Our first Christmas

Doug and I ended up going to sleep around 2:30 am on Christmas Eve morning. Since this was the first time that I had ever stayed over the apartment, I had no idea what Doug’s bed was going to be like. He assured me that it would be fine and by the time we were finally in bed, I was so tired that I didn’t even care. We woke up around 9:00 am and I felt AWFUL! My entire body was sore and my back felt like somebody had kicked it completely in. His bad was terrible!!! The middle sunk down and with just one person it was fine. When you add two people, one person sleeps on a slant without support to your middle back.
Well, the first thing I was determined to do was to find a new bed!!! We also needed to do a bit of Christmas shopping since we did not do ANYTHING before the wedding. We shopped around at several different places and tried out numerous beds. We finally found a bed that we both loved, and since I did not want to spend more nights in Doug’s bed than I needed to, we bought it. It is a king size bed that is called Kingsdown. It is AMAZING. You kind of sink into it like you would down feathers…just with a little more support.
Doug and I did a little Christmas shopping and then headed up to my Dad’s for the Phillips Christmas.
It was really cool going to sleep on Christmas Eve and knowing that this was our very first Christmas together as husband and wife. Christmas morning was even more exciting! We woke up (pretty achy again, unfortunately) and headed over to Doug’s parents for the Shade’s celebration. Most years, we were not able to stay as long because of getting ready and wrapping presents… This year, we were able to spend a good amount of time with Doug’s family, including his dear grandparents.
Our final destination for our Christmas celebrations was my Aunt’s house in Valley Forge. The Baker’s Christmas always provides a lot of good food, love and A LOT of noise! My Aunt has two little children, ages three and one. It’s always fun to see them open presents and watch how excited they get over the holidays. It makes it that much more special!
Doug and I spent Christmas night at our home and felt so lucky that we were finally spending it together! What a magical past three weeks! They flew by but I would not trade them for anything!!!!

Our amazing honeymoon in Punta Cana, D.R.

We really did escape to Paradise for our honeymoon! I honestly can’t imagine a better honeymoon. Just like the wedding, it was ABSOLUTELY perfect and exactly what we were hoping for!
Day 1: On the wedding night we didn’t go to bed until 4:00 am (actually, it would technically be the morning after the wedding) and we ended up waking up at 9:00 am. We were running on such little sleep and so exhausted the days and weeks prior to the wedding that I thought FOR SURE we would sleep ALL day! I guess the adrenaline was still pumping full force. We woke up and threw on some clothes and headed to the little lodge for breakfast (we were both starving!). The lodge was SO cute! It had a fire place burning and I felt so proud to be a married woman! After full tummies and A LOT of hot coffee, we headed back to our rooms. We spent the afternoon relaxing and watching movies, and, of course, reminiscing about the day before. My Mom stopped by around 5:00 to pick up my dress and a few things from the wedding that we did not want to take on the plane… and brought a yummy pizza for dinner. We went to bed around 6:30…when the adrenaline FINALLY started wearing off.
Day 2: We woke up very early and got ready to leave for the airport. We jumped into our limo and were at the airport in only 45 minutes! Doug and I were both floating on clouds while walking through the airport. We were SO excited to be heading towards warm weather and the ocean! Our flight was great! No one sat next to Doug so he was able to stretch out his legs. In only 4 hours…we went from rainy 40 degree temps to sunny and 85 degrees. It was amazing! We went through customs and then got in a large van that transported us to our hotel. Our hotel was ABSOLUTELY amazing!!!! The only thing that I really wanted for our honeymoon was to have an ocean view room. This seemed to be quite a challenge when booking and so Doug and I were both a bit apprehensive about what our room would look like. When we walked in, we were completely blown away! It was PERFECT! It had the most AMAZING bathroom with a big Jacuzzi tub and a shower that could fit 10 people EASILY! The entire room was done in tile and this beautiful granite. Outside, we had a HUMONGOUS deck that overlooked the ocean from all over. We were on the end, on the top floor, so everywhere we looked was ocean! It was amazing. Oh yeah…and there was ANOTHER Jacuzzi outside on the deck that could probably fit 5 people. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! We walked down on the beach, right as the sun was setting, and could not believe that we were on our honeymoon. That feeling of giddiness combined with unbelief and happiness is indescribable!
Day 3-4: Tropical Storm Olga hits. Thank God we took a 2 week honeymoon because this storm kept us indoors for 2 days. We did make good use of our down time and toured the resort so we would know where everything was located (It is a HUGE resort!). We also signed up to take a trip to a cigar factory. It was REALLY cool! They showed us how cigars are made and stored and even had me make my very own. (Doug was EXTREMELY impressed!) Since we were “honeymooners,” the resort sent us up a breakfast in bed. It was so yummy and so much fun to eat a big breakfast in our room overlooking the ocean! The storm was CRAZY! We didn’t realize that it was a tropical storm at the time it hit. It was EXTREMELY windy (we felt like we could have been lifted off the ground) and it rained non-stop. Our entire deck was flooded! Everyone was still in good spirits though and called the rain “Dominican snow.”
Day 5: Today was the first day that it was not raining so we spent it outside at the pool and on the beach. The water was UNBELIEVABLY gorgeous and clear! We could see all the way to the bottom. The storm had washed up a bunch of seaweed so that was floating around the water a little. The pool was awesome! It was so long and basically wrapped around the entire resort. There was a pool bar where we could swim up and order pina coladas and a bunch of built-in Jacuzzis. I think we got a bit excited about the warm weather and stayed out in the sun a little too long. We both got burnt, but not terribly bad. I think I got the brunt of it as Doug sat under the umbrellas for a good portion of the afternoon. That night we were given another “honeymooners” surprise from the resort: A romantic dinner sitting right over the pool. It was so gorgeous and the food was AMAZING! They made us surf and turf and we had top notch service the whole dinner.
Day 6: Today was our Saona Island trip. We caught the bus at 7:00 am and drove 2.5 hours south where we boarded speed boats. We stayed on the speed boats for 45 minutes until we got to a section in the middle of the ocean that they classified as a ‘natural swimming pool.’ It was unbelievable! We all got into the water and it was clearer than anything I have EVER seen! It was only waist deep and as we were walking around, we saw HUGE starfish. We picked up the starfish and held them, which was so cool. The sand felt like we were walking on flour! It was the softest sand ever!! We spent about an hour in this natural swimming pool and then got back into the speed boats to head towards the Island. The Island was actually deemed a national park and is deserted except by the few people that come everyday to tour it. We were given free time to swim, snorkel, get massages or just lounge by the ocean. Doug and I stayed in the water for the majority of it. It was MUCH calmer than the water at our resort (little to no waves) and also clearer. They provided lunch for us which was a traditional Dominican barbeque. SO yummy! About an hour after lunch, we boarded a large catamaran and sailed back to the docking point. This took about 2 hours but was the most gorgeous and relaxing trip. Of course, they had entertainment on the boat that was pretty humorous to watch. Since we were in the sun the entire day, we were pretty tired and ready to be back at our resort. We took the long bus ride back to the resort and stopped off at a little store in the middle of one of the towns to do some shopping. This was the point that I decided not to eat anymore pork while on our honeymoon. They had stands that showcased the actual pig parts hanging and being cooked. It was SO disgusting and every time I ate something that was a pork product, all I could do was think of that! YUCK!!!
Day 7-9: We typically woke up around 9:00 am and headed down to the breakfast buffet these three days. After breakfast, we would head to the beach or pool and swim and lay out the whole day. It was a nice little routine that we got into of being outside. We came up with goofy pool games to play and laughed so hard every day. (I think the Dominican sun may have made us a little loopy) After being outside in the sun, we would go back to the room and get washed up for a nice dinner. The resort had 7 restaurants for us to choose from: Mexican (my favorite), French, Japanese, a large buffet, Chinese, a steakhouse and a fresh fish house. They were all pretty good, but we aren’t very picky. We spoke to several couples that were not as impressed with the food as we were. After dinner we would go back to the room and watch t.v. until we were sleepy. VERY relaxing!!!
Day 10: Today we decided to pay for an extra excursion and go snorkeling. This excursion was not directly affiliated with the resort so it was pretty chancy. I guess we were feeling adventurous because we didn’t think twice about it. A speed boat picked us up at the edge of the ocean and zoomed us out to LITERALLY the middle of the ocean. I was PETRIFIED on this boat! The driver was crazy and wasn’t even looking half the time. Out of everything that we did our entire trip, this little boat ride had to have been the craziest (and possibly dumbest). It was really creepy when the boat stopped. We were in the middle of the ocean with no land to be seen and no other snorklers or boats around us. The sky looked like it was going to storm and the driver told us all to get out. Oh, and I should mention that the boat driver spoke about 10 words of English TOTAL! Thank goodness that one of the girls on our trip spoke fluent English AND Spanish. No one wanted to get out because of how eerie it was and the girl spoke in Spanish and asked him to take us somewhere else. Eventually, we got to a spot that seemed to be a designated snorkeling spot (there were several other boats around). The snorkeling was beautiful! It was Doug’s first time and it was fun holding hands and snorkeling together. There were all sorts of crazy fish swimming around. The coral was not the most beautiful that I have ever seen, but, it was still really fun! That night, we were laying in bed watching t.v. when ALL OF THE SUDDEN, huge, bright lights were shining into our room from outside. We both leaped out of bed and ran outside. There were helicopters and planes flying all around our room and men with huge machine guns running out onto the beach. We were so scared and had no idea what was going on. We later found out that there was apparently a HUGE drug drop right on the beach outside of our room and the cops were involved. They have no tolerance for drugs in the D.R. and were not going to give up until they found the perpetrators. I was REALLY glad we were not taking a walk on the beach this night!!!
Day 11: Today was our final excursion that we booked through the resort. It was a snorkeling trip that also sailed on a catamaran and brought us to a spot (again, in the middle of the ocean) where we were able to hold stingrays and swim with sharks!!!! Doug was most excited about this trip! The catamaran ride was gorgeous!! The water was so clear and it was cool to be up so high and still be able to see straight to the bottom. We could see fish swimming around as well as more coral rock. We arrived at stringray bay and were instructed to get into the water. It’s really hard to explain how this is set up, but I will try. Imagine a large fence being built under water in the middle of the ocean. Inside this fence, it was divided into two sections. The first section was VERY shallow water. This is where the stingrays were kept. We all took turns getting into the water and holding and petting the stingrays. What they failed to tell us in the very beginning was that these stingrays had their barbs surgically removed so they would not hurt us. I was freaking out because we did not know this right away. The stingrays were REALLY soft and slimy on the underside (white side) of their body and REALLY coarse and rough on the top (grey area). They really seemed to like being held and actually “latched” onto you. This totally freaked me out, but I was brave and managed to get a so-so picture. The second section of this fenced in area was about 8 feet deep. We were given snorkel equipment and were told just to jump in and swim around. There were 22 nurse sharks swimming in this section with us. Doug and I stayed together the entire time and I was COMPLETELY scared when the first shark swam under us. They were SO close…we could have touched them! I kept screaming under the water through my snorkel gear which made Doug laugh each time! It was crazy that we were swimming with real sharks so close! All in all, it was our favorite excursion! It was only a ½ day trip, which was nice. We were able to watch the sun set on our boat ride back and really take in the beauty of the ocean!
Day 12: Today was our last full day on our honeymoon. It was definitely bittersweet. While we were anxious to get home and enjoy AMERICAN food and start our lives together, we were REALLY sad to leave paradise! We woke up early and spent the morning on the beach and at the pool. Doug and I decided to treat ourselves to a spa afternoon as Christmas presents to one another. We received joint treatments so we were able to be in the room together at the same time! We started out with sitting in a sauna for 10 minutes. This may have been the LONGEST 10 minutes of my life. It was SO hot and we both were instantly sweating. It was actually really gross. I was so happy when they came back and told us we could get out. Then, they scrubbed our entire bodies down with an exfoliating scrub. This was a bit awkward because the only thing that we were able to wear was a tiny little thong. SAME FOR DOUG!!!! It was really funny! I won’t get into too much detail, but, let’s just say, the thong did not fit him well AT ALL! :) After our scrub, we were completely coated in cocoa and then wrapped up. It was amazing!!!!!! It smelled like brownies baking. After we washed off the chocolate, they gave us both facials, which felt wonderful. Finally, we got full body massages to wrap up our spa day Christmas presents. It was amazing and we felt like a million bucks!!! We decided to have dinner at the fresh fish restaurant that we ate at our first night. There were several weddings going on and they were all beautiful! After our lobster and crab dinner, we walked out onto the beach where there was a band playing. The sky was SO clear and we sat on chairs in front of the Ocean and just looked at the stars. This moment, of lying on the chairs on the beach staring up at the sky, with quiet music playing in the background and my husband next to me, was my favorite moment of the entire honeymoon. I will never forget that feeling of complete utopia. I wished it would NEVER end!!! We ended our night outside with a slow dance on the sand with the waves crashing next to us. It was completely perfect. I could not picture a more romantic moment to top off an absolutely perfectly fabulous honeymoon!
Day 13: We woke up early today to have our last breakfast at the resort. By this point, we were sick of the same food and ready to get back to the US. We took a shuttle bus to the airport where we waited for about 3.5 hours. Our plane was late and we were so tired and anxious to be home. Our plane ride home was not nearly as relaxing as the one coming. We were stuck behind a Mom, Dad and little child. As soon as they boarded, I smelled something AWFUL! I told Doug and he smelled it too. Less than 5 minutes after they boarded, the Mom announced very loudly that she had forgotten her deodorant!!!!! Obviously! I think the whole plane had already known that before her announcement. Unfortunately, the weather in Philly was not nearly as nice as the weather in the D.R. and our plane had to circle the airport for 1.5 hours. We were really delayed by the time we landed. Luckily, we did not have ANY problems with luggage or customs. We were really happy to be back in the US and STARVING as it was already 10:15 pm! The last meal we had had that day was breakfast at 9:30 am. Doug’s parents were kind enough to pick us up at the airport and they took us to dinner. When we finally arrived back at the apartment, it was a little after midnight, which made it Christmas Eve. My Mom and sister had gotten us a Christmas tree and set it up in the Living Room so that when we walked in, there was a beautiful tree with white lights on it. Doug and I stayed up late, again, to open all of our presents that were over-running our spare bedroom. We were completely exhausted when we finally went to bed, but so excited to be home and starting our lives together.
Our honeymoon was EVERYTHING that both of us imagined. We did not skimp on anything that we had wanted to do and had no regrets. I was so happy that we splurged on a 2 week honeymoon and would recommend it to anyone! We will most likely never be able to take such a long vacation again, so it was so great that we had this time together to kick off our marriage. Neither of us have any regrets and we will cherish these memories made on our honeymoon for a lifetime!

The happiest day of my life

See your mama and the candles and the tears and roses

I see your daddy walk his daughter down the isle

And my knees start to tremble as I tell the preacher

Don't she look beautiful tonight?

All the wonderful words in my head I've been thinkin

'Ya know I wanna say em all just right

I lift your veil and angels start singing

Such a heavenly sight

Lost in this moment with you

I am completely consumed

My feeling's so absolute

There's no doubt

Sealing our love with a kiss

Waited my whole life for this

Watching all my dreams come true

Lost in this moment with you

I smell the jasmine floatin' in the air like a love song

Watch my words draw sweet tears from your eyes

Bow our heads while the preacher talks to Jesus

Please bless this brand new life, yeah

Lost in this moment with you

I am completely consumed

My feeling's so absolute

There's no doubt

Sealing our love with a kiss

Waited my whole life for this

Watching all my dreams come true

Lost in this moment with you

~Big & Rich 'Lost in this Moment'

If there is anything that I could say sums up the greatest day of my life…it would be this song! Doug and I have always LOVED this song, but because of it’s country “twang” did not think it would be the best song for our first dance. We decided on Barbara Streisand and Bryan Adams ‘I finally found someone.’ We sat up one night and listened to A TON of songs and when we heard the lyrics to that song, we felt like it was perfect.
Anyways…let’s back up a bunch of hours.
So, I went to bed at 2:00 am and the alarm clock went off at 6:00 am. I am infamous for hitting the snooze button a MILLION times when the alarm clock goes off. Today was different. Today was MY WEDDING DAY!!!!!!
After Jasslynn had finished up all of the little details that she and Ashley took care of for me last night, she quietly snuck into bed with me (for the few hours of sleep she could get). When I woke up, I looked over at her and she was wide awake. The butterflies came back and we groggily talked and laughed about old times and the fact that this was the day I was getting married. It was so much fun reminiscing about old times with her! After about an hour of cold tea bags over the eyes and some cold o.j., we started getting ready for breakfast. I still had a bit of last minute packing for the honeymoon, so I tried to get that finished up while getting dressed. My girlfriend at work made me a white sweat suit that had “soon to be Mrs. Shade” on the back and “so in love” on the backside. ;) It was so much fun to wear around and I couldn’t wait to wear it in the restaurant. All of the bridesmaids except Charissa met for breakfast at the Tea Room (which is where my bridal shower was held) at 9:00 am. Charissa just had a baby and was more than tied up with keeping her little man happy and fed. Breakfast was great, as usual and again, VERY surreal! As I was leaving for breakfast, it hit me! I had some tears in the car with my Mom and A LOT of laughs! So many emotions!!!
We got back to the house just quickly enough for me to throw a few additional items into my suitcase and get everything else organized. The girls all came back to the house with me and were PHENOMENAL! They loaded everything into the car and helped me get organized. I was having a few stomach issues, which were not fun, so their help was much appreciated.
We drove to Cairnwood to get ready. The hair and makeup stylists were already there waiting for us when we arrived and the entire place just looked gorgeous! I had not seen Cairnwood decorated for Christmas since last year, so it was so nice seeing it all done up again. The tree was so beautiful and there were twinkle lights on some of the bushes outside. Its beauty was completely overwhelming!
I had stocked up on a candle called “wedding day” and we had that candle burning and Christmas music playing while we all were getting beautified. It was VERY relaxing and fun. My Mom and Ashley helped me get into my dress around 2:45. My dress was a corset back and it was tied so tight that I could barely breathe. My hips were really hurting from it being so tight so I tried to crouch down as much as possible. It was all worth it because it looked phenomenal! I was so happy with the final look of it all! The months and weeks leading up to the wedding you have so much anxiety about so many things: Your hair being a disaster, your makeup looking awful, your dress not fitting, your veil ripping… You name it, I probably have had a nightmare about it. But it is so cool to see everything come together just perfectly in the end.
The only minor mishap that we had was with the flowers. It seems like most brides complain about the flowers (in one way or another) not being what they ordered or turning out different than what they had hoped. Sure enough, that would be my one complaint as well. The bridesmaids flowers were absolutely GORGEOUS! I was so happy with them! Unfortunately, my bouquet arrived wilted and with petals falling off of the flowers. Not to mention, it was NOT what I had requested the bouquet to look like. I had given the florist a specific picture of what I wanted to talked to them in depth about it. I was very disappointed but it honestly didn’t phase me too much. Ashley, being the AWESOME sister and MOH that she is, got on the phone right away and demanded that a replacement bouquet be brought. She haggled back and forth with them for a while and they finally agreed to bring one out. The new flowers were MUCH improved but still not the style that I was hoping for. Oh well…1 out of 2.
Our photographers, who are BEYOND awesome (www.stringerphotography.net), arrived at the Mansion and took pictures of the girls and I for a while. Then they moved over to shoot the boys. During this time, Doug and I exchanged our wedding gifts to each other. Doug got me this GORGEOUS silver watch with tiny little diamonds going up and down both sides. I am usually very particular about watches and I absolutely loved this one! He did a very good job! :)
Doug is a HUGE Eagles fan and so my gift to him was 2nd row, 50 yard line Eagles tickets. Since I am not a very big fan, I told him to take one of his friends and have “guys day.” He was so excited and really seemed to like this gift! The game is for Sunday, December 30…one week after we return from our honeymoon.
After we had our individual pictures, the boys left to go to the Church. The girls and I hung out upstairs in our rooms and finished up getting ready. The limo bus showed up promptly at 4:00 and we ended up getting on at 4:15/4:20. It was really cool and very spacious. I had never ridden in a limo bus before. I would definitely recommend it! It wasn’t hard at all to get in with my big dress! As we were driving from the Mansion to the Church, the sun was setting behind the cathedral. It was such a cool site and so much fun!
OH…and I should mention…the weather was PERFECT out! Although I didn’t get my blanket of snow, it ended up working out for the better. The sun was shining and it was just such a beautiful day! This allowed the boys to get a bunch of pictures outside. Even I was able to stand outside for a bit in my strapless dress for a few shots at sunset. It’s funny how God always knows best…much better than me!
When we arrived at the Church, the videographer was there and was able to capture us getting off of the limo bus. We were quickly ushered into a back room at the Church and I was able to see my grandparents and my Mom. My Pop-Pop was so cute! He got all teary-eyed and immediately told me how beautiful I looked. That, of course, made the water-works start for me! I kept trying to take deep breaths and relax but the intensity of what was going on and the anticipation of seeing Doug was so overwhelming! The music started and the girls began their walks down the aisle. (By the way…all of the girls looked fabulous! No exaggeration! They really were stunning in their dresses and they all had beautiful hair!)
The coordinator had me stand in the very back with all of the lights out except one lamp that was behind me. This created a silhouette effect (I later found this out from Doug) and looked very cool. After all of the girls went down the aisle, the doors closed and my song started. It was great being able to walk down the aisle with my Dad. I think I would have been WAY too nervous to do it by myself!!! When I think about walking down the aisle towards Doug, I really can’t put the emotions that I was experiencing into words. All I can say was that it had to be one of the most memorable and amazing moments I have ever experienced in my life! I was REALLY trying to hold back the tears and I was so short of breath (from the gown being so tight) that I was breathing really funny. When I finally got to Doug, he kept asking if I was okay. He was very emotional but then pulled it together when I reached the end of the aisle. The ceremony was perfect! Doug’s Uncle Dan did a great job of making it short, but to the point! It was not long, by any means, but standing up there, in front of everyone, it felt like HOURS! At one point, I started feeling a little weak, so I remembered that you are not supposed to lock your knees. I started bending my knees a bit and this became a running joke for my friends. They said I was “exercising” during the ceremony. Haha.
My favorite part of the ceremony was after Doug and I lit the unity candles. My girlfriend, Sandy, and Doug’s cousin, Jon, sang a duet called ‘The Prayer.’ This song is originally sung by Andre Bochelli and Celine Dion. It is gorgeous and just sounds so beautiful. They sang this song and then Doug and I kneeled down on a kneeling bench. At this point, we were able to have a moment together. The words and melody of the song coupled with the emotions of being at our wedding together made us both emotional. Luckily, our backs were to the audience, so we were able to share this moment together without people seeing too much.
After the ceremony we had a receiving line at the door so we would be able to say hello to all of our guests. I’m really glad we did this because it allowed us to have fun at the reception. We exited the doors while all of our guests held sparklers. The sparklers were so cool. They were honestly the longest lasting sparklers anyone has ever seen. We ran through TWICE so the photographers could get some good shots. It was so much fun! We all piled into the limo bus and shared some champagne for the ride over to the Mansion.
We had some formal photos with the family and then had some bridal party shots upstairs. Everyone else enjoyed a cocktail hour downstairs.
The photographers got some AMAZING shots and we even were able to enjoy a few snacks before being announced. We were announced down the grand staircase and then went right into our first dance. I talked a little about our first dance at the beginning but I didn’t mention how awkward it was. I was not really able to relax and it felt REALLY long! Later in the night, Doug requested the d.j. to play ‘Lost in this moment’ (song lyrics above) and it was 100 times better than our first dance. All of our friends were dancing around us and we really were able to get “lost in the moment.”
After dinner (which I only ate about 2 bites of) we did the cake cutting. Doug and I had numerous talks about the smashing of the cake. We have been to many weddings were the bride gets completely demolished by the groom and ends up having all of her makeup taken off. I really did not want this to happen…especially since I paid so much money to get it all put on. Doug ended up being VERY good and only smashed a little around my mouth. I really surprised him too by smashing a little on him. The cake was SO yummy and really beautiful! We were able to dance a little and before we knew it, it was 11:00. We did a few final shots outside with the videographer and the d.j. and then danced a bit more. There are so many things that I cannot remember from this night! I don’t remember saying goodbye to most people! The night went by so quickly! I could not believe that the reception was 5 hours. It felt like it was only 1 hour!!! :(
Doug and I arranged for a stretch limo to pick us up at midnight and take us to the Joseph Ambler Inn where we had a suite reserved. By the time we left the Mansion and arrived at the Inn, it was about 1:00 am. When I think about the wedding and all that happened this day, this last little part is BY FAR my favorite memory!!! We walked into our suite, and Doug had a bottle of champagne chilling, chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate truffles. We turned on the fireplace and sat down on the big bed and started opening our wedding cards. That moment of still being in my dress, sitting on the bed with my husband, sipping champagne and eating strawberries while the fireplace was burning is a moment and a feeling that I will never forget! We stayed up for 3 more hours in our tux and dress just reminiscing about the day and opening our cards. We laughed so much and I felt so lucky. Everything that I have ever hoped and dreamed about my wedding had come true. It really was a fairytale and I felt so privileged that I could call it my day. And, best of all, Doug was now my husband. Who could ask for more?

Rehearsal and dinner

What a crazy past few days!!! I took off of work from Wednesday until today (Friday) thinking that would be more than enough time to be able to get all of the last minute details completed before today. Well, little did I know the craziness that awaited me. I literally ran around from Tuesday afternoon (when I left work) until today, non-stop. Hillary and Mom helped me with the centerpieces (which seemed to take forever) on Thursday night and then we tried to finish up the favor jars. I was planning on just using red candy in the favor jars but I ran out and could not buy identical candy that I had bought before. Mom and I brainstormed for a while and then decided to do black, white and red candy in the jars. At this point, I really did not care one bit. Hillary stayed up very late with me to help me finish them. Doug was a HUGE help this week, even though today was the only day he had off of work all week. I think he is just as exhausted as I am, if not more. Even with all of the last minute things I needed done, I promised myself that today I would try to relax. I woke up early this morning and went to the hairdressers for a wash and blow-out. I wanted to have a good hair day at the rehearsal dinner and I knew it would be chancy trying to do it myself. I felt so relaxed after the salon and much more energized than I did the day before. Doug and Luke picked up Jasslynn from the airport and brought her over to the house just in time for her to change her clothes and come to lunch with us. Mom, Hillary and Kristin met Jasslynn and I for lunch at the Back Porch Café in Skippack. It is this tiny little café right in the heart of Skippack. The food is AMAZING and it is so cute and quaint! While we were eating lunch, it started snowing! I was so excited to see the snow and have been keeping my fingers crossed that there would be a blanket of snow on the ground for tomorrow. I’m still keeping my fingers crossed…you never know!
After our amazing lunch, we all went next door for manicures and pedicures. There happened to be a masseuse working and he did a mini back massage for all of us. It felt wonderful and was the perfect pick-me-up (again) for the evening. We had about an hour to get dressed by the time we left the nail salon. I decided on wearing a red dress that I bought a few days ago from The Limited. I loved how it fit and I found the most adorable shoes (red covered in black lace) for only $15!!! Doug was coming by the house to pick up Jasslynn and I, and to top off his crazy day, he ended up getting locked out of the house!!! He had to break into one of the windows to let himself in. When he finally showed up to pick us up, he was about 25 minutes late. Luckily, everyone was running late. There was horrible traffic on the turnpike and a few people had to sit for HOURS before even getting on! Doug and I felt stressed at this point but promised each other that we were going to enjoy this night. We will never get to do this again and we wanted to take in every single second!
When I walked into the Church, I was speechless! The coordinator had all of the candles up and had decorated everything just beautifully…without me having to do a THING! There was a huge Christmas tree to the left of the Church and it was just so beautiful! We started the prayer and Dan (Doug’s Uncle from Austria) started going through the rehearsal and our vows. Doug and I both were fighting back the tears the entire time we were rehearsing. It doesn’t seem like a lot to remember when all you have to do is repeat what the Pastor is saying…but it is!!! Doug and I messed up a few times but just laughed it off! J It was so magical and so surreal!
After our rehearsal, we all got in the cars and headed over to the Joseph Ambler Inn for dinner. We had cocktail hour from 7-8 and this gave us all a chance to mingle and take in the beauty of the location. There were two HUGE fireplaces blazing and the ambience was better than I could have hoped! It was so cozy and everyone was in such good spirits. Honestly, once again, I couldn’t have imagined a better rehearsal and dinner.
After dinner, we were treated to a few speeches. Both of Doug’s Brothers gave very heartwarming speeches and brought tears to many people’s eyes, including ours! My little sister, Hillary, even got up to toast us. All in all, it was a magical and unforgettable evening!
Doug dropped me back off at the house around 11:30. Unfortunately, neither of us could go to bed as there was so much to be done still! Thank God for our bridesmaids and groomsmen! They really stepped up and helped both of us out! The boys all stayed over at the house with Doug and really pulled together to help him get all of his last minute tasks accomplished. Jasslynn and Ashley finished up everything for me and by doing so, allowed me to get some sleep. I ended up getting to bed around 2:00 am, completely exhausted. Despite all of the exhaustion and overwhelming emotions, I had these tiny little butterflies of excitement deep down in my tummy that would not go away! :)

"Going to the chapel and we're gonna get ma-a-a-arried..."

Well, it is wedding week and I am UNBELIEVABLY calm and beyond excited!!! I have so many emotions going through me right now. I’m excited, scared, anxious, emotional, tired, energetic…ALL IN ONE! I am getting married in 4 days and I never thought it would get here fast enough. I’m sure, before I know it, I will be posting pictures from the honeymoon and reminiscing about these last few days of anticipation before the wedding.
Today is my last day at work and I walked in to my cubicle COMPLETELY decorated! I have streamers all over and heart balloons and rose petals practically overtaking my desk. My girlfriends from work had breakfast waiting for me and a few little gifts, including a white velour sweatsuit that says “soon to be Mrs. Shade” written on the back. It is SOOO cute! I have been wanting one for the LONGEST time but refused to pay the $100+ that they charge online. So, my girlfriend, Andrea, made it for me. I’ll wear that the morning of the wedding while I’m getting my hair and makeup done. They also surprised me with a girl’s lunch which was so fun.
I have literally done nothing all day today. I looked up the weather report earlier today and caught myself just staring at it and smiling. The latest report says that it is supposed to be the nicest day of the week. Sunny and 42 degrees. I was hoping for a little snow…but I would rather have it dry than a blizzard. Who knows…maybe it will end up snowing on Friday night so when we wake up on the wedding day, everything will have a nice coating.
It’s funny how I’ve changed in these past few days. I honestly don’t care about any of the little details NEARLY as much as before. My mentality is that we have all of the essentials for a good wedding---if the little details don’t fall into place, it won’t matter. All I care about is marrying Doug! I actually get butterflies in my stomach when I think about it! I haven’t gotten butterflies in YEARS! I’m so giddy lately. Everyone keeps telling me to enjoy these next few days and cherish EVERY moment and I am trying so hard. It’s times like these that you wish you could just make time go slower or push the pause button and cherish the moment.
My days have completely filled up for the rest of the week. I am running around tomorrow and Thursday and then we’re already at Friday. I have a hair appointment at 9:00 am and then Jass flies in at 10:00am. It looks like a few of us are meeting for a lunch at 11:30 and then we have our mani/pedi appointments at 1:00. Then, I guess I’ll do some last minute packing and get dressed for the rehearsal and dinner. It’s crazy to have an hour by hour itinerary!!! It really makes it seem like the day is just going to zoom by!
I’m so excited for Saturday to be here!!!! This will most likely be the last time I am able to blog until after the wedding and honeymoon. BUT…I promise…the next one after the honeymoon will be a LONG one with lots of details and lots of pictures!
Lookout, Punta Cana…Mr. and Mrs. Shade are on their way!!!!!!!!!