Ok, so I know we technically got married a month ago, but we just got back from our wedding in St. John yesterday. It was incredible. Everything I had hoped for, and K said he loved it. The view at Turtle Bay point was absolutely breathtaking, and I'm glad I didn't get talked into buying a floral arch. As we said our vows, there was nothing but blue skies overhead. And, as I had hoped, he loved my dress.
But let me back up... We arrived in St. John Monday late afternoon/evening-ish with my parents, got settled into the villa they had rented, then had dinner. That was pretty much it, as I'd been lugging around my wedding dress all day (while hiding all the major design elements from K) and we were all really really tired.
Tuesday, K had booked us on a morning sea kayaking trip. We started out in Cruz Bay on a tandem kayak at 9am. I've never kayaked before, so I was a little scared that a) K would be yelling at me the whole time and b) I would not enjoy it. At. ALL. But my fears were unfounded. Despite the fact that tandem kayaks are often referred to as "divorce boats", we were able to work together and keep it going. Well, ok, K did most of the work probably, but I tried! Anyway, we rowed past a bunch of the beaches on the northwestern side of the island, including Caneel Bay. Seeing the resort from the water made me so excited - it was gorgeous! Then we paddled over to Henley Cay for some snorkeling. Ok, so I've never snorkeled before either. Sad, isn't it? Luckily, I'm something of a mouth-breather anyway (thank you allergies!) and we learned to scuba dive (sort of) in the Bahamas a few years ago, so it wasn't hard for me to get the hang of it. The coral and fish around the cay were so cool! This school of itty bitty little fish kept swimming around me, which was really neat, except I was a little concerned that when I swam through them, a few might end up in my swimsuit. Luckily, this did not happen. And now, proof that I did, indeed, paddle:
Anyway, that evening, K's mom, step-dad, and Granny came in, so we picked them up and had dinner with them down in Cruz Bay after getting them settled into their hotel. We then took them up to the villa to visit for a little bit before everyone went to bed.
Wednesday, I had my hair trial, then went to Trunk Bay to hang out at the beach with K's family for a few hours before we had to start picking up the rest of our family members. Once everyone was in (except for Joser and Tina, who were coming in pretty late), we had a barbecue up at the villa so everyone could get acquainted a little better. Fun times, especially since K was pouring the pina coladas with a heavy hand.
Thursday was another beach day at Trunk Bay with my fam and K's dad, step-mom, and brother. We did a little more snorkeling along Trunk Cay and swam around in the gorgeously clear water before heading in for lunch, then heading over the Caneel Bay to check in and have rehearsal. That night, we had our rehearsal/welcome dinner at Morgan's Mango, which was a lot of fun. Susan (K's mom) brought decorations and even had floral center pieces for the dinner. She also had everyone write us messages on the back of postcards, which we read on Sunday during one of our layovers.
Then came wedding day! K and I had breakfast, then went for a morning swim at the private beach in front of our room (did I mention how freakin' awesome our room was? It was insane.). Here's the view we had from breakfast:
The rest of the day was a whirlwind of folks showing up and photographers and hair dressers... When it came time to load me into the car for the quick ride up to Turtle Bay Point, I started getting really nervous and shaky. There were butterflies in my stomach, and I just felt all jumpy and excited. While I was walking down the aisle, (which was insanely long), I could barely keep from giggling. I think one of my friends took a picture of me looking like I'm going to puke or something. The ceremony was gorgeous, and cocktails and dinner were so much fun. The only bad thing was that the heat never broke, so everyone was sweaty and hot. It was totally worth it though. Even Dad said so, and he was really skeptical of the whole destination wedding thing, so it must have been awesome, not just my bias. And as cliched as it sounds, when we got back to our room that night, K and I passed out. How do people have the energy to have wedding night babies? Sheesh!
Saturday started out with our day-after photoshoot with Tiffany and Jared, our photographers. (Check them out - styl.ish photography) They are awesome. Tiffany is the cutest person I've ever seen, and Jared is so funny. They were great at giving us direction and choosing some cool locations for pictures. I can't wait to see how our photos turn out. Waiting 4-6 weeks is seriously going to be the death of me! After lunch, we went to Cinnamon Bay to get some more beach time in. K rented one of those paddle surfboards, which was really cool. We spent most of the afternoon by ourselves, which was nice, since we'd had no alone time really since we'd arrived. That evening, we shopped around Cruz Bay for souvenirs, then met up with his family to say goodbye and then my family to say goodbye.
I've always left every vacation destination slightly sad, but been ready to go home. This time, not at all. I wanted to stay so badly i almost cried as we packed up. Our special week passed so quickly, and now that it's over, I'm really sad about it.
Recent Comments