People over think. I have to admit, I am an addict when it comes to over thinking. I chess play each move, analyze the pros and cons of every angle and then calculate my risks. I stress about the details, fret over the worst case scenarios and have my eye always targeting towards the future. I realized lately though that I lose the most precious gift that time gives when I do this... I lose the PRESENT.
My baby sister picked 12-12-12 as her big day to commit to a lifetime of happiness. During the whole wedding planning process Steph was a reluctant bride in that she did not want to waste precious time stressing about minute details that in the end didn't really matter. The horror stories of Bridezillas engulfed in their own fiery tantrums scarred her and she unconsciously vowed to extinguish that by taking nothing too seriously... so she strategically selected a destination wedding in Mexico. She wanted people to remember the week as an extended party with all the people that she loved. It was that simple. I cleverly suggested that maybe she should do it on 12-12-12 so that way she covered all her bases. If the Doom Sayers are correct in predicting that the world will end on December 22, 2012 then we can all have one last epic party together before the Zombie apocalypse fucks us over. However, if the Mayan's are correct and it's just our consciousness shifting to one based on LOVE then Steph will never forget her anniversary date because it's so easy to remember. Sometimes I amaze myself at my own wit.
The weather reports showed that Puerto Morelos was forecasted to have rain storms and thunder showers during our week at Ocean Coral Turquesa, an all inclusive 4 star ocean front resort nestled in between Cancun and Mayan Riveria. For some reason I was designated with the task of parting the clouds on the big day. Funny, I don't recall having that level of expertise on my resume. The night before a huge thunder storm hit the resort. It was pouring rain, intense lighting and booming thunder. All night I had nightmares that Steph's wedding would be ruined. I quietly asked whatever or whoever was listening upstairs to bless my beautiful baby sister with the gorgeous, sunny weather that she and Jamie so deserved. In my restless sleep an ancient and deep voice kept saying, "We will bless her in our tradition."
9AM comes fast and although I barely slept because of the imploding storm outside our balcony, I drag my not-so-young body out of bed. I cautiously peek out at the balcony and let out a huge sigh of relief. The Mayan Gods have heard my pleas, the sun was out in full glory revealing the beauty of the turquoise waters, white talcum soft sand and palm trees! Giddy at my cloud parting abilities, I skip to the bathroom mirror and start the long arduous journey of attempting to look amazing. One glance in the mirror revealed that last night's lack of beauty sleep means I would have to really push my years of make-up artistry to the limit. The good news is that I'm just the bridesmaid so who really cares what I look like. The thought lit up my face and I decided, "Meh, it's stopped raining so really, who cares what anyone looks like."
Stephanie and Jamie decided to recognize the tradition of not seeing each other the night before. Aliea, (Steph's childhood friend) and other bridesmaid slept in Steph's room and the plan was to have all three of us get ready together in the morning in time for the 12:00PM ceremony. Yes, she was dorky enough to get married at 12PM on 12-12-12. Like a good bridesmaid, Aliea ordered room service to ensure the Bride had some food in her system. I got my hair done at the salon by a woman that barely spoke any English. What I did manage to understand was that in Mexico, if it rains the night before it's considered a blessing for the Bride for a lifetime of happiness. My hairdresser then proceeded to teach me how to say a couple Spanish words while she stabbed my scalp with a million bobbin pins and filled my lungs with hairspray.
When I arrived at Steph's room, Kim (my brother's girlfriend) is madly working on Steph, Aliea and Kaiya's hair and make-up. Aliea who is usually seen in baggy pants and a t-shirt four times too big for her is beautifully all glammed up in a bright blue sleeveless chiffon dress with a flattering sweetheart neckline. The short flirty dress accentuates her long toned legs and shows off her envious woman curves. Her unruly mop head has been perfectly coiffed back to reveal her stunning cheekbones, pouty lips and beautiful olive skin. I laugh because the only time I have seen Aliea like this is when Steph and I bully her into it. So once, when she turned of age and we got her drunk at a night club. The second time was when she was my bridesmaid and the third time was today for Steph's wedding. Such a shame such natural beauty gets trudged through the "tomboy ugly bus" on a daily basis.
My normally dirty baby girl is happily wearing her Peacock inspired full length tutu dress. Steph wanted her flower girl to mimic her fun wedding attitude so Kaiya's dress was iconic. After watching an hour of You Tube videos, Steph made the dress herself and was so proud of the fact that she never had to sew it. Kaiya had purple flowers on the top and streams of tulle in purple, green, blue and turquoise flowed fairy-like to her ankles. Her hair was pulled back and held in place with a sequined purple headband and matching sequin purple shoes. Her naturally bright eyes filled with a sense of adventure and although it really didn't make a difference, she pledged to listen and "be good" on Steph's wedding day.
My baby sister is naturally gifted with good looks. As a kid, everyone commented on how cute she was and she easily won hearts with her generous smile and infectious enthusiasm for everything fun. Although she never needs much make-up, when she does preen and primp herself she is a definite head turner. Today Kim had expertly swept her long hair low to one side and has put in voluminous, sexy curls that tumble playfully around her face. Her eyes have been dramatically played up to show her larger than average Asian size and for the big day, Steph has applied ridiculously long eyelash extensions to highlight her best feature. Her big splurge for the wedding was her Maggie Sotterro designed wedding dress. Contrary to typical destination wedding dresses, her dress is best described as gigantic... jaw dropping, eye bulging gorgeous... just really, giant. The sweetheart neckline, assymetrical gathered ruched drop waist, layers of fun, ruffled taffeta and extended train perfectly hugs every curve and surprisingly, doesn't overwhelm her petite 4'11" frame. I spend 20 minutes meticulously lacing her up corset back only to realize I forgot to put in her modesty panel. I cheekily comment that we can just leave it to show off her best ASSets but was yelled at to leave my sense of humor in the gutter. Begrudgingly I painstakingly re-lace up the giant dress. We drip Steph in all her jewelry and then get the call that her flowers arrived with a mistake. The orchids she ordered for her hair is not here so she can work with an alternative or wait 15 minutes to see if it will come. Steph decides to wait so Harjit (Jamie's Dad's girlfriend) and photographer starts snapping away to kill time.
The wedding coordinator arrives all in a panic and declares that the orchids won't make it so we pin a large white lily in her hair instead. Our bouquets are a classic and simple arrangement of white calla lilies and roses wrapped in the signature bright blue ribbon. The coordinator herds us ladies all on a golf cart and takes us to the ceremony sites where the guests, groomsmen, ring bearer and groom awaits. Aliea and I squeeze each others hands and attempt to give each other a pep talk to not bawl our face off. Just in case though, we shove wads of tissues down our cleavage. As we start to drive towards the ceremony site on the beach, the skies started to darken and I see black clouds rolling in. The "Oh SHIT" moment hit me when I realized the clouds converged over our resort. I start cussing under my breath and swearing in a couple languages at the Mayan Gods, "Dudes... I thought we had a deal yo..." The weather rapidly shifts and it starts lightly misting. I angrily wave my fist into the air.
The wedding procession starts. Tai and Kaiya lead the procession, followed by Aliea and David (Jamie's cousin), myself and Chris and finally Jamie and his mom. As we stand up at the altar, the mist starts having a wee bit more volume and turns into light rain. Luckily we're under a gazebo wrapped in a gauzy white fabric but the guests sitting on the folded chairs were not so blessed. I look down at the white sandy aisle and for a collective moment everyone held their breath. "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" hauntingly plays in the background and my dad, wearing linen pants and a white short sleeve shirt commands the attention as he proudly walks his beautiful baby girl down the aisle. Aliea and I simultaneously share a look and sensing the impending mutual water works, she whispers, "Look away! Look away!" We briefly glance at the ocean to control the tears as the vision of our best friend and sister in all her natural beauty was overwhelmingly emotional. Funny how intense love makes you lose it. I glance over to Jamie and it dawns on me that my new brother is equally as beautiful. His dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes gives a classic charming boy next door look. With his eyes fixated on his bride, Jamie looks extremely handsome in his light grey pin stripe pants and vest outfit. His groomsmen and Tai wear a more relaxed version of his outfit with darker grey pants and a short sleeve, crisp, white button top. All the boys are finished off with a boutonniere made of a white plumeria and a peacock feather.
As Steph takes her place beside Jamie, the minister starts on the vows. Kaiya who has an attention span of a goldfish decides that playing in the sand and throwing it at the guests was way more entertaining than listening to the endless promises. I discreetly kick her and mutter a threat under my breath that only she heard. She stops the sand throwing but continues to squat in the sand. I quietly wonder if she's pooing. I focus back onto the vows and as soon as Steph and Jamie said, "I do" the dark clouds rejoiced by down pouring. It monsooned. Not mist, not lightly rain, not Vancouver sideways freaky rain... full on... monsooned! Even though everyone ran for cover we were so drenched that it looked like all 40 guests decided to go for a communal swim in the ocean. The good news is that no one died. The bad news is that all the ladies had to re-do their hair and make-up.
We spend the next two hours taking photos in the sheltered areas of the resort. I try to look amazingly fierce even though my underwear was too tight. A week before we departed Steph announced to me that she would bestow me the honor of MCing the event. I seriously don't understand how I always get stuck as master of ceremonies. Just because I have a big mouth and love talking doesn't necessarily mean I enjoy MCing. Since I had a couple hours in between the ceremony and reception I crack open the kid's construction paper and hastily scribble out the speech with a felt marker. I decided to keep it short and hilarious like me and save the emo stuff for Chris who has perfected the art of emo.
At 6PM the crew heads over to the reception and I look forward to the night of good food, too much alcohol, awkward speeches and even more awkward dance moves. The night delivered on the expectations. The food was decent and the alcohol consumed was more than the week's usual thanks to Ann (Kim's sister) who made it her mission to out drink all the boys even though she weighs 100lbs monsoon soaking wet. Jamie's dad, Dan surprised him with a speech that was nervously spoken with pride and reflection. Dan got extra kudos from his Erin (his ex-wife) by acknowledging that she did 99% of the parenting. Chris eloquently articulated a rehearsed story about how he master minded the union between Steph and Jamie and they should be in forever debt at his mad match making prowess. Throughout the night, the guests would serenade to the new married couple if we wanted to see them kiss. Adrenaline and alcohol induced songs always made the group break out in cheers. The DJ did a spectacular job of keeping the energies high and they busted out Gangnam style, old school, Top 40 and the random Banghra to keep everyone on their feet until we were kicked out of the ballroom venue at 11PM. No one wanted the night to end so we extended the party in more comfy clothes onto the pool party. Not surprisingly, many guests were noticeably absent from the resort common areas the next day.
What better way to celebrate than with a care-free week long party where the biggest worry was which area should we party at? Steph's panache for simplicity was a perfect remedy for today's hectic world so obsessed with improvement. By simply enjoying the moment, appreciating what we have and not spending energy worrying about whether we're adequate enough, all of her and Jamie's 40 guests were momentarily wrapped in the PRESENT. What a beautiful way to start your next chapter.
Doo-doo-doo!!! Tra-la-la!!!
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