#3.4- I Do
On October 21, 2016, my dad met me as I stepped out of the limo at the venue and prepared to give his little girl away.
As guests arrived they were greeted with champagne to sip while they mingled before the ceremony.
Not long after, my dad walked me down the aisle to the man of my dreams.
I was never more confident of anything in my life.
Seeing Chris’ face light up as he saw me make my way towards him, solidified everything that I had been feeling since the night that I called my girlfriend after our impromptu date at the W in DC all those years before.
I was right all along. This was the man I was going to marry.
Chris and I were involved in every little detail of the planning process, making the wedding distinctly and uniquely ours.
We had the honor of being my married and pronounced ‘husband and wife’ by my uncle who has always thought of me and treated me as a daughter.
The ceremony was then followed by a Billy Joel-style cocktail hour led by Chris’ amazingly talented friend while friends and family enjoyed cocktails and passed hor d’oeurves.
Then came time for the party to begin inside the breathtakingly-beautiful reception area!
One by one, the band introduced each member of our wedding party, as each bridesmaid and groomsman made their way in.
We were next!
Hand-in-hand we stood in front of all the people we loved the most as we were announced for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Christopher Mari!
The band played Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling as we danced in without a care in the world and high on life.
The song quickly transitioned to Etta James’ At Last- our first dance song. The dance that we practiced over and over again in our family room. The only problem - it had been almost two weeks since we had seen each other, let alone practiced!
We looked at each other and burst out laughing! Neither of us remembered a step, but we didn’t care. The song started and we had each other. That’s all that mattered. As the saying goes “fake it till you make it”.
But, the “make it” part never really came and instead was replaced by my Christian Louboutin stiletto getting stuck in the grove of the wooden floor! I kicked off the other one and finished the dance barefoot.
Chris with his quick wit didn’t miss a beat. He got down on one knee and turned our blunder into the perfect Cinderella moment. As the song ended, he slipped the shoe back onto my foot - needless to say, my ‘glass slipper’ fit perfectly.
From a Virginia whiskey tasting, to the world’s BEST band, an Eagles groom cake, a “make your own candy apple table (my fav fall treat), a selfie station, and so much more - in our minds, it was perfect and very us.
AND - the maid/matron of honor speech that was actually a surprise rap to the Fresh Prince of Bell Air theme song that my sister (maid of honor) and my matron of honor pulled off was THE best “icing on the cake moment” of the wedding. The most hilarious ‘speech’ I’ve ever heard!
(* IF anyone reading this has a video of that speech/rap, can you PLEASE send it to me?? That is one thing that I don’t have from our wedding! Chris - I told you that a study showed 9 out of 10 brides end up regretting not hiring a videographer!*)
Another one of my favorite memories from the night was stepping aside to watch my nanny and poppy dance together. As I watched my 85 year old grandparents make their way across the dance floor, I couldn’t help but think what a beautiful symbol of forever love we were witnessing.
We all joined in with them on the dance floor and literally danced the night away!
It was seriously THE best night!
Our guests gathered with glow sticks to bid us ‘farewell’ as we exited the reception.
The trolley arrive to escort our guests back to the hotel and each person was handed a Philly pretzel as thank you for helping us tie the knot!
BUT, the party didn’t stop when the reception did. Chris and I met our guests back at the hotel where we continued our best night ever.
In true southern hospitality fashion, I thought that Chris and I should personally pass out drinks to our friends and family at the hotel. Somehow or another that led to Chris pushing me in a shopping cart through the hotel lobby, still in my wedding dress, passing out drinks to our ‘late nighters’!
To this day, I swear those were the only photos that made it onto social media! (Not the beautiful wedding, but the one-of-a-kind shopping cart experience.)
Our wedding day was everything that we could have ever dreamed of and so much more!
(All professional photography is by the talented Matthew Thwing found here. I can’t recommend him enough.)