They say when you get married, you find out who your true friends are. I didn't believe it, personally. It sounded so stupid. But holy hell, they were right! It seems wedding planning and weddings in general really bring out the worst in people. Go fucking figure.
Yes, my previous maid of honor skipped out. Yep, a bridesmaid decided to drop out after being called out on her bullshit. Yep, another one dropped out last minute. A groomsman decided not to come before any planning had even occurred (which we expected- he didn't even order his kilt, so we knew right then he was out), and another groomsman, Jason's brother, was being selfish (as usual), but we persevered! We got replacements, and all was good.
Our ceremony was about 10 minutes late because my maid of honor had the hairdresser/makeup artist with her, and we had to wait at the castle for her to get there. She made a pit stop for something before making it to the castle, and I guess she didn't realize that most of my wedding party was following her. We couldn't start the rehearsal until she got there, and I couldn't do my hair/makeup until they arrived. There was a lot of "hurry up and wait".
The ceremony flew by. We had a handfasting, so it wasn't like a normal type of ceremony by any means. I wrote the whole thing myself, and got my beloved friend, Ms. Wanda, to officiate. It was an absolute honor. I was surrounded by friends and people who truly loved us, and it was perfect. A lot of people raved about how we didn't have a "traditional white wedding", and I'm glad that everyone was so impressed that you can have an elegant wedding without all that light colored "white" and "off white" stuff.
We went back into the castle to take photos, and went to the reception. The thing everyone tells you when you get married is, "the hours will fly by at your reception". They were right. It was over before we knew it. Daddy made an embarrassing and very awkward speech after making us wait five minutes before showing up for the father/daughter dance, but other than that, everything went smoother than expected. Both sets of our parents put on their game faces and actually stomached their respected divorcee's- this is why the weather is so cold right now.
Since we were having the first part of our honeymoon at the castle, they shooed everyone out and told us to lock up in the morning when we left. The castle was so beautiful, and we had it all to ourselves for the night! The staff at the castle was kind enough to take all the food from our reception and put it in the fridge in our suite. They also did the same thing with the wedding and groom's cake. So, what is the first thing you do when you're given free reign of a castle? You hit the Jacuzzi! It was cold that night, but it was perfect for the hot tub.
The next morning, we got up and headed to New Orleans with Jason's mom, her brother, and his wife. It was pretty awesome meeting them, and Jason hadn't seen them in over a decade or so. It was really nice. We spent the majority of our honeymoon there. We got a free hotel room (thanks, you guys!) and the staff found out we were newlyweds, so we got bouquets of flowers in our room, and lots of "congratulations!" from everyone. We are taking a longer honeymoon during the summer, so we can travel somewhere for a longer amount of time.
A very special thank you goes out to Rachel, because when shit hit the fan with the wedding party, she stepped in and took the reins, and with her expertise, everything stayed on track. She even made my bouquet, which is made from brooches. It's the most beautiful thing you'd ever see.
To Jessica, my maid of honor, for introducing Jason and I. There wouldn't even be a wedding if it weren't for you guys.
To Patrick, thanks for keeping Jason on track with the groomsmen stuff, and doing things when needed. You work offshore and still have time to do all of the wedding stuff, deal with the drama, and show up when you needed to. Thank you so much.
Thank you to my wedding party for doing what was needed. Thank you to all my guests for showing up and celebrating this special day with us. Thank you to the castle staff and my staff for making everything perfect.
