Our Perfect Day

It was absolutely perfect.  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  And on top of that--it was FUN!  It's hard to believe that we have actually been married for three weeks!

People stayed all night and danced.  We didn't even stop dancing until almost 1am!  Everyone was dancing, not just kids our age, but everyone!

I promised myself that I would let nothing get to me... no matter how wrong it went or how frustrating it was.  And I kept my promise!!!  (Which is particularly difficult for me considering that I have little to no patience and I am a perfectionist)

Here are just a few examples of things that I wish hadn't happened:

1. My Beautiful Rose Pomander.  Yes, this beautiful one that you can see my brother hanging in the reception hall.  And yes, I made it myself (with the help of my mom-in-law).  I literally put every rose on it with my bare hands:

As we were walking into the reception hall the day before the wedding to decorate, Josh was carrying it and the string broke and it hit the ground.  I turned around to see the roses scattered everywhere.  I nearly cried.  But I just looked at it, turned around, and walked into the hall.  GO ME!  Although I will admit that I gave Josh a little evil eye, but I think he knew it was only because I love him :)  Someone must have fixed it, because there it is, looking just as beautiful as ever!  I also made tiny ones and put them on vases with branches and rocks in them for centerpieces (with Josh's mom posing beautifully):

2. The DJ.  For some odd reason, I forgot to hire a DJ until about two months before the wedding.  For goodness sakes, Maria, the centerpieces and decorations were completed in OCTOBER!  So, my brother knew a guy through a class that was a DJ and trying to get his business expanded.  He gave me the business card and my mom called (since she had offered to pay for it).  He offered to do it for half price!  When we met him, he was SOOO nice and it seemed like the perfect match.  Fast Forward--->Day of the wedding.  I am getting my hair done at about 9:30am with my bridesmaids.  So relaxed... having fun.  I get a phone call from my DJ.  I ask my hair dresser to hold on while I take a phone call.
DJ: Hey, Ms. Bride, How is your special day going?
MNM:  It's going great, thanks!  How are you?
DJ: Doing good.  I just wanted to clarify something real quick.
MNM: Sure.
DJ: When you emailed me the time line of the reception about a month ago, it says that the reception will be over around 11pm?
MNM: Yeah, the city ordinance states that the music has to be off by 11.  So I figured that would be a good time to stop.
DJ: Well, when your mom called me a few months back, I kind of remember her saying that it would be over by 10pm.
MNM: Nope, it's 11.
DJ: Oh, okay.  Well, I actually have a previous engagement at a club that I DJ for. And I have to be there by 10-10:15.  I don't have a choice.
MNM: Alright, then I guess it's over at 10.

You see? I didn't go crazy or freak out.  After I hung up, one of my bridesmaids, Lauren, said that her boyfriend, Eli, could probably borrow a friend's DJ equipment and set up after our DJ left.  Well, that's what we did.  And it was AWESOME!  Eli did such a great job and he had some helpers.  We actually danced and played music until about 12:30 or 1am!  Who cares about a city ordinance?

3. The Hall. Long story short:  It sucked.  It was beautiful and looked amazing.  All of my decorations were perfect.  The service was terrible.  The floors hadn't been cleaned when we got there.  Our contract said that they would set up the tables.  They weren't set up when we got there, so we did that.  Our wedding coordinator didn't even show up to the wedding.  We were promised a bunch of coolers that weren't there.  A week before the wedding, I tried to get in touch with our wedding coordinator there to finalize some details.  Well, I called the office, her cell phone, her home phone and left messages.  I emailed.  Nothing.  She didn't get back to me for FIVE DAYS!  It was two days before my wedding and I was really worried!  But needless to say, we took care of everything and it turned out just beautiful:

A photo of the finished, decorated product. I literally made every decoration by hand.  And saved a TON of money.

One particular table.  My mom's dad, grandma's husband, and my pap is in the photo frame.  He passed away about two weeks before the wedding.  Two of my favorite pictures EVER.

A picture of my newly engaged bridesmaid, Lizz, with our candy buffet.  A LOT of work went into this.  And it was beautiful!

See?  Everything turned out just perfect.