressing or panicking that maybe they had forgotten something. Greg and I had already had a talk before; you can’t sweat the small stuff. If it rains, its good luck and it would all work out. I can not remember stressing about anything on my wedding day and if I did it wasn’t important. I was just so excited to see Greg standing there.
Our hair appointments took a lot longer than planned, so I really only had a half hour before the ceremony to get to my hotel change into my dress and put on some makeup. Thankfully I don’t wear a lot. I think I still had time to spare when all was said ha Thanks Tessa and Kayanne for helping with the under garments!!! Mom you did a great job bustling my dress and capturing the moment. You also looked stunning in your dress!! Dad is a lucky guy!
There was a bit of a delay and the wedding did not start at 1pm like planned. Thankfully April took that call haha The videographer was running late. Greg knew how important it was to me to capture this day on film so he asked that we not start the ceremony until he arrived. Plus it gave me and my bridesmaids more time to hang out in the air conditioned room!!! Poor Greg was feeling the heat in his suit! I signed the certificates and as I was doing so two of the sheets managed to blow away. We were on the third floor and our wedding coordinator had to run down the stairs to try and keep them from blowing into the fountains! Everything worked out though. Ana our wedding coordinator then took me and my six bridesmaids up to the hotel on her golf cart to the parking level of the Palace. We all managed to cram into one very small elevator and headed up to the gazebo. It was so adorable to see the little girls with their mothers walking by in amazement complimenting me on my pretty dress.
I had butterflies in my stomach but I was just smiling ear to ear. I didn’t start to feel emotional until my dad started walking up. He had planned a small speech for me before he walked me down the aisle. It was so heartfelt and turned me to mush. I was trying to keep my composure and thankfully wore waterproof mascara. The violinist started and I felt like I was missing the action, not being able to see the girls walk down the aisle with the groomsmen and then the wedding march started. And I just took a deep breath then dad and I started on our journey. As I came around the corner I could see Tessa my matron of honor was teary eyed and I couldn’t fight it anymore. I saw Greg and just shrugged my shoulders and smiled as hard as I could. They actually caught that on film! He looked so handsome standing there. He didn’t look nervous at all and neither of us could stop smiling!
Truc did an amazing job. He had a calmness in his voice and a comforting smile. It felt like it was meant to be. It meant a lot to Greg and I to have Truc marry us, it will be something we will always remember. As we were standing up there I made it a point to look around to everyone in the audience thanking them without words. My bridesmaids Tessa, Kayanne, Mandy, Lynnelle, April and Jama were all amazing. Thank you so much for your support girls!
We did forget to put sunscreen on and we didn’t think anything of it while we were standing in the sun for an hour and a half getting pictures taken after the ceremony! We got a little toasted and it wasn’t even time for the reception yet! We felt like movie stars. As our photographer was snapping shots we saw about 8 other cameras taking the same pictures! So we are thankful for everyone who helped capture our special day! Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE to take pictures! I believe I had about 500 not including our wedding photos on my camera alone.
Greg and I made our way to the palace AC lounge once our portion of pictures were done, found ourselves a cold drink and relaxed with family. We made our way back to the hotel room, changed out of our outfits into our reception out fits and met our guests at the banquet room at 5pm. It was the fastest 3 hour reception ever! Thank you to everyone who signed the Guest book;) Dad you did a great job asking everyone. PJ and Ryan gave some heartfelt speeches. Ryan I broke down and cried during your second speech. I had to ask Greg to record because I couldn’t keep steady. You are an amazing brother and best friend. I can not begin to share with people how proud I am of you. I know you will be starting a new path in tel aviv Israel this July but it meant so much to us to have you there with us in Mexico to celebrate this special landmark in our lives. I love you so much and thank you for everything.
Later on we headed to the disco, where Dad shared some Cuban cigars with Greg for the groomsmen. Everyone had so much fun. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make May 30th 2009 a special day for us. Thank you Greg for all your support, you are an amazing man and I am one lucky woman to have you in my life. I love you more and more each day:)