Somebody's getting married...

I didn't sleep well the night before the wedding. I got up and took a blanket and pillow outside at one point and tried to get some sleep in one of the beach chairs listening to the waves but I was just too wound up (for obvious reason). I also realized that I forgot to bring deodorant and a razor to the Sea Scape; two things I would really like to have on my wedding day. As soon as other people started getting up I had my mom run to the store and pick up the things I forgot. I got all showered, ate a tiny bit of breakfast, and then Melanie started on my hair. It was nice being in the oceanfront room with the door open because I could see family as they were wandering around and waiting for things to get started. The first super stressful even of the morning was that the photographer showed up late and so wasn't there for me to go over the pictures I wanted (NEVER use ThePros.com for your photography!) and to get the pictures of the guys getting ready. Luckily my grandma was there taking photos. After I got my dress on I hid in the bathroom and Devin came to visit me so I could talk to him before the wedding without him seeing me. My dad helped me put on my jewelry, Melanie finished my makeup and then we went outside and the photographer took some pictures. Then it was off to Paradise Beach for the wedding.

As soon as we started walking up to the pavilion I could see all of the lanterns hanging and all of the tables set up. It was so perfect

that I already was starting to tear up. My bridesmaids and I made a trip to the bathroom where we made some dress adjustments and then we headed back to the

pavilion to wait until it was time to start down the aisle. While we were waiting I sang "5 Little Ducks" to try to keep me from tearing up and so I could get through the ceremony without sobbing. Then it was time for everybody to walk down the aisle. I realized that when you're the bride you don't get to see everybody walking down the aisle and that's normally one of my favorite parts to watch. I walked down

the aisle with my daddy and mommy and we all made it down the beach. I gave a pinwheel (instead of a flower) to my

parents and Devin's parents.

There ceremony went by way to quickly but my favorite part was looking at Devin during the ceremony and seeing him cry (which he never does). My other favorite part is when Tuba and Dustin played and sang "I Want to Grow Old with You". I've always been going to my friends concerts and gigs and it was awesome that I got to bring it into my wedding. I was very happy when I finally got to kiss Devin. After the ceremony was over we walked past our family and I was so happy to hug all of our wedding party while we waited to take pictures. We took pictures on the beach and then we went to the playground and took some more pictures. We got a picture of everyone eating shaved ice which was delicious.

After pictures we joined all of our family and friends at the reception. The food was good and I

especially liked the chocolate fountain. When it was time for cake we called everyone over and then realized that we didn't know where the cake cutter was (which was from my parent's wedding) and Ericka quickly tied some purple ribbon onto a plastic knife. Devin and I pretended to take big bites of the cake while we were waiting for a cutter. The cake was incredibly delicious and Heather did a wonderful job. After cake Devin and I had our first dance as husband and wife. I had wanted to choreograph it but just never had the time and so the night before the wedding I came up with some simple dance moves for Devin and I to do to the chorus so we weren't just

swaying back and forth the entire time.Then I got to dance with my daddy which made both of us cry, then I watched Devin and his mommy dance, and we had one couples dance but there wasn't really any dancing other than that. I realized afterwords that while I spent many, many hours planning the ceremony I never really

planned out the reception, like who was going to announce things and when were we doing everything. The bouquet/garter toss was a lot of fun. Julie caught my bouquet and Scott caught the garter.

We left in the convertible that Devin got for us and came back in our bathing suits. We spent some time down at the beach with everyone while my amazing Maid of Honor, Sarah, and family coordinated getting the pavilion cleaned up. We even went swimming for a little bit although it was cold when we got out of the water. Devin and I headed out pretty early to head to our hotel room because we had to head out early in the morning for Hawaii. When we got the the hotel there were fabric flower petals (leftover from the bouquets) scattered around the room as well as champagne and strawberries. Devin and I were exhausted so we got some pizza at Bizarros and then looked at the full moon.

Now Devin is officially my legally declared heterosexual life partner (aka husband).