Dream Easter Wedding
I once dreamt of one day marrying a handsome prince in a fairytale like wedding, somewhere in a land of breathtaking beauty. But, then, don't most young girls do and somewhere, somehow forget or dismiss it as mere childish notion? I don't think i threw mine away as much as it got buried in an onslaught of unexpected events. Oh the grace of God! Just when we think we've had our portion and there's no more. The best is yet to be poured on us, abundanly and in the exceeding!
Our reunion was too far-out, too unexpected, and way beyond belief. We had lost tract of each other, and too many years have gone by. But, there we were, by divine stroke, talking to each other on the telephone, reconnected, and as if, time and distance never separated us. One thing led to another, we made plans to see each other, in the very same place we last shared happiness. In Hawaii.It seemed unreal, but i felt someone orchestrating everything that would lead to the fulfillment of a dream. Without wasting time, he had proposed marriage, and we made plans for our wedding. Yes, a wedding in paradise!
We went on a planning mode. We chose the date, Easter time, to symbolize the 'ressurection' of our love. My daughter was more than happy to help plan the event and be our coordinator. We had only 3 months to put it all together, so we didnt waste any moment. It was going to be a dream wedding, and we wanted everything to go right. We chose a charming Hotel overlooking the ocean, a perfect setting for an outdoor ceremony. We decided on a select number of special guests, representing our family and friends, which came out to a hundred, We had to travel back to North Carolina to take care of some business. In between, we were able to get our invitations printed, make our guest list, go to Asheville to find the right wedding gown and order a tuxedo. We chose the color "burgundy" for our theme, symbolic of our 'maturity', like old vintage red wine. Yes, we ordered a 30 year vintage Cabernet, Sauvignon wine, produced and bottled by Robert Mondavi Winery, for the event of our lifetime, which we found online!
We were impeccable with our details and it was well managed and stress free.
1. We chose our flowers, for the outdoor gazebo and the reception area, and worked with a highly recommended florist. We wanted red, long stemmed roses, but used white orchids for my hair and my bridesmaids.
2.For music, we hired a live jazz band (my son in laws musician friends from Seattle flew in), and a local artist for the dance session.
3.We gave away Red Heart Swarovskis for our lady guests and a "Wedding Book" which i wrote and had printed.
4.We picked our Video/photographers based on work we saw from an ad in a Hawaii Wedding Magazine, who did a marevelous job.
5.We had a wedding website to keep our friends all over updated on activities we had planned, before and after the wedding. These included, a Luau Pre-wedding dinner, a little island tour, some dolphin watching sail, for our out of town guests.
6.We had live classic guitar music played during our wedding rites.
7.We wrote our wedding vows, and read it to each other.
8. We had a video show of our 'love journey', while we danced to Barry Manilow's "Somewhere Down the Road", which brought tears to everyone's eyes, including ours. Then, it was fun dancing all night!
9. We chose special people close to us, to do the wedding 'toast' and wish us well.
10.We requested no 'gifts', and in lieu, we asked that gifts of cash be given to our favorite children's charity.
Indeed, it was a wonderful wedding, one we will always cherish.
This happened in the year 2005, and we're still honeymooning in paradise, where we now live!
