Wedded Bliss

It's been over a week since the whirlwind of wedding fun happened. how did the time fly by so quickly? John and I spent a year and a half planning in anticipation for this day. We had an idea of how the day would turn out. I had a pretty clear image of how I wanted things. Visiting wedding blogs, browsing through bridal magazines, and watching Platinum Weddings became a regular activity. Earlier during the planning phase we wished that the day would come sooner, but as the date came closer, I started to wish time would slow down. Of course I wanted to marry John, but I also knew that this once in a lifetime event would be over in 24 hours and will never happen again. Anticipation gave me something to look forward too. It made the planning process fun. In reality, I'm still visiting wedding blogs and watching to WE wedding TV shows :) It's become routine! I wish we could relive that day:

Woke up at 7:30. Lucky for me I got to sleep on the bed downstairs since Lynn slept over. I would have been too chicken to sleep in the basement by myself if it weren't for Lynn, instead I would have slept in my usual spot, the living room floor. My mom was already up making xoi. A few of the bridesmaids slept over that night. I wished we could have all gotten ready together, but with 8 girls, time was an issue! Did my routine morning thingamagigs, tried to get something to eat, gathered my dress and shoes and went to the salon for a makeup session. The salon agreed to open early for me which was very nice since it was just me there. Oh, and the weather! I can remember clearly how beautiful that morning was. Some brides may have wanted to be surrounded by bridesmaids/parents/friends/photographers/hair stylists/makeup artists early in the morning, and yes, I did want that, I would have loved to have that, but I was happy to be able to have a few moments to myself. I enjoyed the drive to the salon. I must have passed through Patapsco State Park thousands of times before, but on that quiet Saturday morning, I noticed how wonderful that little road was. The sunlight mingled with the trees to create patches of bright and shade. It was cool enough to have the windows down. My little 3 minutes of wonderful alone time to let things sink in :)

After makeup was done, I headed back down route 40 to Vi/Tien's house. Everyone was up, they had their hair nicely done, and Uncle Peter was at the stove cooking bacon and eggs! I am so grateful to have such a talented aunt. I previously gave her a vague idea of how I wanted my hair, and she was able to complete that look in less than an hour. The amazing thing was, even with my abnormally thick and coarse hair, she was able to whip out her magic (and large can of hairspray) and made the style stay in place the entire day and night! No touch up needed. We put the veil on at that point since I didn't even know how to put one on correctly and wasn't sure if any of my girls knew how either. So there I was, makeup, hair, veil, in Vi's kitchen eating a banana and 1/4 of a bagel wearing a turquoise hoodie and skirt. I was ready!

Got to the church and was greeted by my photographers! I was the only other person there. After dropping my things off in the music room, I went to the room where the ceremony would be held and just stood at the beginning of the aisle taking it all in. No one was there, just me. In 30 minutes this room will be full of people and I will walk down this very aisle to my future husband. After that, I waited in the dressing room until I was given the ok to come out. Traditionally, no one see the bride until she's walking down the alter, but I was so excited to see family that I was walking around mingling with everyone. Screw tradition! Also, John and I did a 'first look' where the bride and groom see each other prior to the ceremony. John's seen me in this dress before (yeah yeah) but I was so excited for him to see me with the makeup, hair, and veil. I remember the look on his face when he saw me. He had a calm, loving smile as he held my arms out and took it all in. We were ready. Once the bridal party was lined up and the music started, I got really excited. We had one good looking bridal party! I took both my parents' arms and remember standing at the end of the aisle, trying to make sense of everything before me. Thinking back on it, the thing I remember most, and I think this is kinda weird, is the blueness of all the bridesmaids dresses and how it brightened up the room! Knowing me, I thought I was going to be sobbing down the aisle. But I didn't. Then I thought I would be sobbing as my parents handed me to John, but I didn't. I didn't cry when we said our vows, I didn't cry when we were announced husband and wife. I was cheesin the whole time! how embarrassing! This came to my attention through all the wedding photos. In reality, I just could not stop smiling. And that smiling must have prevented the tears to come. One of my favorite parts of the day was right after the ceremony when I was able to meet with the family/friends. There should have been 2 hours dedicated to that :( wished I had more time.

Tea ceremony. Neither I nor John planned on having a tea ceremony. For me, it was one more thing to add on to our already extensive to do list. Choosing to wear ao dai was a last minute decision of mine. We basically did the ceremony to make his mom happy. My parents would have preferred we did the tea ceremony, but she said it wasn't necessary. I have to say, I am glad we did it. Because we are Viet and I am proud to be Viet!!! Rebel.

Fast forward to the reception ...

The rest of the day was nonstop go go go! There should have been time for me to relax for at least an hour, but between the tea ceremony running late and driving between John's house to mines, it left me with zero extra time. As soon as I got home, I rushed and packed the car with decorations and sped to the mansion. How embarrassed was I to come there and find 2 of my guests already there. nothing was set up yet. So, I put those two guests to work! They insisted. My dream was to have the mansion immaculately decorated once guests arrived. They would walk into this beautiful space filled with soft light and music and be served cocktails and food. Nope. We were running around placing flowers on the tables, setting up tea lights, organizing table numbers, boxes on the floor. The reception started without any official announcement. I don't remember too much during the start of it. All I remember was running up stairs to put my gown on, running back down stairs to make sure I had my car keys and the extra boxes were cleared, and taking a bazillion pictures. hopefully the guests were enjoying themselves inside while John and I were out on the lawn. Once photos were done, we went inside to find a room full of people all trying to talk to us. It was quite overwhelming. John and I grabbed our plate of hordevours and went up to the bridal suite. At that moment I was able to slow down, take a breather and just be with my new husband. Through out the day we were surrounded by people. And knowing me, I love being in the crowd amongst family I haven't seen in a long time. I wanted to spend all my time with them. But it wasn't until we were alone in the suite did I realize how much I needed to get away from all the craziness for a moment. Of course, we didn't spend much time up there. We were ready to get the party started! I barely ate that night. It also felt like I barely spent time with anyone, when I hope in actuality I did, although probably too brief. The night really was a blur for me. It was like I dabbled a little bit here and there, spent some time in the tent, spent some time at guests tables, spent a little time at the bar, a little more time in the cake room, danced a bit, took a couple photos. There was so much I wanted to do and not enough time to do it all!

(side note, I started writing this blog very shortly after I got back to OK, saved it and am returning to it now... so some of the excitement and things I have wanted to say are forgotten, and I got lazy)

In the end everything was wonderful. Yes, it may sound cheesy, but I felt nothing but love that night. Everyone that was there sacrificed time and money to be there that night. Through out the reception, I had guests come up to me and tell me how much fun they're having. Best comment of the night came from my little cousin, Khoa "This is the best time ever!" with his both hands in the air! It really was the best night ever.

Post wedding, my mom called to tell me she received several compliments from my aunts/uncles/cousins. They enjoyed the food, the cake, and overall had a really good time. This meant soooo much to me. Prior to the wedding my mom and some of our older family members were judging American style weddings. "too expensive, the food is bad, they don't give you enough food and you have to go to Burger King after (specifically quoted from my dad). But HAH! in your face! YOU HAD FUN! :) honestly, this wedding was for me and John, but really I saw it as a humongous reunion of two families and friends. It didn't matter how much work we put in to it, we wanted to make sure our guests had a good time. I'm still calling my mom up to see if she's gotten any more comments about the wedding :) Sometimes I can't believe John and I pulled it off. We totally winged it.

I want to get married all over again!