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November 15, 2015 - 9:02 p.m.
"our wedding day"

Hey Journal!

Well, WE'RE MARRIED! I still haven't wrapped my head around what that really means but I'm here to fill you in on the exciting events of the day!

We got up yesterday, Saturday, at 8:00am! I had gotten a pretty good night's sleep...even better than the previous night! Everyone was telling us to get up super early to get ready but we didn't really have that much to do!

I had some cereal for breakfast. I figured it would be a good idea to have a big breakfast since everyone says that you have no time to eat at your own wedding! Unfortunately I only had a little cereal left and then I couldn't find anything else to eat before it was time to leave! Dan went downstairs to have his breakfast after me and I went upstairs to shave.

I used a new razor blade and put on a ton of shaving cream to make sure I didn't cut myself! I also opened up a new pack on contact lenses for the day!

Next, it was time to get dressed! I got my suit on and I took some pictures of Dan while he was getting ready as well. We were very excited and not really that nervous. Things were going well and we had it all under control.

Last night while we were out to dinner with Sara and Josh, I was telling them that I was a little nervous about the DJ and photographer but that I was completely confident in our officiant! I knew she was going to do an excellent job!

The DJ called us in the morning to let us know he was on his way and he was ready! Julio texted me to tell me that he and the photographer (she's a friend of his) were on their way as well. And then... we got a call from Rev. Deb. She called around 9:30 and said that she was having an episode of vertigo and she couldn't get out of bed! She couldn't make it and was sending Sarah has her replacement.

Dan got off the phone and I was so upset. I couldn't believe it. Ever since she married Kristen several years ago, Dan and I had been her biggest fans and she was one of the most important components of the wedding. I didn't even know what to think.

We had a little breakdown moment but we pulled ourselves together because we had absolutely no choice.

We got in the car and headed off to the Watermill and at 10:00, we pulled into the parking lot. Originally we had thought it might be weird for us to drive ourselves there, but it really wasn't and it sure beat spending money to take a 7 minute limo ride! It would have been different if we had to go to multiple locations, but this worked fine!

We had a couple of items to bring inside with us.... our gift box and and our cameras and stuff. When we arrived, we came into the lobby and Lau, Ryan, Frank, and Seth were there! Lau had picked up Frank at the train station and was going to arrive early to set up the centerpieces. When they arrived, they told Lau that they had done it for us! Well, that was nice.

Dan and I went to the suite and met our attendant, Kaitlyn, and our Maitre'd... Sean. They were both very nice and they kept us on track all day long. I'm gonna jump forward a little just to say that they were both excellent. Throughout the day Kaitlyn made sure we had everything we needed and got us food, drinks, and anything else we needed. She was perfect. Sean was coordinating the running of the day and told us where we needed to be and when. It was excellent. They took charge and that's what we totally needed. On a day like this, everything is a blur and you have no idea what you're supposed to be doing and when. You need someone to tell you what to do and make it all run smoothly! That's exactly what they did!

My mom had also arrived at 10:00 and we went to the suite. We met our photographer, Rikki, and she started taking some pictures. We went around and took some shots by ourselves first and then when Dan's parents arrived, we did some group shots. My Grandma and Grandpa came a little later and then we did a lot of group shots. We did several in the suite and then went outside.

Soon, it was time for the ceremony. We did a practice run and that was excellent! Another great thing they did. After that we went back to the suite while all the guests found their seats. We signed the marriage licence and our witnesses, Linda and Dan's brother, came to sign! We got some more photos and then it was time to get going!

We met our new officiant and my heart sank a little more. By this time, we were resigned to the fact that our first choice wasn't coming but I was upset when I heard what a strong accent our new officiant had. She's a really nice person... she seems lovely, but I was worried that people might not understand her... and no offense to her, but I was so looking forward to Deb's overwhelming warm and welcoming personality.

Sean lined us up and got us in place. Our gameshow theme songs had been playing for the seating music and I hope people really appreciated them!

When it was time to walk down the aisle, our instrumental version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?" started playing. Dan walked down first with his mom and then I followed with my mom. I saw everyone standing there staring at me and that was really the part that I was most nervous about beforehand. It wasn't so bad...it went by quickly and it was all a blur, really!

I wanted to look and see everyone but I wasn't really able to! I just focused on getting down to the front of the room and it was over before I knew it!

When we got down there, Dan and I were instructed to hold hands and face eachother. It was a little bit of an awkward stance. Our new officiant took us through the ceremony and while she was reading it, I kept thinking "oh yeah! I remember this..." since we had edited it several times over the past few months. It was weird hearing her say it because I had always envisioned Deb.

Another part of the ceremony that I had been nervous about was "the kiss!" We practiced it several times at home and we felt like it was soooo awkward! It was like a fish coming at you! I think in the end it came out perfectly.

We started walking back down the aisle and the DJ started playing our song... "We Go On!" Wahoo! It was a relief once it was all over because being the center of attention at the ceremony was the part I was most worried about.

It's funny, though... I didn't feel nervous while we were up there at all. I did, however, think that Dan was really nervous because he kept fidgeting while we were holding hands. Later on, though, people said I had looked nervous! Geez!

So, they took us back to the suite and we had about 10 minutes while all the guests made their way to the cocktail hour. Dan spent about 8 of those 10 minutes in the bathroom! I wanted to sit down and reflect a little on the ceremony... but clearly we didn't have time for that!

Sean brought us to the cocktail hour and we started saying hello to everyone! It was a little crazy but we managed to get around to everyone, I think! Another one of our personal touches was that Norm Vincent as playing the music for the cocktail hour. We are big fans and have gone to see him so many times. He did a great job and I was so happy to hear his music playing. I am actually really sad, though, that I never got to say hello to him! I only realized it later on and I just really felt bad about that!

We didn't get any time to eat at the cocktail hour but shortly before it ended we were swept away back to the suite. They had a big platter of all the cocktail hour food and I devoured the ham! I was very happy with it! Our attendant even went and got me some more! We hung out there for about 10 minutes while everyone was making their way to the reception room. They brought Dan's parents, brother, Jessica, my mom, and my grandparents to the room to get ready to be announced!

They lined us up outside of the room for the introductions! Just after they had introduced Brian and Jessica, Steve was coming back from the bathroom and tried to go in through the main doors!! We had to stop him so he didn't walk out right into the middle of it!

According to Linda, my grandparents were her favorites! She said my Grandpa gave a fist pump when he came in! I wish I could have seen it... I don't think anyone videoed it... at least I haven't seen any video yet!

Our plan was to have everyone enter to the song Heatwave by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and then when it was our turn to come in, the DJ was supposed to stop the music and instruct all of our friends to get up on the dance floor. We were supposed to come in to some more party-like song, and then everyone was supposed to go crazy and join us with that!

It didn't really go as planned.... Instead, he kept playing Heatwave while we came in. Again, that's all a blur to me... I don't really know what I did... I just remember running out and then standing in the middle of the dance floor! The DJ THEN got everyone up and it was kinda awkward because he started the song from the beginning which was kinda slow and nobody knew what to do!

Eventually I think Re broke the tension and got out there with us which got everyone else out there, too!

Throughout the day we tried to hang out and talk to as many people as we could! It was hard because there were so many people and so little time! We did have some time to sit at our table while they took everyone's orders. I got to order three things... I got the chateaubriand, the pork chop, and the manicotti. I was only disappointed with the pork chop because it had some weird tomato on top and a weird dressing. The steak was good, but the manicotti was the best!

Our attendant was amazing and took care of anything we needed. We ALWAYS had our one drink on the table and another one waiting for us!

Just like after our housewarming party, I feel guilty that we didn't get get to spend time with some of the people who came so far for our wedding! I wish we had at least a half hour to sit down and talk with every single person there!

My cousin Christen and Theresa looked like they were having a great time and they were certainly taking full advantage of the open bar! At one point Dan and I had a shot with them, and later on I had another one with them. We had shots of Fireball!

During my second Fireball shot, Steve asked me what it was. I told him it was Cinnamon Whiskey. I then told him I don't like cinnamon and I don't like whiskey... but I figured what the heck... go for it!

The music throughout the party was great! He started with some new popular songs and then played some older ones. There were a fair amount of people on the dance floor in the beginning but towards the end they broke out a lot of my 90s dance music requests. They did some Ace of Base, Real McCoy, some Barbie Girl, and of course a few Backstreet Boys songs! It was excellent and the dance floor was PACKED! At one point I was dancing around through the crowd and it seemed like everyone was up having a good time.

Fred took to the dance floor with the lantern centerpiece and it was hysterical! Even Dan's grandma was on the dancefloor. From all that I had been hearing about her lately I was really expecting her to be sitting the whole time and a little blah. She was energetic, fun, and wild! It was great. She even had a stick-on moustache to wear!

Connor did SOME dancing and Cameron was on the dance floor all night long! She was showing off her moves and didn't stop!

It really looked like everyone was having a good time and I hope they were!

A little before that, I guess before they played the 90s music, we had the cake cutting. Dan and I stood there and they played Unbreakable by Westlife! They had a little problem, their file was corrupt and they had to re-download it! They were taking a while so I offered that they could play it off of my phone, but they got it figure out. We cut the cake and very nicely fed it to eachother!

The cake was excellent. The icing was vanilla and the outside of the cake was white but the inside was this great chocolate cake. I picked that because I love chocolate cake with vanilla icing in general. On regular cakes, chocolate icing is too rich for me! I think it was also a good idea because everyone is so used to that white wedding cake with white icing and that's boring. This was a really tasty cake!

Later on they did a little "generation" dance where they asked the married couples to come out on the dance floor. My Grandma and Grandpa were married the longest! 64 years... We set that up well!

They also played my video of my pictures with Dan though the years! It was a real hit... people LOVED the AIM conversation in the beginning!

I couldn't believe it but it went by so quickly and soon it was time to pack it up! The Watermill did an excellent job of putting all of our belongings together for us to easily and quickly take home! We went back to the suite, got our act together and then headed out. It was wild.

We didn't have a ride to the hotel so Kristen drove us, Frank, and Seth to the Marriott! We we got there, I checked in to our room and then we went upstairs to see what it was like. It was a really really oddly shaped room, but it was big. We hung out there for a while and had some drinks and then after about 30 minutes we went down to the lobby.

We had fun in the room but I'm so glad we went to the lobby. The atmosphere there was so much more lively and fun. We hung out there for a long time and everyone had a great time.

I was so happy that everyone came back to the hotel and I felt like it was a real opportunity to get to talk to the people we didn't get to talk to at the wedding. In that way, I wish more people had come back so we had more time together.

My mom came back and was very certain that she was NOT getting a room. She said, "Why would I get a room.. I live two minutes down the road!" Then, at about 10:00 at night, she was on line at the registration desk getting a room!

Connor and Cameron had fun at the hotel. Cameron hung out with Giuliana and Connor was sitting under the concierge desk playing his DS!

A little later, Dan's dad ordered pizzas for everyone and we all had some slices. Nobody was hungry for a full meal after the wedding but the pizza really hit the spot!

It was a long day and we had a great time! The lobby party broke up around 10:30 and we all went to our rooms! It felt like it could have been 4am but it was only 10:30!

After all of that drinking, I was really tired and fell right to sleep but I actually woke up during the night a few times and couldn't get back to sleep! (I'll save all that for today's entry!)

Anyway, we had a such a fun day and it was great having everyone there to celebrate with us! We had a GREAT time and I hope everyone else did, too!

Today has been a little bit of a whirlwind day, too...but I will be back later to give you all the details!

Adios for now! :)