Wedding Blog

Some of our closest friends and family aren’t ‘close’ at all. From Montreal to New York to Hong Kong, they’re scattered all over the place. This is a big reason why we chose to have a destination wedding, but it’s also the reason why we didn’t have stag/stagette parties.

We figured we’d just throw something together (easy-breezy style, yo) once we got to Punta Cana. So on the Saturday before our Monday wedding, we spread the word that the guys and gals were going to dinner separately. Little did I know that Mama SB, my amazing sister-in-law and a couple of my girlfriends had been conspiring all along to throw me a mini bridal shower too. Yay! A showerette!

We gathered together for champagne toasts and then did something I absolutely LOVED:

We went around the circle and each married gal had to give me one piece of marriage advice. There were so many good ones, like “don’t ever, ever go to bed angry,” and, “even though it’s tempting to vent to your girlfriends, sometimes it can breed resentment, so be careful”. But hands down, the funniest was from my crazy and lovable Aunt T who said, “USE IT OR LOSE IT!”

Mama SB took this opportunity to present me with a silk nightie/robe ensemble… in purple, of course… which I felt the need to promptly model, of course. Oh yes, I am that dorky.

But the most incredible gift was a scrapbook that my SIL had spent many hours organizing. She had had all the women in my life submit a page for the scrapbook sharing a touching memory or funny story about us. I couldn’t even get past the first page without bawling.

Eventually I decided to flip through it quickly and save the reading for a lovely quiet moment alone.

After dinner we headed to the lobby bar for a few drinks and to wait to meet up with the guys.

But the girls had another surprise in store for me. ‘Cause no stagette is complete without an embarrassing hat:

That, my dears, is a pink cowboy hat (a nod to my Alberta roots) with my new nickname on it and a white pillowcase pinned to the back for a ‘veil’. HAWT.

While we were doing all this, the guys were chowing down on steak…

…and playing ‘Buffalo’ (if someone catches you drinking with your non-dominant hand, you have to chug)…

…and oh yes, bonding. (Below: that’s my dad and brother welcoming Mr Breezy into the family. I think.)

Aw!

Then it was time to hit the disco for some dancing.

Now that’s the kind of Punta Cana partying I’d been waiting for.

Did anyone else combine their stagette and bridal showers together? (Other than Miss Hot Cocoa, natch… you trendsetter, you!)

DW in the DR: Pack It Up, Pack It In
DW in the DR: Airport Confessions
DW in the DR: Bienvenidos a Punta Cana
DW in the DR: The Guest List Is In the Bag
DW in the DR: The OOTs in Action
DW in the DR: Planning the Reception
DW in the DR: Planning the Flowers & Cake
DW in the DR: Planning the Ceremony
DW in the DR: Planning the Photography