After all the wedding week fun, the day was here. I woke up around 7 am. Some of the bridesmaids were stirring. I walked out of my bedroom and was greeted by huge smiles and hugs from Shastin and Jen Hodges. “Let’s get married. I’m so ready.” I said.
Initially I felt like I had some leisure time . I wasn’t starting my makeup and hair till about 1 pm. That time between waking up and sitting in the chair to start that process flew by. About 45 minutes after I woke up my make up crew was there. The rest of the bridesmaids woke up and the house was once again full of life and energy.
At one point I walked outside to see two of my favorite women, Jen Ford and Alex, practicing some yoga moves.
This inspired me to get a little exercise and some alone time before the day started to get away from me. I took about a 30 minute run and listened to Dave Matthews on Pandora. It was perfect.
After returning from my run I wrote cards to my Mom, my Dad, Peter, and Peter’s parents. This ended up taken a bit of time because I put a lot of heart into each note. I later heard that each person either cried or got teary from the notes. I also transferred my vows onto index cards. After that there was just enough time to take a shower, eat a little something and then start getting ready.
It was such a special morning getting ready with my Mom and the bridesmaids. We shared fun stories, made bets on who was going to cry the most, and each one of them I could tell was so happy for me.
I remember feeling relief when my Mom told me she saw Peter, not because I didn’t think he wouldn’t show up. It just gave me a calming soothing feeling, that helped with my nerves.
My hair and make up lady Mire and her crew did such great work on everyone. One of my favorite things she did was out a gardenia in my hair. I am now obsessed with that scent. If you ever get a chance to wear a gardenia in your hair, do it. You will smell amazing. After Mira finished with my hair and make up I walked outside to meet up with the bridesmaids. None of them had seen me with after Mira had beautified me. Their reactions were priceless. I was greeted by genuine “ooooo’s and aahhhh’s.” I made a remark, “Where’s the videographer when you need him.” Just then a heard a quiet murmur, “I’m right here.” He caught the whole thing. Then it was crunch time. The bridesmaids hurried to get their dresses on. They helped me put on my dress and veil. Everyone looked amazing. I remember my Dad coming into the bridal suite and saying to my bridesmaids, “The Kardashians don’t have a thing on you girls.” I didn’t realize he even knew who the Kardashians were. However the Kim Kayne wedding was the Saturday before so he was current. Shortly after we got dressed my nephew brought over my wedding gift. I was somewhat expecting an iPad because I had told Peter that that was what I wanted so I could blog on our year trip around the world. Leave it to him to take that idea and make it exceedingly better. He did get me the iPad but he also designed a blog. This blog. The one you are reading now.
As this was going on, our guests started arriving. We had our guest come about an hour early so they could enjoy the beautiful grounds and have a drink while listening to Peter’s Uncle Kevin play ukelele to s professional hula dancer. Guest were also able to snap a polaroid picture for our guest book and collect their postcard for their assigned seating. The tables were named after some of our favorite places we have travelled together. The pictures on each postcard were ones we had taken together. Another fun thing for our guest to see was our live painter who captured our ceremony, but was already at work painting in the landscape. Peter and I both had said we wished we could have attended our own wedding as a guest.
After our gift exchange, it was time. We walked from the rental house we were getting ready at over to the main Olowalu Plantation house. My brothers and Jessica shielded me from the groom as we snuck over. As Pachelbel’s Canon in D remixed with some U2 was setting the musical mood Peter’s parents then my mom escorted by my brothers, walked down the aisle. As soon as my family started down the aisle my Dad turned to me, gave me the biggest, closet hug he ever has given me and through teary eyes said, “It’s here. It just became real. I’m so happy for you and Peter.” One by one the bridesmaids walked down the aisle. Each one giving Peter a hug as they passed by him. Before my Dad and I were about to walk down the aisle, I heard my niece yelling something. I peaked around the corner and to my delight, my bridesmaids were doing pushups.
Now it was officially our time to walk down the aisle. Peter had picked a beautiful song, “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Ingrid Michelson. This moment for me was the absolute most surreal moment of my entire life. As my Dad and I approached and everyone stood, I locked eyes with Peter and there is nothing in life that has ever felt this incredible, out of body, and beautiful. Truly amazing. My dad talked the entire time, “It’s just like going to the duck cabin. It’s just like catching a grayline on the crick. It’s just like going home.” I saw Peter get chocked up. I surprisingly held it together.
The one thing I did have on my mind all day that was causing me to have anxiety was our first dance. This first dance wasn’t your typical first dance. It had lifts, a flip, a waltz, a salsa, etc. We had practiced with our dear friend Alysha for about 3 months, an hour a week every week. Right before the DJ announced us I started to have severe anxiety. Peter thought we were going to have to scrap the whole thing as I was in pure panic mode. Then, I guess it was the inspiration of our guests, as soon as we started it all went away and we never did the dance better than on that dance floor in front of our friends and family. I danced so hard, I broke my bustle on my dress. As soon as we finished we had everyone join us on the dance floor while, “Tonight is gonna be a good night, ” blared. Peter brought me a glass of champagne. It was my first drink of the night and Veuve never tasted better.
Then we were off again to take our portrait pictures. Now we were a sweaty mess and the sun was thinking about setting. Our photographers were noticeably nervous. At this point I fully realized why couples do first look photos, but it wasn’t something we wanted to do. In the end, our photographers did a great job and I love our pictures.
We returned to the wedding and at last I could sit and enjoy. We went immediately in to speeches. We started with my brother Jason, then Peter’s sister Lisa, maid of honor Jen Hodges, best man Andrew Ralston, and ended with my Dad. Everyone knocked it our of the park. I had numerous guests mention how wonderful all the speeches were. After Dad’s speech we did the father daughter dance, mother son dance, cake cutting, and then dance party. It was a sweaty dance floor and also a really fun one.
I still had my last responsibility of the night on my mind. My “Push It” dance with Evan. The push up thing started probably over a decade ago. At a friends wedding I got pushed into the middle of the dance circle. Because I felt like I didn’t have any cool dance moves and because I can do a lot of push ups, I started doing push ups. For some odd reason over the years it has been a hit. People would sit on my back. Groomsmen would challenge me to a push up off. I would get requests to do push ups at wedding, It’s all really silly. Over the past year I would have friends ask me if I was going to do push ups in my gown. I knew I had to do something bold at my own wedding. I recruited Evan, my brother in law because I knew he would bring it. I also recruited Alysha to choreographer something for us. Peter would video tape Alysha and I practicing and I’d send it to Evan. We then practiced in Maui and also did a dress rehearsal with the groomsmen who carried me out on a plank. Our cue was around 9 pm the Dj would play “Happy” and then next song was “Push it.” Of course Evan brought it with is light up shoes and Brittany Spears ear piece.
It couldn’t be more true about what people say about the night flying. After push it there was only an hour left. With that hour left Peter and I made good use of it by aggrdancing with our friends and family. The last song the Dj played was Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing.” Something kind of magical happened during the last dance. As Peter and I danced in the middle of the floor, all of our guests danced around us. Not in a circle but rather we were engulfed by everyone. It was truly incredible. I don’t think Peter and I could have smiled any bigger.
Now it was time for the sparkler send off. Peter had given me a little grief when I ordered the biggest and most expensive sparklers. The sparklers lasted for 4 minutes. I explained that when lining up 86 people it was necessary. Turns out it ended up being a blast because we got to run up and down our sparkler aisle a few times by the request of our photographers.
We ran over to the house where Jen Hodges, Jen Ford, and Jessica and left us a rose petal room, vueve on ice, and 2 plates of cupcakes. We did get a small rush of people over to the house collecting their things. I was all for keeping the party going, but Peter was not having it. Which was a good call. We opened the champagne, ate cupcakes, and relished the entire day in utter happiness and joy. We were and are beyond grateful to all of our friends and family that truly made this a perfect day for us.
I had told many of our guests that I had taken all the fun things I had seen at weddings over the years and put those stand outs into ours, hoping for a really fun event for everyone. When asking guests their favorite part. The following is what I hear the most.
- Vows
- Officiant
- Ceremony
- Personalized postcards
- First dance
- Push it dance
- Speeches
- Live painter
- Walking down the aisle with my Dad
- Polaroid guest book
- Beautiful setting
- My dress
With much love and gratitude,
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