Howdy, blogger crowd! I am officially jumping on the bandwagon and creating a public journal, I've been meaning to for quite some time and for some reason today seemed like a very good day to actually get started. Does wedding recap seem like a fitting first post?
Things really were amazing, it's hard to believe that a year's worth of planning and stressing was over in one weekend, but it was so worth every moment. Both days were beautiful and absolutely packed full of love and laughter, we are so blessed to have all of our amazing family and friends in our lives. I am indescribably grateful for them.
For those who may not know, Anu and I had two weddings over the course of the weekend of January 2. Anu was born and raised here in America so he and I would have been completely satisfied by just having a typical American ceremony, but we knew it was important for Anu's parents to have their culture represented during such an important time in our lives so we were more than happy to embrace the challenge of throwing two full weddings in the span of 48 hours. Luckily for me Anu's parents were perfectly willing to take command of planning the Indian ceremony and reception on the 3rd, I wouldn't even have known where to start in planning such an event!
Pre-weddings Anu and I both had amazing parties thrown for us by our closest friends, I know I had an absolute blast and from what Anu has told me about his he was equally pleased. Anu's Bachelor party was organized by his best man Bert and a few of his good friends from college, what cool guys! They all went down to San Antonio and had fun drinking at our favorite local haunt, the Lion and Rose off of Sonterra blvd. Then they arranged to have a double-decker party bus pick them up and take them all around downtown San Antonio where I am told Anu decided to hang out the windows and demand that passers-by do Hook-em's for him. They ended the night back at the Lion and Rose and then came back to his parents' house to pass out for the evening.
All of my amazing girls (and Andy and Jason!) came down on the 30th and we had what I imagine must have been the most fun Bachelorette party of all freaking time planned mostly by my maid of honor Allison. We started off the evening with a visit from Booty Parlor, they were crazy excited to see us again because Allison and I had actually already hosted their very first party in the United States when we were still in college. We are classy, classy broads. The BP party was such a fun and hilarious way to start off the evening, and we all went home with a few handy trinkets ;-). After that we headed out to dinner at 219 West where we mingled at the bar and then convinced the band to play "Pour Some Sugar on Me" for us. They agreed, but only if we promised to dance up on the stage...which I had no problem with after a shot or two. When we finished dinner we headed out to 6th for a while followed by the Brown bar, Oilcan's (I think?), and...frankly that's where my memory for the night ends. I know that I got to see Padon, Eric, and Jen at various points throughout the evening and I know that we ended the night by riding home with the angriest Taxi Cab driver in the entire universe. Needless to say, it took a full 24 hours before the girls and I were ready to do much more than lay on the couch and swear that we would never, ever go out again.
It isn't wedding related, but the following evening was New Year's Eve and Allison, Amanda, Anu, and I went out on a boat that Sameer and Jeanine had rented for us. We floated all around the river and were able to watch the fireworks from the BEST spot imaginable. It was really wonderful and we are so grateful to Sameer and Jeanine for planning such an awesome New Year's.
Wedding day #1 was great, we started off the day at our house and then headed over to the Driskill hotel to have our hair and makeup done by Angela Parker and her team from LucieMarie hair and makeup. Angela is great, she and her team were all so funny and lighthearted, it really helped to keep me calm and relaxed. Everybody was thrilled with how they looked and her prices are GREAT for professional hair/makeup. I would recommend her to anyone! While we were waiting to get all dolled up Jason kept us entertained by helping us with Tarot readings, I loved the experience because he approaches it as a way to analyze and think through problems rather than a *~magical~* fortune telling device. We also played Life on my iPhone...seriously, download it now. I have gotten more use out of that app than any other that I've downloaded, who doesn't like the game of Life?!
The time absolutely FLEW by and before I knew it it was time to go to the Mansion and get dressed and ready to go. My day of coordinator Rachel Stepanov (owner of Buon Affare) had been hard at work all day coordinating all the vendors and the set up process, I didn't have to worry about one single thing. She is so friendly and hard working, one of my top 3 wedding vendors FOR SURE. We all went upstairs and I had my mom help me into the dress, of course it wasn't until I was all laced up and ready to go that it really hit me that I was moments away from walking down the aisle. I had to sit down immediately and I don't think I stood up again until it was time to go, I was shaking like crazy! Everyone around me was great, Jason was a trooper about helping me get my shoes on, Amanda was like a speedy ninja when she went to grab some appetizers from my caterer for me so I wouldn't pass out, and Allison was completely chill about the fact that I had to ask her to be "reverse-Anu" and help me put my garter on because I had completely forgotten to do that before I got the dress and crinoline on! Chaplain Larry came to see me for a few minutes as well just to reassure me about how smoothly the ceremony was going to go and make sure I was doing alright. Don't get me wrong about the nervousness, it was all excitement...not cold feet!
Before I knew it it was time to head down to the Georgian room and actually get married. I had a classical guitarist playing the ceremony music and from what other people have told me he was great. Aside from some late goobers walking in WHILE my bridesmaids were walking down the aisle (punks!) everything went smoothly. It was surreal walking down the aisle with my father, I could feel myself tearing up but I just stayed focused on Anu and I couldn't stop smiling. The ceremony was great, meaningful but lighthearted and fun just like we wanted. The only snafu was Chaplain Larry saying that Anu and I met when we both went to A&M...but I thought it was hilarious and was just glad that he didn't make the mistake of saying I was a tea-sip!
We told our photographers ahead of time that we didn't want our guests to have to wait around for us forever, so while they all went and enjoyed appetizers and drinks in the ballroom we took no more than 45 minutes to get all the snaps we needed. I am a much bigger fan of candid photos than I am of taking 4.6 billion posed ones, so it was great. We came into the ballroom and Rachel guarded our sweetheart table so we could get at least a couple of bites of food in before everyone came over to congratulate us and take pictures with us. The food was great, I love my caterer Liz from Exquisite Cuisine, her food is phenomenal and she is the nicest lady you will ever meet. She goes above and beyond for her clients and her prices are amazing.
After dinner I had prepared a slideshow to music showing myself growing up, Anu growing up, and some shots of our relationship through the years. We then had our first dance to "Come Away With Me" by Norah Jones...which honestly we picked because it was a sweet song, but also because it was a nice slow waltz, the only dance we know how to do. ^_^
My father and I danced to a song he picked, "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw, we were both trying like hell not to cry but I don't think we succeeded. I'll always be a daddy's girl at heart, even as a married woman. After us, Anu and his mom danced to "Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong and it was really sweet.
The night was full of dancing, laughing, and good times. I had SO much fun and I think everyone else did too. We made sure to stock the bar full, so everyone was able to have as many drinks as they wanted...Aditya made the most use of that, I think. We love you, silly alcoholic! Liang managed to spill red wine on me, but hey, it was the end of the night and when the hell am I ever going to wear that dress again? He felt bad, but he shouldn't have. :-)
At the end of the night Anu and I left under a hail of sparklers and drove off to spend our first married night at the Driskill Hotel up on the 12th floor. We had an amazing view of downtown and the beds were REALLY comfy. Chocolate covered strawberries and champagne were on the house...it was a great night.
The next day we headed off to the Marriott hotel in the morning to prep for the Indian wedding...so much to do! There are ceremonies for everything from my bangles to Anu's turban, we were crazy busy from the time we got there until we went downstairs for the ceremony. Sheeba was the hero of the day, she handled everything with grace and good humor...I honestly don't think we could have done it without her. She sang for us, guided the events, and kept the DJ from doing anything ridiculous. We love you, Sheeba!
The ceremony was sort of a mystery to everyone there, apparently it's not a big priority to let people know what they're going to do before they do it! We got through it fairly well, I think, and afterward people told us that it was really enjoyable. Jason was such a trooper, he had NO idea what he was supposed to do until it he was actually asked to do it and he stepped up and handled everything like a pro, from running onstage to hoist me up so I could reach Anu to throw the garland over him to grabbing Anu's ear to tell him not to screw up. Hooray Jason!
After the ceremony I was able to take off some of my immensely heavy attire and we headed back for dinner and dancing. Dinner was sooooooooo good, I love me some Indian food! We had some great performances by cousins, my bridesmaids, and Anu's guy friends as well as both of our families. Our guests sure did know how to cut a rug! Anu and I danced to "Jai Ho" and did our best not to look like flailing idiots. From what I understand, we were pretty successful. The night was so much fun, but we were EXHAUSTED by the end of it! Let me tell you, there is a REASON people only have one wedding!!!
We crashed at the Marriott that night (after more strawberries and champagne, woo hoo!) and flew off the next afternoon to our honeymoon at Disney World. I really can't say enough about how wonderful both days were and how grateful we are to everyone who was a part of the whole event. Being married is AWESOME and we are so, so glad that so many people were able to celebrate with us.
I promise to update as soon as I get all of our pro pics in, but for now here are the 3 teasers we have back from the 2nd as well as some of the pictures that were taken by my oh-so-talented friend Kirby Jones of the 3rd.
That's all for now I think, I'll write more soon!
Love and Kisses,
Dana
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I am convinced that you are one of the most beautiful women in Austin.
ReplyDeleteOh Padon, can I keep you? I'm going to keep you.
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