Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
When the subject of our destination wedding in Punta Cana comes up, one of the things our family and friends still talk about is the dinner. And no, not for the food (which was awesome) nor for the cake (which was hideous). Nope, they talk about how my groom carried me around the restaurant on his shoulders and how we did the chicken dance while they (and everyone else in the vicinity, random vacationers and staff alike) hooted and hollered.
That’s how we know that we achieved what we wanted most for our wedding: for our guests to feel like they were a part of it and, most importantly, that they have an insanely fun time Breezy-style…that is to say, with oodles of goofiness.
~~~
Once we had determined that Mr Breezy was the head of the household forevermore, it was time to head into the restaurant to drink my sorrows away eat our scrumptious dinner.
For a few different reasons (including one big one that started with 17 and ended with 000) we chose to forgo a private reception in favor of dinner in the public restaurant by the beach followed by a speeches and dancing at the disco. DW BRIDES, TAKE NOTE: it turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made. The staff set up two long tables of thirty for us and you know what? All that time I spent stressing about how it might be weird to be surrounded by other resort guests during dinner? Big fat waste of time. We didn’t even notice they were there!
Of course, that might be partly due to the fact we were all so distracted. By our awesomedinner game, that is. Read more…
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Once we had determined that Mr Breezy was the head of the household forevermore, it was time to head into the restaurant to drink my sorrows away eat our scrumptious dinner.
For a few different reasons (including one big one that started with 17 and ended with 000) we chose to forgo a private reception in favor of dinner in the public restaurant by the beach followed by a speeches and dancing at the disco. DW BRIDES, TAKE NOTE: it turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made. The staff set up two long tables of thirty for us and you know what? All that time I spent stressing about how it might be weird to be surrounded by other resort guests during dinner? Big fat waste of time. We didn’t even notice they were there!
Of course, that might be partly due to the fact we were all so distracted. By our awesomedinner game, that is.
I’d like to tell you we spent hours contemplating what to do during dinner since our speeches weren’t until later, but the truth is, Mr Breezy sprang this game on me the night before the wedding. I still have no clue where he got the idea (and why he waited until the last day to tell me about it…?!?!) but I LOVED IT. And I think you will too.
As Mr Breezy said in his own words, “It’s really the one part of the wedding that was driven by the guests and not the bride and groom.”
And with crazy fun guests such as ours, it was guaranteed to be a memory-maker. Though to look at them, you would never, ever guess they’d ever do anything remotely ridiculous… right? Read more…
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
After our post-ceremony photo shoot on the beach, Mr Breezy and I headed back to our suite with the wedding party to freshen up before dinner (read: the guys smoked cigars while the girls touched up their makeup and then almost wet themselves over the hilarity that was me almost dipping my dress into the potty - I’ll spare you the photos of that).
Then we made our way to the oceanfront seafood restaurant where everyone was standing outside, waiting for us.
I’m not too sure why I felt that tooting my trucker horn was an appropriate thing to do in this moment but what can I say? I was reaaaaaally excited.
Why?
Because we were about to do our hugely fun Polish wedding tradition! Read more…
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Still laughing after our great group shots, Mr Breezy and I hustled out of the lobby to catch some photos on the beach while there was still sun. Since our ceremony started a half hour late due to the power failure at the resort, and because we dawdled drinking champagne in the gazebo afterwards, we were really in a rush!
My MOH Pepperpot and cousin K barely managed to get some food in me before I was whisked away.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
When we planned our wedding day, we wanted to make sure we incorporated at least one Jewish tradition (Mr Breezy’s side) and one Polish tradition (my side).
We decided that one thing we definitely had to do was the Jewish breaking of the glass.
There are several interpretations of what this tradition symbolizes:
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
From the beginning, I knew I wanted Mr Breezy and I to say our vows to each other in our own words. (Mr Breezy wanted it too - he just didn’t know it.)
So you’d think a year would be enough time to think about it, right? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I’d seen plenty of wedding movies where the bride and groom were hastily writing their vows moments before the ceremony and I couldn’t help going, “Pffffffttttt!!!!!!!! COME ON, people. What, this day happened as a complete surprise to you, hence you couldn’t prepare? How pathetic!”
Well, guess what we were doing the night before?
Although we have our reasons for it, which will become a funny memory one day, it taught me something very important: you are ready when you are ready. And when it comes to your wedding vows, in the end, it’s not ‘when’ that matters, but ‘what’.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
The scene: Majestic Colonial Resort, in the Gazebo. The guests are assembled, the men and maids stand at attention, and Mr Breezy and I, having kissed our parents goodbye, face each other with big silly-happy grins.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Once all the portraits and family photos were done, our guests started trailing on out of the lobby and down the walkway to the Gazebo to take their seats. The late afternoon sun was shining down and I imagine them sitting there, chatting away, listening to the pre-wedding soundtrack that I had spent hours agonizing over.
I can’t seem to locate the list and the only two songs I can remember at the moment are ‘I’m Yours’ by Jason Mraz and ‘Better Together’ by Jack Johnson but I swear, there were many more and they were AWESOME.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
When Mr Breezy and I met in the lobby for the reveal, it was shortly after 1PM (the ceremony was set for 4:30PM). It didn’t feel like we had been taking pictures for almost two hours so when our families started trickling in, it was a shock. Having pictures done with them was top on our priority list so we had also scheduled them pre-ceremony.
I hadn’t thought of it but of course this turned out to be the big “reveal” to them, too! As soon as they saw us, they rushed over and cooed and pulled out their own cameras for some candids. It was mass photo hysteria for a while, there. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way - it was an exciting moment for them too, you know? Plus we got some really fun photos from our friends while we were just hangin’ out.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Both Mr Breezy and I were descending upon the lobby at the same time but somehow our photographers coordinated it so I stealthily made it upstairs while he remained downstairs.
And then, the big moment had finally come!
At least, it was a big moment for me. I think that Mr Breezy largely humored me when it came to “the big reveal”. He knew it was important to me so he went along with it, though if he had had an option, I think he would have forgone the whole hullabaloo. I appreciate his honesty. Really, I do. But I wouldn’t have had it any differently. Sometimes I find, you have to make something special in order for it to be something special.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Oh alright, so maybe ‘gone wild’ is a bit of an exaggeration. But it definitely wasn’t conventional. Once we girls were ready, we headed out with Photophil to the main lobby of the resort where the big reveal would take place and Mr Breezy and I would see each other for the first time in all our wedding finery. En route, however, we just had to make a couple pit stops to ruffle our plumage a bit and strut our… you know… stuff.
Hmmm… what’s this I see? That’s one big palm thing. Must. Get. Photo.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Okay. Our hair is done, our faces are on, the flowers are as good as they’re gonna get and the champagne is flowing. I guess it’s time to put on the dress–er, DWess!
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Because we were doing so many things, it took me a while to realize the flowers were missing. I couldn’t wait to see them.
If you will remember, after I met with our wedding coordinator, I thought I was getting this style of bouquet, but with a mix of white and purple flowers.
Well, the flowers were finally delivered to our room and what we got was this: Read more…
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
While the guys were goofing off next door, we were taking the matter of getting ready very seriously… NOT.
When the girls came over to our suite around 10 AM, I was already putting hot rollers in my hair. I was crossing my fingers that it would turn out as well as it had in my DIY hair trial, but you never know, so I gave myself lots of time. Plus, call it a sixth sense, but I just knew that there would be some last things to take care of that I hadn’t planned for. I didn’t want to be rushing around too much.
Here I am with my maiden sidekicks (R to L) MOH Pepperpot, SIL and Miss P, soon after they arrived.
Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican RepublicAge in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications ManagerFiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing DirectorEngagement Date: October 6, 2007Wedding Date: November, 2008Blogging Since: July 17, 2008Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta CanaAbout Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
The next day, Mr Breezy and I woke up and looked at each other. Could it really be true? The morning of the wedding had finally arrived!
That’s right, we had stayed in the same room the night before the wedding. I actually wanted to be separated but Mr Breezy didn’t think it was a big deal so I went along with it. It was a bit complicated to figure out and at that point, our heads just could just not handle any more logistics. However, if I had a do-over, I’d have tried harder. It was sort of weird to walk into the buffet restaurant together that morning to grab a bite before the craziness of the day began.
Back at the suite, we kissed goodbye and… I closed the sliding doors.
Because we had a big suite, the guys got ready on the lounge side, and on the other side of the sliding doors, we girls were primping. I loved that setup because I could still yell at - um, I mean yell to - Mr Breezy through a crack in the doors whenever I remembered something we’d forgotten to do (yes it happened). Plus our awesome photographers could go back and forth between the guys and the girls easily.
Before long, the wedding party and a few others started trickling in.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
